Travel

How to earn Delta Medallion elite standing with out flying in 2023

February 25, 2023

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Editor’s notice: This is a recurring submit, usually up to date with new info.

From complimentary upgrades to precedence boarding, Delta Air Lines standing has numerous perks to make your travels extra pleasing.

Delta SkyMiles gives numerous methods to assist earn elite standing with out flying. Today, we’ll talk about methods you’ll be able to make use of to qualify for Medallion standing with out boarding a airplane.

Delta Medallion standing necessities

Qualifying for Delta standing requires both Medallion Qualification Miles or Medallion Qualification Segments plus a specific amount of spending — specifically, Medallion Qualification Dollars.

Here are the small print:

Silver Medallion: 25,000 MQMs or 30 MQSs plus 3,000 MQDs.
Gold Medallion: 50,000 MQMs or 60 MQSs plus 8,000 MQDs.
Platinum Medallion: 75,000 MQMs or 100 MQSs plus 12,000 MQDs.
Diamond Medallion: 125,000 MQMs or 140 MQSs plus 20,000 MQDs.

Delta rolls over each MQM you earned above your standing tier final 12 months. For instance, as an instance you are a Platinum Medallion, however you completed 2022 with 105,000 MQMs. That means you may begin this 12 months with 30,000 MQMs.

On most Delta-marketed tickets, you may earn 1 MQD per greenback spent (minus the taxes), although you’ll be able to earn extra when flying in premium cabins. You may earn considerably greater than 1 MQD per greenback on partner-issued tickets credited to Delta SkyMiles.

Earn Medallion standing with private bank cards

Delta has two private bank cards that may allow you to qualify for standing. Here’s an summary of each playing cards:

Card	Annual price	Welcome supply	MQMs	Notable perks
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card	$250 (see charges and charges).	Earn 90,000 bonus miles after $4,000 in spending within the first six months of card membership.	Earn 10,000 MQMs towards elite standing after you spend $25,000 (as much as 20,000 MQMs per 12 months).	15% off award redemptions for Delta flights (when paying taxes and charges with this card), an annual companion certificates with every renewal for Main Cabin round-trip journey, 20% low cost on inflight purchases on Delta flights and first checked bag free on Delta flights.
Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card	$550 (see charges and charges).	Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $6,000 on purchases in your new card in your first six months.	Earn 15,000 MQMs if you spend $30,000, $60,000, $90,000 and $120,000 on the cardboard in a calendar 12 months.	Delta Sky Club membership and Centurion Lounge entry when touring on Delta; an annual companion certificates annually upon card renewal for round-trip journey in firstclass, Comfort+, Premium Select or Main Cabin; complimentary upgrades for non-Medallions.

You’ll be exempt from the MQD necessities for Silver, Gold and Platinum Medallion if you spend $25,000 in a calendar 12 months — although you should spend $250,000 to benefit from the MQD waiver for Diamond Medallion.

Earn Medallion standing with enterprise bank cards

Delta additionally has two enterprise bank cards that will help you qualify for Medallion standing. Here’s the news:

Card	Annual price	Welcome supply	MQMs	Notable perks
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card	$250 (see charges and charges).	Earn 95,000 bonus miles after $4,000 of purchases within the first three months.	Earn 10,000 MQMs towards elite standing after you spend $25,000 (as much as 20,000 MQMs per 12 months).	TSA PreCheck or Global Entry price credit score, an annual companion certificates with every renewal, precedence boarding, first checked bag free on Delta flights, 15% off award flights.
Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card	$550 (see charges and charges).	Earn 100,000 bonus miles after $6,000 in spending within the first three months.	Earn 15,000 MQMs if you spend $30,000, $60,000, $90,000 and $120,000 on the cardboard in a calendar 12 months.	Delta Sky Club membership and Centurion Lounge entry when touring on Delta; an annual companion certificates annually upon card renewal for round-trip journey in firstclass, Comfort+, Premium Select or Main Cabin; 20% low cost on inflight purchases on Delta flights; first checked bag free on Delta flights.

As with the non-public playing cards, you may be exempt from the MQD necessities for Silver, Gold and Platinum Medallion if you spend $25,000 in a calendar 12 months. You should spend $250,000 to obtain the MQD waiver for Diamond Medallion.

Combining playing cards for Medallion standing

These 4 playing cards can work nicely for qualifying for Medallion standing, however in the event you’re a giant spender, leveraging them collectively might push you even increased up the Delta elite standing ladder.

Here are just a few examples of how this might work, all of which assume you max out your MQM earnings this 12 months:

Delta Platinum Amex + Delta Reserve Amex

If you’re not eligible for a small-business bank card however you continue to need to maximize your perks when flying Delta, think about grabbing each of those playing cards and spending your method to Medallion standing.

With this path, you’re primarily spending your method to Platinum Medallion standing. When you fly Delta, you’ll additionally get pleasure from a pair of companion certificates and Sky Club entry.

Delta Platinum Business Amex + Delta Reserve Business Amex

By going the enterprise path, you may earn the identical as you’ll with the non-public model of each these playing cards.

You’d have Platinum standing, a pair of companion certificates and Sky Club entry.

Delta Reserve Amex + Delta Reserve Business Amex

But as an instance you spend greater than $170,000 on a bank card in a calendar 12 months. Here’s what you may earn with each the non-public and enterprise Reserve playing cards:

Then, by spending one other $5,000 on every card earlier than the tip of the calendar 12 months, you’d earn the MQD waiver for Diamond Medallion. And incomes an additional 5,000 MQMs (which needs to be simple to earn with a few flights), you’d get pleasure from top-tier Delta standing by way of Jan. 31, 2025.

Oh, and also you’ll nonetheless get pleasure from a pair of yearly companion tickets and Sky Club entry everytime you fly Delta.

All 4 playing cards

Finally, let’s take this to the logical excessive. If you may have all 4 playing cards in your pockets and are a significant spender, you may spend your method to Diamond Medallion standing yearly. Here’s what you’d earn:

With $340,000 of annual spending amongst these 4 playing cards, you’d earn 160,000 MQMs, and naturally, you’ll be exempt from the Diamond MQD spending requirement.

Related: Best Delta bank cards

More methods to earn standing shortly

Utilizing Delta’s higher-end bank cards is a superb technique to push your self nearer to Medallion standing, however it’s not the one approach. Here are different choices to assist shortcut your method to Delta elite standing.

Utilize a standing problem

Delta has a publicly out there standing problem program, so in the event you presently maintain standing with a qualifying airline and haven’t finished a standing match or problem with Delta within the earlier three years, you’ll be able to submit a request to get pleasure from a three-month trial of Medallion standing. You then should full a set quantity of flying and spending throughout that three-month interval to increase the standing.

Upgrade your flight with miles

You’ll earn bonus MQMs if you improve your flight with miles. Technically that is nonetheless flying, however by utilizing miles to bump your self to firstclass, you may speed up your progress towards Medallion standing.

Earn on award journey

On Delta metallic, you may as well earn Medallion accruals on award tickets. MQMs and MQSs are credited based mostly on the size of the flight, when you’ll earn 1 MQD for each 100 SkyMiles you redeem.

For instance, TPG senior editor Andrew Kunesh was slightly below 400 MQDs wanting incomes Diamond Medallion in 2021. So, he rebooked his flight dwelling for the vacations utilizing SkyMiles. It wasn’t low cost at 40,000 SkyMiles — nor was it a historically good use of factors — however it ensured he certified for standing with no out-of-pocket expense.

Check out this information for added last-minute strategies on qualifying for Delta Medallion standing.

Bottom line

There are numerous methods to earn Medallion standing with out boarding a airplane. Through the airline’s cobranded bank cards, you’ll be able to spend your method to a number of elite standing tiers.

While most vacationers will doubtless mix the above bank cards with some precise flying, it’s good to know that you need to use a number of Delta American Express playing cards to spice up your Medallion qualification prospects.

For charges and charges of the Delta Skymiles Platinum Business Amex Card, click on right here

For charges and charges of the Delta Skymiles Reserve Business Amex Card, click on right here

For charges and charges of the Delta Skymiles Platinum Amex Card, click on right here

For charges and charges of the Delta Skymiles Reserve Amex Card, click on right here

Additional reporting by Benji Stawski and Nick Ewen.