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Several weeks ago, Delta surprised the world with an absolute gutshot of a devaluation to their program. The response was nasty. Comments on my Instagram, TikTok, etc did not sugar the pill and once unwaveringly loyal Delta fliers were looking for a new home. Shockingly, Delta understood they took a step too far, and started publicly backtracking, committing to walking back some of the changes. Finally, people were waking up.
Well…Delta has taken steps and revised some of the changes, but all in all, the question remains…why on earth would you be loyal to Delta now? The writing is on the wall, and all they’ve really done is make things marginally less bad.
As you can see in the various altered changes below, status will still be harder to attain ( $28k MQD for Diamond and $5k for Silver ), lounge access will be still be restricted just not as much, they haven’t improved the value of their SkyMiles currency at all, and rollover MQMs have some bit to them. The program is still gutted.
Personally, I think airline loyalty has gotten to the place where it just doesn’t pay to be loyal. Upgrades are fewer and far between because airlines are selling first class seats at a far higher percentage, and when it comes time to redeem the points of most US based carriers, there isn’t much award space for those leisure destinations you want to enjoy on the back of your hard earned work miles. I credit most of my US based travel to foreign carriers that are partners of Amex, Chase, Citi, Bilt, Cap1.
But, let’s take a look at the changes and let me know what you think.
Delta SkyClub Access is a little better for credit card holders
The following credit cards currently all have some sort of Delta SkyClub access, and that was been changed yet again. One big change is that a SkyClub access will be defined as any 24 hour period, not per SkyClub location. Note that the changes for the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card take effect 1/1/24 whereas the changes for the other cards don’t start until 2/1/2025
Once you’ve hit your max for the year, you can buy access for $50, or Medallion members can buy It for $695. If you’re traveling in Basic Economy, you won’t have access with any of the following cards.
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- The Business Platinum® from American Express
Amex Platinum and Amex Business Platinum – 6x will now be 10x
Starting on Feb 1st, 2025 lounge access will be limited to 10 times per year, this was changed from 6x
Delta SkyMiles® Reserve and Business Reserve- 10x becomes 15x
Starting on Feb 1st, 2025 lounge access will be limited to 15 times per year, changed from 10x
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum + Business Platinum – 0x
Starting on January 1st, 2024, you will know longer be able to pay for access
Revised Status Tier Requirements – still a massive increase from 2024
As you can see below, Delta has revised the Tier Requirements, lowering the thresholds somewhat, but compared to what you’d need to qualify for status in 2024, seen at the bottom, it’s still a massive increase.
New for 2025
| Silver Medallion | 5,000 MQD |
| Gold Medallion | 10,000 MQD |
| Platinum Medallion | 15,000 MQD |
| Diamond Medallion | 28,000MQD |
Old 2025:
| Silver Medallion | 6,000 MQD |
| Gold Medallion | 12,000 MQD |
| Platinum Medallion | 18,000 MQD |
| Diamond Medallion | 35,000MQD |
For a frame of reference, here is what it was for 2024
| Silver Medallion | 3,000 MQD |
| Gold Medallion | 8,000 MQD |
| Platinum Medallion | 12,000 MQD |
| Diamond Medallion | 20,000MQD |
And 2023
| Silver Medallion | 3,000 MQD |
| Gold Medallion | 6,000 MQD |
| Platinum Medallion | 9,000 MQD |
| Diamond Medallion | 15,000MQD |
MQD Boost added Delta American Express Cards
The following 4 cards will receive a $2500 MQD boost beginning 2/24 but will continue to earn MQDs at the rate given several weeks ago. Meaning, if you want to spend your way to Delta Silver, you’d need to spend $50k on the Reserve and $100k on the Delta Platinum. Wowzers.
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
The way that they will earn MQDs will remain the same.
| $10 USD spent on Delta Amex Reserve Credit Cards | 1 MQD |
| $20 USD spent on Delta Platinum Amex credit cards | 1 MQD |
Rollover MQM adjustments – decide by 12/31/24
Here is what was previously announced:
| 20 MQMs | 1 MQD |
| 2 MQMs | 1 Delta SkyMile |
They are adding in a new option for those with massive MQM balances. For every 100k MQMs you can extend your 2024 status for another year.
| Every “100k Rollover MQM” | Extend Medallion status for another year |
New options for Delta Medallion Choice Benefits
Starting 2/1/24 you’ll have the option to select the following Choice benefits when you hit certain Medallion levels. IF you’re unfamiliar when you hit Platinum or Diamond status you can choose a benefit you’d like, so these will be some added options for your selection.
MQD Accelerator
- $2,000 MQDs for Diamond Members
- $1,000 MQDs for Platinum Members.
Delta SkyClub Individual Membership
- You can use 2 Choice Benefit selections and get an Individual Membership
Bonus Miles
These can be put in your account, friend, or donated to charity
- Diamond Medallion Members = 35,000 miles
- Platinum Medallion Members = 30,000 miles.
Delta Flight/Vacation Voucher
- $350 for Diamond Medallion Members
- $300 for Platinum Medallion Members
Private Jet Credit “Wheels Up”
- Wheels Up flight credit for Diamond and Platinum Medallion Members
Million Miler Changes – Comped Status, upgrade priority
Delta also revised some of their Million Miler benefits and tiers.
- Only miles actually flown will be counted for Million Miler Status going forward
- Starting 1/1/24
- Upgrade priority will be #3 starting in 2024
- Comped Status
- 1 Million Miler Members will receive Annual Complimentary Gold Status.
- 2 Million Miler Members will receive Annual Complimentary Platinum Status.
- 3 and 4 Million Miler Members will receive Annual Complimentary Diamond Status.
- 5+ Million Miler Members will receive an annual invitation for Delta 360° Membership
As a frame of reference, this is what they had initially announced:
Overall – Delta is still dead to me
Why on earth would you still continue to be loyal to Delta. If you’re a 3 or 5 million miler, things got a bit sweeter, but I’ll be shopping cheapest flights on my travel, and when I do fly Delta, I’ll be crediting to either Virgin Atlantic or Air France/KLM Flying Blue.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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