Is Earning Delta SkyMiles Elite Status With Credit Cards Worth It?

There is a portfolio of co- branded credit cards. Premium versions of these cards can help you earn a position in the Delta SkyMiles program.

You could even earn top-tier status with Delta if you spent your way to it through credit card spending. Delta used to be the only one of the big three US carriers to allow this, but with the introduction of American AAdvantage, you can also earn AAdvantage elite status with credit card spending.

Delta is the only airline in the United States that I would rather fly consistently than any other airline. I find elite status to be less valuable than it used to be, and also because the cost of spending on airline co- branded credit cards is very high.

I wanted to take a closer look at the current state of earning Delta Medallion elite status through credit card spending, especially in light of the current elevated bonuses we are seeing on Delta credit cards.

Delta SkyMiles Medallion status requirements

The qualification requirements for Delta SkyMiles are listed below.

• Delta Silver Medallion requires 25,000 MQMs OR 30 MQSs AND 3,000 MQDs
• Delta Gold Medallion requires 50,000 MQMs OR 60 MQSs AND 6,000 MQDs
• Delta Platinum Medallion requires 75,000 MQMs OR 100 MQSs AND 9,000 MQDs
• Delta Diamond Medallion requires 125,000 MQMs OR 140 MQSs AND 15,000 MQDs

For people who don't know anything about MQMs, MQSs, or MQDs.

• MQMs are Medallion Qualifying Miles, which refer to the number of elite miles you earn (this can vary based on the type of ticket you’re booking, so you don’t always earn one MQM per mile flown)
• MQSs are Medallion Qualifying Segments, which refer to the number of elite segments you earn (again, you don’t always earn one MQS per segment flown, as it varies based on the type of fare)
• MQDs are Medallion Qualifying Dollars, which refer to how much you have to spend on your ticket to earn status; taxes and many fees are excluded from this total

Delta Amex Medallion Qualifying Dollar waiver

If you have a Delta Amex credit card, you can get a Waiver on the requirement.

• You can get the MQD requirement waived for Silver, Gold, and Platinum status, if you spend at least $25,000 on a Platinum or Reserve Delta Amex during the calendar year
• You can get the MQD requirement waived for Diamond status if you spend at least $250,000 on a Platinum or Reserve Delta Amex during the calendar year
• If you have multiple cards, spending across the cards counts toward the waiver

MQMs can be earned for spending on Delta's premium Amex cards. You can earn MQMs at different rates on the Platinum and Reserve cards.

Delta Platinum Amex MQMs for spending

The Delta SkyMiles ® Platinum American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles ® Platinum Business American Express Card can be used for ongoing spending.

• Earn 10,000 bonus MQMs after spending $25,000
• Earn an additional 10,000 bonus MQMs after spending $50,000

If you spend $50,000 on one of the cards, you will earn 20,000 MQMs, or if you spend $50,000 on the other card, you will earn 40,000.

Delta Reserve Amex MQMs for spending

The Delta SkyMiles ® Reserve American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles ® Reserve Business American Express Card can be used for ongoing spending.

• Earn 15,000 bonus MQMs after spending $30,000
• Earn an additional 15,000 bonus MQMs after spending $60,000
• Earn an additional 15,000 bonus MQMs after spending $90,000
• Earn an additional 15,000 bonus MQMs after spending $120,000

If you spend $120,000 on either of these cards, you will earn a bonus of 60,000 MQMs, and if you spend $240,000 on both of the cards, you will earn a total of 120 thousand MQMs.

It is possible to ignore any welcome bonuses on an annual basis.

• 20,000 bonus MQMs for spending $50,000 on each of the Delta Platinum cards
• 60,000 bonus MQMs for spending $120,000 on each of the Delta Reserve cards

The Reserve is the way to go if you want to earn as much money as possible.

$120,000 of spending earns you 60,000 MQMs, and if you had both the personal and business version, you would be looking at 200,000 MQMs.

It won't be possible for everyone, but I know a lot of people who spend a lot on credit cards through reimbursable business expenses, so it makes sense.

It is possible to earn Delta SkyMiles Silver, Gold, or Platinum status with credit cards. If you spend $25,000 on the Platinum or Reserve products, you can get rid of the MQD requirement.

If you spent $60,000 on a Delta Reserve Card, you would be able to earn 30,000 MQMs.

• That’s more than enough for Silver status
• That puts you 20,000 MQMs from Gold status
• That puts you 45,000 MQMs from Platinum status

Credit cards are used to earn Delta SkyMiles Diamond status.

You need to spend $15,000 on Delta ticket purchases in a year before taxes and fees in order to get Diamond status, or you need to spend $250,000 on credit cards annually to get that waive.

If you want to get Diamond status with the help of credit cards, you should go all-in. It's the best strategy to go all-in here.

• Spend $240,000 across the personal and business Reserve cards, so you’d be looking at earning 120,000 MQMs
• You’d then want to spend an extra $10,000 to get the MQD waiver (you’d then be spending $250,000 per year on these cards), so that you don’t have to spend $15,000 on Delta flights to earn Diamond status

It should be easy to be 5000 MQMs short of Diamond status. There are a lot of big catches here.

• There’s a massive opportunity cost to spending that much on a Delta card, since you can earn more valuable rewards with other cards
• You have to decide how much value you’d actually get out of Diamond status; if you take just a few flights per year with Delta, it’s probably not worth it

Delta MQMs can be shared with others if you spend them with a credit card. You can choose what account you want to use. You can get a card from your spouse, parent, sibling, friend, or both.

Delta offers rollover Medallion MQMs

If you over qualify for a status level over the course of a year, Delta will roll your miles over to the next year.

You only need 25,000 MQMs to get Silver status if you end the year with 45,000. In the next year, 20,000 MQMs would be rolled over.

That can also be used in this strategy.

The Delta Reserve Card is the best way to return money if you want to earn Delta Skymiles. You can earn 60,000 MQMs by spending $120,000 on the card in a year.

If you spent $120,000, you would get a total of 130,000 Skymiles and 60,000 MQMs. I think SkyMiles is worth 1,320 of concrete value in miles and the value of the MQMs.

One of the best credit cards for everyday spending is one of the alternatives.

• The Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) can offer 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent; on $120,000 of spending I would value that at $3,060 (to me Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1.7 cents each), meaning with the Reserve you’d be giving up about $1,740 of “value,” but you’d be getting 60,000 MQMs
• The Citi® Double Cash Card (review) can offer 2x ThankYou points per dollar spent; on $120,000 of spending I would value that at $4,080 (to me ThankYou points are worth 1.7 cents each), meaning with the Reserve you’d be giving up about $2,760 of “value,” but you’d be getting 60,000 MQMs
• The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) can offer 2x Venture miles per dollar spent; on $120,000 of spending I would value that at $4,080 (to me Capital One miles are worth 1.7 cents each), meaning with the Reserve you’d be giving up about $2,760 of “value,” but you’d be getting 60,000 MQMs

You can simplify it even more by earning SkyMile and MQMs at certain thresholds.

If you value SkyMiles at 1.1 cents and consider the opportunity cost of spending to be 2.5%-3.4%, you're essentially paying 2.6 cents per MQM. Diamond status is paid at that rate of $3,625-5,750.

Everyone will account for the costs differently, based on how much value they get out of card perks, so that's not accounting for the annual fee on the cards.

Delta makes it possible to earn SkyMiles Medallion elite status by using credit card spending and flying. If you have a co- branded credit card with MQM earning potential, you can get Silver, Gold, or Platinum Medallion status.

It is possible to earn Diamond status if you put enough spending on Delta co- branded credit cards. You would want to spend at least $250,000 so that you could get the waiver.

You should consider the Delta SkyMiles ® Reserve American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles ® Reserve Business American Express Card if you want to become a Delta SkyMiles Medallion.

How much do you use Delta Amex cards to earn Medallion status?