As you probably know by now, in September, Delta announced some very draconian changes to the SkyMiles program and SkyClub access starting next year (and for qualifying for status in 2025). In October, they announced some changes to those changes in response to a lot of negative feedback from customers. The full info is on the Delta website, but I’ll also give my thoughts here.

Status Qualification:

MQMs (Medallion Qualification Miles) are still going away after the 2024 status year, but Delta has rolled back the number of MQDs (Medallion Qualification Dollars) needed for status qualification starting in 2025. They seem more in line with the other big domestic airlines, but there are now also some ways to shortcut the needed MQD requirements including a 2500 MQD bonus for holding either the business or personal versions of the Delta Reserve or Delta Platinum cards from Amex. Holding even two of these cards would get you Silver without stepping on a plane. Keep in mind Amex has a 5 credit card limit (they do not count charge cards like the Amex Gold and Amex Platinum against this limit) so you have to be a bit strategic if you want other Amex cards that earn other reward points like Membership Rewards earning cards, Hilton cards or Marriott cards (business or personal). Starting in 2024, you will earn 1 MQD for every $10 spent on a Delta Reserve Amex and 1 MQD for every $20 spent on a Delta Platinum Amex. I’m still not sure this spend is generally worth the return, but if you are close to a higher status level, it could be worth spending a bit.

SkyClub Visit Limits:

Starting February 1, 2025, SkyClub visits will be calculated on a 24 hour basis and not a per-visit basis like previously announced. You will also receive 15 Skyclub “days” from Delta Reserve cards and 10 SkyClub “days” from Amex Platinum cards. You can combine multiple cards to increase your SkyClub days. This is a particularly positive change for those who connect and may visit multiple clubs in a day. It’s also great for those who take business trips of less than 24 hours. The $75k spend waiver for unlimited access is still going to be available if you want it, but I would advise against putting all that spend on one of these cards unless you have very high business spend.

MQM Rollovers:

Many of us have a lot of MQMs from all the Covid rollovers. I expect to end this year with about 153k MQMs. After deducting the 75k for my 2024 Platinum status, I’ll have 78k remaining. I can convert those to MQDS next year at a 10:1 ratio (up from the prior announcement of 20:1) or redeemable miles at a 2:1 ratio (or a combo of the two options). If you have more than 100k MQMs remaining after 1/1/2024, you can use those 100k (and multiples of them if you have that many) to maintain your status each year until they run out – this is a huge positive change, but will keep the number of Platinums and Diamonds artificially high for a few more years, which sort of defeats the purpose of the originally announced changes.

Lifetime Status:

There are also positive changes if you have lifetime million-miler status, and you can review those specific changes on the website. If you are close to one of these thresholds now, it may make sense to spend your way there this year as that ability will go away starting January 1, 2024 and it will be purely “butt-in-seat” miles that earn toward million-miler status.

My Opinion:

I think these rollbacks may make it even easier to achieve lower to mid-level status (Silver and Gold) than the current system. Platinum and especially Diamond will require quite a bit more spend so perhaps Delta is OK with Silvers and Golds, but wants fewer high-level elite members. The 100k MQM status rollover option is also very rewarding for those who have spent a lot on Delta cards during the covid era to maintain status. It will be very interesting to see how many people keep or get Delta Reserve cards with the increased number of club visits (although a reduction from the unlimited visits through February 1, 2025) and who spend on these cards to hit MQD thresholds for status beginning next year.

If you enjoyed this post (or have questions), let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.