Delta Adds New Requirement to SkyMiles Medallion Program

Delta Terminal 3 at JFK

Delta announced significant changes to its SkyMiles frequent flyer program.  The changes, which go into effect on January 1, 2014 for the 2015 calendar year, introduce a new and additional qualification, Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs).

Starting with the 2015 Medallion program, SkyMiles members who live in the United States will need to meet a minimum spend level in order to qualify for Medallion status.  The number of MQDs will be based on the price of the tickets purchased and will be in addition to the Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) or Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs) which are currently used to determine a passenger’s status level.

MQDs are calculated based on the SkyMile member’s total spend on flights that are marketed by Delta (i.e. the flight number has the DL airline code, not a code from a partner airline such as KLM or Air France).  The spend does include surcharges but does not include taxes and fees.   Flights that are ticketed through Delta (which have a ticket number beginning with 006 also count towards the spend requirement.

SkyMiles status levels include silver, gold, platinum, and diamond.  The changes will not impact status for 2013 or 2014.

For silver status, a SkyMiles member will need to spend a minimum of $2,500 in addition to qualifying via MQMs or MQSs.  The thresholds required for gold, platinum, and diamond are $5,000, $7,500, and $12,000 respectively.   SkyMiles members can also meet the requirement by spending $25,000 on a U.S. Delta SkyMiles credit card from American Express.