Delta has been a leader during the pandemic in extending elite status, but those days are officially over.
You’ll need to spend more on Delta in 2023 to earn 2024 status:
- If you want top-tier Diamond status you’ll need to spend $20,000 on flights (MQDs) in addition to flying 125K miles (MQMs) or 140 segments (MQSs), up from $15,000. You can waive the Diamond flight spending requirement if you spend $250,000 on Delta credit cards.
- If you want Platinum status you’ll need to spend $12,000 on flights in addition to flying 75K miles or 100 segments, up from $9,000. You can waive the flight spending requirement if you spend $25,000 on Delta credit cards.
- If you want Gold status you’ll need to spend $8,000 on flights in addition to flying 50K miles or 60 segments, up from $6,000. You can waive the flight spending requirement if you spend $25,000 on Delta credit cards.
- If you want Silver status you’ll need to spend $3,000 on flights in addition to flying 25K miles or 30 segments, unchanged. You can waive the flight spending requirement if you spend $25,000 on Delta credit cards.
That’s a 33.3% increase to earn top-tier status, a status that was recently devalued to make its upgrade certificates much less valuable than American’s or United’s.
On the plus side, Delta continues to award MQDs, MQMs, and MQMs on award tickets, so for example a 100,000 mile award redemption would earn 1,000 MQDs and MQMs based on the distance flown.
Delta members whose primary residence is outside of the US don’t need to meet the MQD spending requirement.
Delta will also offer the following choice benefits for Platinum and Diamond members:
United’s elite spending and flight requirements for 2022 were similar to Delta’s:
I’d expect that United will raise those requirements for 2023 to at least Delta’s levels, if not all the way to pre-pandemic levels. By the first quarter of next year, airlines should have a handle on how much travel has recovered and can offer another starter bonus as they did this year should it be needed.
American is the real wild card here, as they ditched all flight spending requirements in favor of loyalty points, which means you can earn top-tier status from credit card spending, though you won’t get systemwide upgrade certificates unless you have 30 flight segments. Luckily, award segments qualify for that.
You need to earn 30K loyalty points for Gold, 75K for Platinum, 125K for Platinum Pro, and 200K for Executive Platinum.
I think that they will keep those levels at least for another year as members adjust to the game changing loyalty scheme, but if they have too many elites they can certainly raise those levels by 20-30% to thin the herd.
Do you try to earn airline elite status or do you just book the best option for each flight?
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10 Comments On "Delta Hikes Requirements To Earn Elite Status, Will Other Airlines Match?"
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Now that would be a real status match!!!
With the way ticket prices were this summer it shouldn’t be that hard 🙁
Thanks 🙂
BA reduced their amount of Tier Point requirements to teach status untill 31 Dec 2022. I managed to qualify for top tier BA Gold now, second year running after taking couple return flight to USA from TLV with stopping in London.
In my opinion, they were the easiest to reach, especially silver which gives you access to all one world lounges and extra luggage on all one world flights
I try to earn airline status.
The real wild card is how badly the inflation scene and asset depreciation (negative wealth effect) scene hit air travel demand. American consumers have had some protection due to the strong US Dollar, but in real terms the incomes and wealth of Americans have dropped, and US businesses are slower to return to the skies than the airlines had previously anticipated. A potential hard-landing for the economy in the US and around the world has lots of businesses looking at business travel as a budget item to more tightly control; and travel freezes are not all that slow to hit when management is trying desperately to deliver to earnings expectations.
I think it’s a better deal to get top tier with credit card with Delta then with AA it’s an extra 50k spend and you get all the benefits no need to fly 30 segments
What about JetBlue mosaic by spending the 50k on the credit card. It seems American will match with elite status. Would delta match status based on mosaic earned through cc spending. It seems there may still be some requirements to “meet the challenge” but trying to figure out if getting the mosaic can help with status on multiple airlines.
for the choice benefits, were is the upgrade cert? or this is just extras?
I just read something about status match from various airlines to delta to retain status in delta. How does this work (from aa platinum)? I am $804 mqd’s short of retaining silver