Purchased upgrades are eligible for bonus MQMs based on the class of service flown. You’ll earn miles and Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) credit based on the cabin flown and the cash amount of the ticket purchased, excluding taxes and fees. Discounted First, Delta Premium Select, Business, and Premium Main Cabin tickets (P, A, G, C, D, I, Z, Y, and B fares) are eligible for a 50% MQM bonus. Here’s Delta’s official word on MQM bonuses and how they’re earned.įull fare First and Business Class tickets (F, J fares) are eligible for a 100% MQM bonus. As a result, earning MQM bonuses for higher classes of service can play a huge role in pushing you closer to a higher tier of status without needing to fly more. That’s in addition to earning a certain number of Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs). Unless you’re qualifying with segments, you need 25,000 MQMs to reach Silver, 50,000 to reach Gold, 75,000 to reach Platinum and 125,000 to reach Diamond. What’s an MQM bonus? Delta’s 747-turned-museum at its Atlanta headquarters (Photo by Darren Murph / The Points Guy)Īs a quick refresher, the number of MQMs you earn in a calendar year is a critical metric for earning elite status with Delta.
#DELTA RESERVE MQM BONUS UPGRADE#
Nevertheless, Bastian recently confirmed that “ over 30,000” upgrades were purchased using SkyMiles during the first three weeks of it becoming an option, and I wanted to give it a go on a trip to learn more about the process, see if any IT kinks remained and crucially, to understand if an upgrade paid for purely in miles would land me bonus Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) for upgrading into a higher tier of service. For example, those who jumped on a recent deal to the Maldives were able to exchange 100,000 SkyMiles for a business class ticket that sells for between $5,000 and $10,000, representing a value of 5+ cents per SkyMile. I encourage Delta flyers to exchange SkyMiles for an award ticket - ideally during a SkyMiles award sale - where you can receive outsized value for each mile. TPG values each SkyMile at 1.2 cents, which means that using SkyMiles for a seat upgrade at 1 cent per SkyMile is a relatively poor value. Pricing is dynamic and pegged to whatever the cash price of the upgrade is, with Delta generally pricing mileage upgrades such that each SkyMile is worth approximately 1 cent. I’ve seen Delta offer upgrades from Main Cabin to Comfort+ as well as to First Class.
#DELTA RESERVE MQM BONUS FREE#
He’s been on a steady march to give Delta passengers more ways to burn their miles, though many of those offer a poor value compared to exchanging SkyMiles for a free award seat. In late 2018, Delta CEO Ed Bastian got his wish as SkyMiles seat upgrades went live. Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available.