What Is the Value of Delta Silver Medallion Status? [2023]

Delta Silver Medallion status is the lowest of the SkyMiles Medallion elite status tiers. Delta offers Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond Medallion, and Silver Medallion provides entry-level benefits to the basic frequent traveler.

Most Delta elites are Silver Medallion, with fewer and fewer people achieving the upward ranks. Because of this, it’s important to look at the Silver Medallion benefits and help to place a value on each perk — that way you better understand if you should fly more to earn this beginner level and how you should value higher tiers.

In this post, you’ll find out what Silver Medallion is and how you can earn it, as well as what each of the Silver Medallion benefits is and its value.

Table of contents

How To Earn Silver Medallion Status
Increased Mileage Earning ($200)
Complimentary Medallion Upgrades ($250)
Free Checked Bags ($100)
Priority Check-In ($50)
Preferred Pricing on a CLEAR Membership (Varies, if You Purchase It)
Priority Boarding ($25)
Hertz Car Rental Bonus Miles ($25)
Priority Waitlist ($25)
SkyTeam Elite Status ($100)
Phone Line Priority ($50)
Delta Vacations Savings (Varies, if You Take Advantage of It)
Luggage Tags ($10)
Reclaiming Status After a Life Event ($250)
Final Thoughts

Table of Contents

How To Earn Silver Medallion Status
Increased Mileage Earning ($200)
Complimentary Medallion Upgrades ($250)
Free Checked Bags ($100)
Priority Check-In ($50)
Preferred Pricing on a CLEAR Membership (Varies, if You Purchase It)
Priority Boarding ($25)
Hertz Car Rental Bonus Miles ($25)
Priority Waitlist ($25)
SkyTeam Elite Status ($100)
Phone Line Priority ($50)
Delta Vacations Savings (Varies, if You Take Advantage of It)
Luggage Tags ($10)
Reclaiming Status After a Life Event ($250)
Final Thoughts

How To Earn Silver Medallion Status

Silver Medallion is by far the easiest rank to earn and is very achievable with even just a little bit of flying.

To earn Silver Medallion status, you must fly at least 25,000 miles or 30 segments. For example, a flight from Atlanta (ATL) to Salt Lake City (SLC) to Los Angeles (LAX) is 2 segments.

In addition to miles, Silver Medallion status requires $3,000 spent with Delta, or you can receive a waiver for spending $25,000 on eligible purchases on an American Express co-branded credit card.

For even the most infrequent of business flyers, flying 25,000 miles and spending $3,000 isn’t too terribly difficult.

Increased Mileage Earning ($200)

Each Medallion tier progressively earns more miles based on the fare of your ticket. In a Silver Medallion’s case, they earn 7 miles per dollar spent on flights, which is 2 more miles compared to the non-status SkyMiles earning rate.

This means that a ticket that is $100, excluding taxes and fees, would earn 700 miles. Assuming one spends the required $3,000 per year to earn Silver, that’s a minimum of 21,000 miles — nearly enough for a one-way first class ticket at a low mileage rate, or a round-trip coach ticket at a low mileage rate.

Because Delta uses a dynamic pricing system, it’s tough to specifically place a value on each mile earned, but for the most part, you can expect at least a one-way journey to be earned.

Complimentary Medallion Upgrades ($250)

One of the most coveted benefits of being a Medallion member is the opportunity to receive unlimited complimentary upgrades to Delta first class or Delta One within the U.S. and nearby international destinations.

Silver Medallions are eligible for upgrades beginning 24 hours from the flight, so they’re the last to be upgraded after Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Medallions.

You can receive upgrades on all paid tickets, with the exception of E fares (basic economy), all award tickets, Miles + Cash tickets (when you use a combination of cash and miles to cover the total of a ticket), and Pay with Miles tickets (when you use miles to cover the cash cost of a ticket).

Depending on the upgrade, you can be moved up at different times:

For Delta One upgrades, such as New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX), you can receive an upgrade as early as the day of departure. Remember, you’ll be behind all Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Medallions.
For first class upgrades, you can receive an upgrade as early as 24 hours from departure.
For Delta Comfort+ Upgrades (Delta’s version of an extra-legroom economy class seating), you can upgrade starting 24 hours from the flight.
You won’t receive a Comfort+ seat at the time of booking, but may be able to move into such a seat within 24 hours of the flight, which is important as these seats are more comfortable than regular economy class seats. Moving into one of these seats gets you additional legroom, but also allows you to continue to upgrade to the first class cabin, which has even better seats.
For Clase Premier (first class) upgrades on select Aeromexico-operated flights, you can upgrade as early as 24 hours from departure. To be upgraded on Aeromexico, you must have your SkyMiles number in your reservation and you’ll automatically be added to the upgrade list.
- If you don’t clear in advance, you can request to be added to the airport list at check-in with an agent. No Medallion members are allowed to upgrade to AeroMexico Plus, its extra-legroom economy class seating.
You can also upgrade a companion on any flight where you are seeking to upgrade to Delta One, first class, or Delta Comfort+. In these cases, it costs no extra miles or money to upgrade a companion, though due to the availability of seats, it may be more difficult to upgrade 2 people over 1.
- You’re allowed to upgrade a companion on all paid tickets, except basic economy, award tickets, Miles + Cash tickets, Pay with Miles tickets, and SkyMiles companion certificates.

You cannot receive a complimentary upgrade to Delta Premium Select or Delta One products outside of the U.S.

Delta First Class Meals Food — One perk of sitting in first class is a complimentary meal. All Delta Medallions are eligible for complimentary upgrades on select routes. Image Credit: Delta Air Lines

Here’s how Delta prioritizes upgrades:

By Medallion status, the first and most important differentiator.
By fare class, with costlier fare classes receiving priority over cheaper fares.
By Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card cardholders, with cardholders receiving priority over non-cardholders.
By Delta corporate travelers, when you include the corporate ticket designator on the ticket.
By SkyMiles members who complete the $25,000 spending in a year to waive the Medallion Qualification Dollars component to status.
By the date and time of the upgrade request, the last and least important indicator.

Using this logic, here are a few common upgrade scenarios:

A Diamond Medallion on a lower fare will always receive an upgrade over a Platinum Medallion on a higher fare.
A Silver Medallion with a pricier ticket will receive an upgrade over another Silver Medallion with a cheaper ticket.
A Silver Medallion who completes the $25,000 of spending in a year to waive the Medallion Qualification Dollars component will receive priority over a Silver Medallion who doesn’t, assuming the fare class of the ticket is the same, and both are or aren’t Delta Reserve cardholders.

While Silver Medallions will be at the bottom for upgrades, they can possibly receive a seat up front, especially on not-so-popular routes, and less preferred times of the week.

Some simple tips for increasing your odds of receiving an upgrade are:

Flying when others are not flying. Avoid peak travel days where a lot of business travelers are flying and you’re competing for upgrades.
Usually, an upgrade out of a hub is much more difficult than an upgrade to a hub, depending on the city. Keep this in mind as you book travel.
Having the Delta Reserve card increases your chances of an upgrade when both your Medallion status and ticket fare class are the same.
Choose larger planes, when possible. It’s easier to receive an upgrade on a 767 from ATL to LAX than a 737, which has a smaller premium cabin.

In general, it can be harder to secure an upgrade on Delta than on other airlines. Since every elite is eligible for an upgrade, every Silver Medallion member is vying for the same upgrades, resulting in much more competition for desirable seats.

Hot Tip: You should also be aware that Delta prices its first class cabins very competitively, and in many cases, the price difference between its economy class and first class product may be only a few dollars.

As a Silver Medallion, you can receive a domestic Delta One upgrade on the day of departure. Image Credit: Delta Air Lines

Free Checked Bags ($100)

One of the more expensive costs of travel is checked bag fees. As a Silver Medallion, you will get your first checked bag free “when traveling on a Delta or airline partner flight,” according to Delta.

This is good for yourself and up to 8 travel companions, which can be significant savings depending on where you’re traveling to. This is good for all flights, both domestic and internationally.

Your carry-on luggage is free, but a first checked bag under 50 pounds on Delta is $30 and a second checked bag will cost you $40.

So, for a group of 8 people traveling, that’s a $240 cost to check 8 bags when a Silver Medallion can get these for free.

Delta Baggage — All Medallion members get at least 1 free checked bag on Delta flights. Image Credit: Delta Air Lines

Baggage should be among the first to come out as these bags are tagged with a special tag at check-in to indicate to the ground handlers that the bags should take priority.

Delta generally does a good job of getting these bags out on time. Also, Delta offers a 20-minute bag guarantee where you can earn 2,500 SkyMiles as a form of compensation if your bag isn’t on the claim belt within 20 minutes of the plane touching the ground.

Hot Tip: If you’re looking for more information about baggage fees, explore our in-depth guide on Delta’s baggage fees.

Priority Check-In ($50)

When you’re at the airport, you’ll have access to dedicated priority queues to help check you in faster.

It all depends on the type of airport you’re in:

In most hub airports, there are lines specifically dedicated to Silver Medallions, separate from a SkyPriority lane.
In many non-hub airports, there are SkyPriority lanes that also specifically list Silver Medallion. While Silver Medallions aren’t usually entitled to SkyPriority benefits, some smaller airports combine all premium travelers into 1 lane due to limited traffic.

Preferred Pricing on a CLEAR Membership (Varies, if You Purchase It)

CLEAR is a program that allows you to speed through the ID and boarding pass verification process before entering the metal detectors at U.S. airports.

Essentially, instead of standing in line to present your ID and boarding pass to a TSA agent, you enter a CLEAR lane where your fingerprints or irises are scanned, along with your boarding pass.

This is a much quicker option than having to speak with a TSA agent at a podium. Assuming your details check out, you can then proceed to the metal detectors for screening.

Silver Medallion members can get CLEAR for $149 for the year, which is $40 in savings off of the full-price membership.

Bottom Line: CLEAR operates in many Delta airports and can well be worth the $80 savings a year when you can access your gate faster by speeding through security.

Priority Boarding ($25)

Silver Medallion members receive priority boarding privileges. However, it’s worth noting that they are far from the first to board the aircraft.

Per Delta, here is the boarding order:

Boarding Order	Eligibility
Pre-Boarding	Customers needing assistance or additional time to board Active-duty U.S. military personnel with ID
Delta One	Delta One customers
First Class or Delta Premium Select	First class customers Diamond Medallion members Delta Premium Select customers
Early boarding for customers traveling with car seats and strollers
Delta Comfort+	Delta Comfort+ customers
SkyPriority	Platinum Medallion members Gold Medallion members Flying Blue Platinum and Gold members Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold members GOL Smiles Diamond members SkyTeam Elite Plus members
Main Cabin 1	Silver Medallion members Delta Corporate Travelers Priority Boarding Trip Extra customers Cardholders of: Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card Delta Reserve card Flying Blue Silver members Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Silver members GOL Smiles Gold members SkyTeam Elite members
Main Cabin 2	Main cabin customers
Main Cabin 3	Main cabin customers booked in T, X, and V fares
Basic Economy	Basic economy customers (E)

Note from Delta’s boarding chart: Silver Medallion members will not have a dedicated Priority Boarding zone on Delta flights departing Amsterdam (AMS) and Paris (CDG) due to Air France-KLM boarding policies.

Delta Silver Medallion members are the first main cabin group to board, behind all other elite customers and those seated in the premium cabin. They are ahead, however, of those seated in Main Cabin 2 and 3.

On many hub-to-hub flights, it won’t be surprising to see Silver Medallions board midway through the boarding process due to a large number of higher elite customers onboard.

Hertz Car Rental Bonus Miles ($25)

This is a very minor benefit, but as a Silver Medallion, you earn 1,000 bonus SkyMiles for every qualified rental when you rent through Hertz.

Most flight rewards start at a minimum of 5,000 miles, and generally, these are off-peak days with not-so-popular flights. So you’d need to rent 5 times from Hertz to even receive 1 of these free flights. This said, free points are better than no points!

Priority Waitlist ($25)

If you’re trying to purchase a ticket on a particular flight, Silver Medallion customers can get on a priority waitlist if their particular class of service is not available.

This waitlist is ordered by status, and like most things, Diamonds come first, followed by Platinum and Gold Medallions. In most cases, there won’t be too many people trying to waitlist for a sold-out class of service on a paid ticket.

Bottom Line: If a seat becomes available in the class of service you want to book, Medallion members have first dibs on booking before it is released back into the general booking pool.

SkyTeam Elite Status ($100)

The SkyTeam alliance has 2 alliance-wide status levels: SkyTeam Elite and SkyTeam Elite Plus. Both levels offer benefits across all SkyTeam carriers, no matter which class of service you’re flying.

SkyTeam Elite is the lower of the 2 levels and offers the most basic benefits.

These include:

A priority reservation waitlist, where you can standby for a sold-out flight and receive priority over other passengers for a seat that may become available.
Preferred seating, which will be different depending on the carrier. Some SkyTeam airlines offer extra legroom seats free of charge, while others simply offer better-located seats (without extra legroom). Yet others simply offer a free seat selection but no premium seating options.
Priority check-in counters, which usually mean access to business class or similar lanes. This is great because it means customers can bypass the long queue of economy class passengers to check-in or check a bag much more quickly.
Priority boarding lanes, which usually mean you’re among the first to board the aircraft, though typically this follows premium cabin seating and also SkyTeam Elite Plus passengers. Usually, this also means you can board at your leisure, so if you get to the gate after boarding has been called, you can still speed through the process in a separate priority lane.
Extra baggage allowance, which varies by airline. Typically, you can always check at least 1 bag for free no matter the SkyTeam airline, however, some airlines allow more.

Hot Tip: SkyTeam Elite status does not come with lounge access, so you must have SkyTeam Elite Plus status in order to access an eligible lounge. There are a number of credit cards with lounge access if that’s important to you.

Phone Line Priority ($50)

Delta Priority Phone — All Medallion members get priority phone handling so that their calls are answered before general members. Image Credit: Delta Air Lines

When you call Delta, as a Silver Medallion, you can speak with an agent much faster than if you were a regular SkyMiles member.

This is especially useful for times where there are significant irregular operations, such as storms, where you need to be able to speak with an agent as fast as possible to get rebooked.

It’s worth noting that these agents typically do not have the power to bend any rules or assist with “breaking” policies — at the Silver Medallion level, it’s all about having access to an agent much quicker than if you weren’t a Silver Medallion.

Hot Tip: The Silver Medallion phone number is 800-323-2323.

Delta Vacations Savings (Varies, if You Take Advantage of It)

This appears to be a standard benefit among all Medallion tiers, but because it is listed as an official benefit, it’s worthwhile to briefly mention it here.

According to Delta, “Save up to $300 per booking with Delta Vacations, even when booking with miles. And remember, you can earn up to 7,500 bonus miles per person with a flight and hotel package.”

Here is the schedule of savings, according to Delta:

$50 savings on vacations of $1,250 to $2,499
$100 savings on vacations of $2,500 to $3,999
$150 savings on vacations of $4,000 to $6,999
$300 savings on vacations of $7,000 or more

Again, this isn’t entirely that useful of a benefit, but it does offer some marginal savings should you decide to book through Delta Vacations.

Luggage Tags ($10)

Sometimes known as “brag tags,” Delta briefly discontinued the distribution of luggage tags to some Medallion members a few years ago, but they’re coming back now!

You’ll receive your Silver Medallion luggage tags in the mail, which you can proudly wear on your luggage, backpack, or anything else you travel with.

This is a great marketing move by Delta and hardly costs them anything to do. With some of Delta’s most frequent flyers circumnavigating the world near-daily, they can display luggage tags on their bags for other travelers to see.

As other folks see them receiving benefits such as free upgrades or priority boarding, they’ll be curious as to how they received them, and the luggage tags help spread goodwill for Delta.

Reclaiming Status After a Life Event ($250)

Delta Premium Select laptop — Reclaiming status is important so you can have access to better seats on your Delta flight. Image Credit: Delta Air Lines

This is a really cool Medallion benefit, and while it won’t provide perks every day, it provides an invaluable benefit at a time when you probably need it the most.

The “Reclaim My Status” is only available to Medallion members, so as a Silver Medallion, you can certainly partake.

Let’s say you have an extraordinary life event — perhaps the birth of a child, a death in the family, having to change jobs, or something else that severely limits your travel. Delta will let you have your status back should you lose it due to an impacting life event.

There are a few important things to keep in mind. According to Delta, to be eligible, “You had Medallion Status during the previous Medallion year, but either lost it completely or moved to a lower Tier of Status.” This means that if you’re a Silver, you would have had Silver Medallion status for 1 year, then had an impacting life event, and then lost Silver Medallion status the following year. The Reclaim My Status benefit would help you get Silver Medallion status back.

To do this, you need to have “documentation to verify a life event occurred which reduced your ability to travel (all life events will be considered).” This could be anything from a birth certificate, death certificate, new job contract, or some other proving paperwork.

When you submit your Reclaim My Status request, you should do so at a time when you’re in a position to fly as much or more than the status you previously held. You’re going to be granted a 3-month period of the status you previously held, no strings attached, but will need to keep up certain requirements to have that status extended for the remainder of the year.

As a Silver Medallion, you must complete both a “fly” and “spend” portion to reclaim status:

Fly 6,250 Medallion Qualifying Miles OR 8 Medallion Qualifying Segments
Spend $750 Medallion Qualifying Dollars, or participate in the Medallion Qualifying Dollar Waiver by spending $25,000 on an eligible American Express co-branded credit card

There are some important dates you should keep in mind, however. According to Delta, if you enroll in Reclaim My Status between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, and meet the required thresholds, your Medallion Status will be extended through January 31, 2025.

Hot Tip: Reclaiming your status as a Silver Medallion probably isn’t worth it since it requires the least amount of flying and also comes with the least amount of benefits.

Final Thoughts

Delta Silver Medallion status is certainly a good entry-level status and comes with a variety of perks for the occasional leisure traveler or business traveler. Throughout the course of the year, you’re looking at approximately $1,085 in value if you use each benefit.

Silver Medallions will get to experience complimentary upgrades, access to reservations agents before general members, and priority check-in privileges, among other benefits, making it very useful for enhancing the travel experience.

Featured Image Credit: Delta

Frequently asked questions

What are the benefits of Silver Medallion status?

There are several Silver Medallion benefits, including:

Unlimited rollover Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs)
7 miles per dollar earned on all purchased tickets
Unlimited complimentary upgrades to Delta One on the day of departure
Unlimited complimentary upgrades to first class beginning 24 hours prior to departure
Unlimited complimentary upgrades to Delta Comfort+ beginning 24 hours prior to departure
Unlimited complimentary upgrades on select routes for companions
Unlimited complimentary upgrades to Class Premier on select Aeromexico flights
Complimentary preferred seats
Priority waitlist status
Waived baggage fees
Priority check-in
Priority boarding
Preferred pricing on CLEAR membership
Dedicated phone line
Reclaim My Status benefits
SkyTeam Elite status
1,000 miles per qualifying rental with Hertz

Does Silver Medallion status expire?

Silver Medallion status does expire if you do not meet the required amount of flying and spend.

That said, each year, you can roll over the EQMs earned beyond status to the next year so it can count for the next year’s elite status. For example, normally Silver Medallion requires 25,000 miles flown in a year, along with a spend requirement to earn status. If you fly 30,000 miles in a particular year, which is not enough to earn Gold Medallion status, 5,000 miles (the difference between 30,000 miles and the required 25,000 miles) will be rolled over into the next qualifying year. Therefore, you will have a 5,000-mile head start on flying the following year and would only need to fly 20,000 more miles to earn Silver Medallion status.

Is Silver Medallion SkyPriority?

Silver Medallion does not normally include SkyPriority benefits. Some airports may not have Silver Medallion check-in queue, and at those airports, if you are a Silver Medallion, you can use the SkyPriority lane. Normally, there are dedicated Silver Medallion lanes at hub airports such as Detroit, Atlanta, or Salt Lake City.

How do I get Delta Silver Medallion?

You must fly either 25,000 miles or 30 segments on Delta or partner airlines, and then either spend $3,000 on Delta or eligible partners or $25,000 on certain co-branded Delta credit cards.

These requirements are annual, and reset each year after December 31, so you must fly the required amount and spend the required amount each year to earn Silver Medallion.

You can also participate in a 1-time status challenge if you have status with another eligible airline and want to start flying Delta. If you have entry-level or higher status with another major carrier, contact Delta and it may be able to match you to Silver Medallion status or higher — that way you can enjoy the perks and benefits upfront while completing some sort of status challenge requirements to keep the status for the months after.

What is Silver Medallion on Delta?

Silver Medallion is the entry-level elite status tier of Delta Air Lines and its Medallion loyalty program. Higher levels include Gold Medallion, Platinum Medallion, and Diamond Medallion.

The status comes with several benefits, including complimentary upgrades, free checked bags, additional bonus miles with every flight, and priority boarding, to name a few.

Silver Medallion status is earned by flying 25,000 Medallion Qualifying Miles, or 30 Medallion Qualifying Segments, and either $3,000 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQD) or spending $25,000 on an eligible co-branded credit card to receive an MQD waiver.

Sending feedback...

Your feedback has been sent. Thank you!

We take your comments very seriously as they really help us to improve the site.

If you'd like to add a comment to this article and share your valuable feedback and opinions, please click here to leave your comment.

We really appreciate it!
- Alex & Erin

An error occurred please try again later

About James Larounis

Jamie first got hooked on miles and points during a high school choir trip to Europe, where he flew in Lufthansa first class (thanks to his dad’s then US Airways miles) because economy was sold out. Years later, he started The Forward Cabin blog to teach friends and family about miles and points and delve deep into the inner workings of airline and hotel programs. He’s helped organize Frequent Traveler University, where he’s spoken in depth about the loyalty programs of American AAdvantage, Amtrak Guest Rewards, Kimpton Inner Circle, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt. In addition, he helps run the twice-a-year Loyalty Summit, a professional conference attended by heads of loyalty programs at major airlines, hotels, and credit card issuers.

Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.

18 comments

Anne Schultz January 24, 2021

I don’t think the Amex app easily displays year to date spending. When I received an email with my 2020 Spending Report imagine my dismay when it showed my spending was $24,770. Just short of the $25,000 needed for Silver Medallion status. I called to see if an adjustment could be made. Considering NO ONE could travel in 2020 I hoped Amex would make an exception. But they would NOT. Thanks Amex for not being there for a loyal customer. It’s been a tough year and I’m in tears knowing I came so close to achieving that status.

Reply
Paul S March 10, 2021

The article is rather confusing; the first section “How to earn silver medallion status” states you need to fly 25,000 miles. It is only after reading the entire article and getting to the FAQ is it clear that you need 25,000 miles *per year*. This is a huge difference and should be clarified.

Personally, I don’t feel this is “very achievable with even just a little bit of flying” as I travel to at least one new country annually, and take 6-8 weeks off a year for travel, yet would struggle to fly 25,000 miles in a year. A domestic flight of 2,000 miles is long, and you would need to complete one of those every month plus a nice international flight just to reach this goal. Not practical for me, certainly not if restricted to just one airline only, as I fly different airlines to different regions of the world, and also based on pricing and schedules.

Reply
- Jarrod West March 10, 2021
  
  Hi Paul,
  
  Thanks for your feedback. Yes, achieving and maintaining airline and hotel elite status requires you to requalify each year.
  
  If you don’t fly enough to reach 25,000 miles in a year, Delta offers credit cards that provide a MQM boost when you spend a certain amount of money on the card each year. Similarly, many of the Delta credit cards mimic the benefits you would receive by having Silver Medallion status like provide a a free checked bag priority boarding, and a discount on in-flight purchase – so that is another great option.
  
  Lastly, you don’t have to do all of your flying with Delta to earn Delta status. Delta is apart of the SkyTeam Alliance, so when you fly with any of their SkyTeam partners and attach your Delta SkyMiles number to the reservation, you’ll earn redeemable Delta miles, MQMs, and MQDs for doing so.
  
  Reply
Delivery boy March 25, 2021

So I am a little confused too. Let’s say I go all out in 2021 and qualify (MQMs and MQDs) for Silver Medallion status, but it takes me until November of 2021 to do it. Does that mean I have this status for just December of 2021 (the remainder of the year)? Is it good for one year from the date it is fully earned? And when do I start the whole qualifying/maintaining process again? Please spell this out better. Thanks.

Reply
- Jarrod West March 26, 2021
  
  Hi Delivery Boy,
  
  Your elite status is good for the remainder of the year in which you qualify, plus all of the following year.
  
  Using your own example, if you qualify for Silver Medallion status in November of 2021, that status will be valid through December of 2022. However, your MQMs, MQS, and MQDs reset on the 1st of each year (except for any rollover MQMs). So while your status will be valid for the entire next year, you’ll need to requalify in order to extend it beyond that.
  
  I hope that is more clear. Thanks for reading!
  
  Reply
  - Deliver boy March 27, 2021
    
    Thanks, Jarrod. So I just received my American Express Delta Skymiles Reserve card yesterday. They sent me an upgrade invitation from my American Express Delta Skymiles Platinum. I am not a heavy traveler, but can use the card for a number of personal charges to qualify so that was appealing to me. I will report back (if I remember!) as to how it goes. I should say I chose this card too because I am in a Delta hub and usually book Delta flights. Thanks.
    
    Reply
    - Jarrod West March 29, 2021
      
      Hi Deliver boy,
      
      That is a great choice! The Delta Reserve card is excellent for helping you reach elite status. Keep us posted on how it works out for you!
      
      Reply
Funmi Adigun July 21, 2021

How many bags is a silver medallion member entitled to and how many pounds for international travel?

Reply
- Jarrod West July 21, 2021
  
  Hi Funmi,
  
  For flights within the US and to Canada, Silver members can bring 1 – 70 pound checked bag. For all other international destinations, you can bring 2 – 50 pound checked bags. Safe travels!
  
  Reply
Kimmie October 20, 2021

What is the best way to accumulate MQDs?

Reply
- Jarrod West October 20, 2021
  
  Hi Kimmie,
  
  The only way to accumulate MQD’s is by spending money on Delta flights, or by getting an MQD waiver by having a Delta credit card from American Express and spending $25,000 on it in a calendar year.
  
  Reply
  - Heather February 8, 2022
    
    Are MQDs earned any time you purchase Delta flights on your Amex Delta Reserve Card for your friends and/or family or only when purchasing Delta flights for yourself?
    
    Reply
    - Jarrod West February 9, 2022
      
      Hi Heather,
      
      You only earn MQDs towards your account when purchasing a flight for yourself.
      
      Reply
Heather February 8, 2022

I have had the Delta Reserve Amex card for almost a year now. As of Jan 15, I only needed 1,024 more MQMs and $10k I’m spending to achieve Silver status.

Here’s my question that I can’t figure out:

I have a flight in a couple of weeks that will allow me to reach my required MQMs after the first leg.

As for the spending requirement, after January’s statement I booked 6 flights for my family and myself to travel to Jamaica this summer which I put on that Amex and put on the “Plan It” option.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Since I booked those flights prior to achieving Silver status, but won’t be paying the payments until after I’ve achieved Silver status, will I be able to receive the Silver miles per dollar spent on Delta flights when I make the payments after reaching Silver status in a couple of weeks? Or am I going to miss out on that since the booking date was prior to reaching Silver?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Reply
- Jarrod West February 9, 2022
  
  Hi Heather,
  
  If you have Silver status at the time that you take the flight then you will receive 7x miles per $1 on your flight. If you have not achieved Silver status at the time of the flight then you’ll receive 5x miles per $1 for your flight.
  
  Safe travels!
  
  Reply
Mike December 12, 2022

Hi,

I have the Delta Reserve Amex Card. I’m currently 5900 MQM’s short with one leg of travel left on the year, which I’ll still be short of reaching MQM. My YTD card spend is currently at 27K. Does 25K in card spend waive both MQD and MQM? Or is that the 30K benchmark?

Thanks!

Reply
- Jarrod West December 13, 2022
  
  Hi Mike,
  
  $25k spend only waives the MDQ requirement. You will still need to reach the MQM threshold. That said, if you spend $30,000 on your card you’ll also receive 15,000 MQMs, which will put you over the threshold.
  
  Reply
  - Mike December 13, 2022
    
    Thanks Jarrod!
    
    Reply

Earn Points

Use Points

Business Credit Card Reviews

Business Guides

Air Travel Guides

Airline Points

Earn & Use Hotel Points

Hotel Loyalty Program Reviews