[UPDATED WITH DELTA COMMENT] Frustrating: Problems With Correct MQM, MQD, and MQS Totals on Delta Award Tickets

We wrote last week about problems getting correct MQM, MQD, and MQS credit on Delta Air Lines reservations involving Regional Upgrade Certificates (RUC) or Global Upgrade Certificates (GUC).

René had this issue — and had to call the Diamond Medallion line to fix his tickets (a number of times for the last one).

Then reader Devin commented:

It’s not just certificates. I was upgraded to first class on every segment of a five-segment itinerary I flew over the weekend (booked with SkyMiles) and got the same message.

René recently returned from another trip — and experienced the same problem as Devin.

So what’s going on?

Quick Background

Delta announced on March 31 that passengers receive 50-75% MQM, MQD, and MQS bonuses depending on the class of service purchased. The changes — dubbed “Medallion Status Accelerators” — are effective for flights flown through December 31, 2021.

And in an unprecedented move, Delta made award tickets eligible for elite status earnings. The promotion was generous on Delta’s part — and a great incentive to get people to fly.

Some Delta Reps Don’t Know About the Medallion Status Accelerators

A common complaint we hear is that some Delta service reps aren’t even aware that award tickets earn MQM, MQD, and MQS this year. That includes Diamond Medallion reps — who are supposed to be some of the best in Delta-land. (Though some of us wonder if reps — no matter how much or little experience they possess — are randomly assigned to callers.)

René called the Diamond Medallion line — and heard the same gist from several reps: The reason you didn’t get any Medallion earnings is that this was an award ticket. Award Tickets don’t earn any miles. I confirmed this with the help desk.

At that point, he directed them to Delta’s website.

(In case you need to do the same thing, give the phone rep this address: “www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/medallion-program/medallion-accelerator“)

So elite status phone reps weren’t aware of this rather important change to Medallion rules — one announced more than two months ago, at that.

A supervisor told René it currently takes about 30 days after completing an award trip for Medallion earnings to post. (You can also call Delta and ask them to manually re-queue your ticket for processing. That seems to do the trick – – sometimes – – but not always, sad to say .)

So it seems to be a Delta IT issue.

Shouldn’t This Have Been Ironed Out?

Delta made its big announcement on March 31. And on the Medallion Accelerator page Delta says, “For travel on April 1, 2021 – May 15, 2021, the bonus MQMs, MQSs and MQDs will be retroactively credited to your account by May 31, 2021.”

So everything should work by now. Alas, it doesn’t.

Delta presumably made the customer-friendly change to encourage people to fly again — and use their SkyMiles. But for those who care about elite status, this doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. 

A Delta PR spokesperson told us:

• A small number of customers may have seen a delay in the posting of MQMs, MQSs and MQDs for select Award Tickets. These cases have been identified and the proper balances will be credited automatically to the account by the end of the week, with no action needed from the Member. Moving forward, bonuses for MQMs and MQDs will be credited to your account after you have flown.

• MQSs are functioning as expected. As a reminder, partial MQSs won’t post until the next whole segment is flown.

PS – As a side note, René has not reached out to the Medallion line about his wife’s tickets and as of today they all show ZERO MQM, MQD, and MQS even though Renés has now, at last, updated correctly. Bottom line is you must call, often many times and endure long hold times, if you want the points Delta has promsed you. 

Featured image: ©iStock.com/Jozsef Soos