Several Delta SkyMiles® American Express cards allow members to (at least partially) earn their way to Medallion status each year.
One tool is spending $25,000 in eligible purchases across eligible Delta Amexes. This allows you to skip Delta’s MQD requirements for various status levels (Silver: $3,000; Gold: $8,000. Platinum: $12,000.) A mere $250,000 in card spending is required if you want to earn Diamond. (But it’s probably more cost-effective to actually spend $20,000 on Delta flights or take a few partner mileage runs.)
There’s also another perk to meeting your prescribed Delta Amex spending threshold: doing so serves as a tie-breaker in the great Delta upgrade hierarchy. (It’s #5 on the list, after Delta Corporate Travelers and before Million Miler Status.)
But how can people quickly reach the $25,000 (or $250,000) MQD waiver? It’s a question we occasionally receive, so let’s tackle it.
Quick Warning: Don’t Spend What You Can’t Afford
Let me be very clear about this: elite status is not worth going into debt. Don’t charge a bunch of purchases on your credit card hoping you can make enough money to pay them off.
Only spend money you actually have. Trust me.
Which Delta Amex Cards are Eligible?
First things first: before you go wild and spend a bunch of money on your credit cards, let’s make sure you have at least one eligible Delta Amex.
Cumulative spending made on one or across the four below cards count toward the Delta Amex MQD waiver:
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
Purchases on a Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card will not count toward your MQD waiver spend if those are the only Delta Amexes you hold.
But if you have at least one of the Delta Platinum or Reserve credit cards, then your Delta Gold Amex spend will count against your MQD waiver.
In other words, if you have a Delta Gold card — and it’s your only Delta Amex — but spend $25,000 on it, your MQD waiver accrual will be $0. Ouch.
But if you get a Delta Reserve or Delta Platinum card, that $25k spend on the Gold will earn your MQD waiver.
With that, here are some of the major ways to rack up those SkyMiles — and the MQD waiver!
Use Your Delta Amex for All Purchases
Use your eligible Delta American Express card for every purchase if you’re serious about earning the $25,000 MQD waiver through Delta Amex spend alone.
That means potentially passing up better earnings on other cards. For example, the no-annual-fee Chase Freedom Flex℠ earns 3X on dining purchases (including food delivery services). The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card gets you only 2X.
But if that’s OK with you, then party on!
There are exceptions, of course. For example, card_name members may earn up to $10 monthly in statement credit when using their card to pay eligible U.S. wireless providers. If you hold the Amex Business Platinum card, consider putting $10 of your payment on that card and the balance on your eligible Delta Amex. (This is what I do.)
Prepay Your Bills
Bills. We all got ’em.
If you have enough money to prepay some (or all) of your bills, this is potentially a great way to knock out a chunk of your $25,000 MQD Waiver. (This assumes American Express is accepted as a form of payment.)
Think of all the darn bills many of us pay:
- Cell phone/wireless service (I added some extra money to my Verizon payment the other day.)
- Utilities
- Power
- Gas
- Water
- Public Services
- Cable-Satellite-Streaming
- Keep in mind there are usually some Amex Offers for streaming that pop up from time to time
- Internet
Consider prepaying as many of your bills as reasonably possible. I can’t remember when a company or utility said, “Nope! Do not give us more of your money! We won’t have such nonsense!”
Again: only prepay as much as you can reasonably afford. Don’t forgo eating for a week or shiver in the cold because you’re out of money — all in the name of elite status. If you can’t prepay something, don’t.
Buy Delta Gift Cards
If you know you’re going to eventually shell out money for purchasing Delta airfare, consider buying Delta e-gift cards now and saving them for later. Up to five (5) Delta gift cards can be redeemed at a time online (or more if you call Delta’s reservations phone number).
You can buy them directly from Delta, eGifter (you may earn some cashback through them, too), Amazon, grocery stores, and some other places that sell gift cards.
Remember that Delta gift cards:
- don’t expire
- earn MQM, MQD, and MQS
- earn redeemable SkyMiles
Insurances
Some people have several insurance policies, others don’t.
Many car-boat-motorclye-RV insurance companies accept American Express. (Our medical insurance company doesn’t, unfortunately.)
If you have homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, as your provider if they accept credit card payments. (I remember when René had a mortgage, he had the homeowner’s broken out. He used Ameriprise to pay it.)
Sadly, my life insurance company doesn’t take credit cards (ugh, my life insurance provider is killing me! 😉 ).
Taxes
Bills, insurances, and now taxes?
I know, I know. But think of the legroom and free drinks you’ll enjoy when you reach elite status.
I know some people who earn plenty of points/miles and MQD waiver headway using their Delta Amex to pay their property taxes.
I pay any federal or state income taxes each year (personal and/or business) online and use a credit card when it makes sense. Most processing fees are in the 2.2-2.8%-ish range. Again, if you want to hit the $25,000 waiver ASAP, paying your taxes is one way to help do it. You’ll take a slight hit financially. It might be worth it to you. Or it might not.
Kiva
Kiva is a 501(c)3 U.S. nonprofit organization facilitating microloans to entrepreneurs worldwide. For example, you can loan $25 (or more) to someone in the Dominican Republic whose food business needs to purchase more supplies to stay in business. Or loan $25 (or more) to a business in the United States that needs more cash for expenses and overhead. Or…
Kiva accepts payments/donations through PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. There are no credit card fees for these transactions. And those loans code as purchases. See? Everyone wins! (Potentially. We’ll get to that in a minute.) When a borrower pays you back through Kiva, you can withdraw the cash directly to your PayPal account.
Keep in mind these aren’t investments. Kiva loans are just that: loans. They do not accrue interest. You’re doing this because you’re a good person and can float people some money. It will take a while (months to maybe over a year) for you to be paid back.
I’ve made dozens of loans through Kiva. I feel good about it each time.
Have I ever been hosed? Yup. A couple of times. I’ve lost about $80 across the several thousand dollars I’ve loaned over a few years. (Borrowers from the United States have been the flakiest people, FWIW.) But far and away, my experiences are positive.
Greg at FrequentMiler authored a great post about his experiences and best practices for making loans through Kiva. Check it out.
School
Those of us who have kids in school (or if you are in school) know all about shoveling out money for expenses: supplies, activity fees, books, and all that stuff. Before tuition (when applicable). Paying your school purchases is a wonderful way to knock out some of your Delta MQD Waiver.
Reimbursements
Oh, the days when I worked for employers who didn’t issue company credit cards — and reimbursed me for charges I made on the business’ behalf. Flights. Meals. Gasoline. Supplies.
I took a bunch of free trips thanks to those companies.
So, if you’re lucky enough to be reimbursed for job-related expenses, you have struck oil. You probably already figured that out. But if you haven’t asked, give it a shot. The worst that can happen is your boss says no.
Final Approach
A new year means it’s time to start figuring out to earn Delta Medallion status for 2023. If you’re going to do it through Delta Amex spending, I hope our ideas above help a little!
- To see rates and fees for card_name, please visit this link. Terms apply.
- To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
- To see rates and fees for the card_name, please visit this link. Terms apply.
- To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
- To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
- To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
- To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
- To see the rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, please visit this link.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Can you earn MQD$ towards the $15 spend with Jon-branded credit cards? Is the spend just linked to sky miles number? I have large credits on Capital One that I can use to erase purchases. I have a few major flights to buy and should reach diamond. Wanted to see what card I need to use.
Are you talking about using credit card credits toward the $15k MQD for Diamond? Generally, yes. As long as someone (i.e., the credit card or their travel agency) is cutting a check to the airline, you’re in good shape. Whatever promotion the card has running with you (erasing purchases, statement credits, etc.) shouldn’t have anything to do with it.
The Delta AMEX site doesn’t seem to mention gaining MQDs for the Delta AMEX Platinum card. It only mentions gaining MQDs for the Delta AMEX Reserve card. Am I missing something here?
Spending on both the Delta Platinum and Reserve cards counts towards the $25k MQD waiver.
Hold on. You’re advocating paying cell phone bills at 1x with any Delta card instead of Hilton HHonors Business card at 6x? I know the article is about Delta SkyMiles but c’mon!
Jeff, calm down. Yes, this post is about SkyMiles. People will do whatever they want to. (I’m surprised you didn’t freak out on me about 5x on cell phone bills with the Ink Cash instead of the Hilton Card. I feel URs are more valuable than Honors points. But if you disagree, that’s fine. See? It’s not worth getting angry over.)
Will buying a car on my Delta AMEX Platinum card count towards my MQD’s?
It should! But the dealer may get a little cranky with you — and possibly tack on a fee.
If the dealer refuses or says it will add on a fee, say that you’ll walk away and be ready to do so. Be a tough negotiator. Do not accept a fee. Nick at FM bought a car two years ago to max out an Amex Platinum Card sign-up bonus. No fee.
@Lee – A few years back I paid $13,000 with a Credit card (no fee) and $10,000 with Money Orders! https://eyeoftheflyer.com/2016/03/20/can-you-buy-a-new-car-with-a-travel-card-for-points-i-did-well-mostly/
Absolutely not!!!! You’re asterisk needs to be that spending is qualified.
MQDs are spending with Delta not for the MQD waiver with Delta AmEx card spend.
Buying a used Impala doesn’t get the Delta Diamond
Or people can do whatever they want. I’m merely brainstorming here.
“MQDs are spending with Delta not for the MQD waiver with Delta AmEx card spend.”
Right. OK, moving along now…
“Buying a used Impala doesn’t get the Delta Diamond”
True story: I placed the downpayment for my Toyota Highlander on my Delta Reserve card. That counted as eligible spending. I got my SkyMiles and that went toward my Delta Amex MQD Waiver (and my $30 spend for 15,000 bonus MQM).
(Side note: Amex has an auto purchasing program.)
So, if someone has 125,000 MQM and spends $250,000 in qualifying expenses across their eligible Delta SkyMiles Amex cards, they earn Diamond. And if some of that $250,000 came from buying a used Impala, then wonderful.
I’ve typically had dealers say “that’s fine, but only $5-10k.” I usually don’t argue and do whatever the max they’ll allow.
If it’s the Delta BUSINESS Platinum, you would get 1.5X points if the purchase is above $5k.
If it’s the Delta PERSONAL Platinum you would ear 1X. But, depending on the price of the car, you might consider upgrading to the Reserve prior to your purchase. You could potentially earn more MQMs with the Reserve. Do the math.
Chris is absolutely right about “don’t spend more than you can afford.”
I would add a second point: How much value would you capture if you were to use your best non-Delta credit card for all of your purchases? Generally, you would capture more value with non-Delta credit cards. So, what if you were to apply that additional value towards those things that tier status affords? Such as, towards an upgrade or a SkyClub membership? Think about it.
If you have enough rollover miles to make Platinum Medallion next year (2024), do you still have to make the MQD $ requirement to make Platinum? I have both the Reserve which used to be my primary, but now also have the regular Amex Platinum which has become my primary.
You need to either accumulate the prescribed MQD level or meet the Delta Amex MQD Waiver ($25k for Platinum in down)
Delta gift cards do not count towards $25K spend for MQD waiver.
@Tracy – The T&C does state no gift cards count but in practice the only (that I am aware of) real limit that is hard coded not to count is Simons Mall cards i.e. just about everything, including Delta gift cards, does count.
My wife spent about $50,000 on her card. Those waiver icons all lit up. We took a flight to Chicago for about 4000 miles total.
Her account never said she was anything other than a member. January comes along and waiver starts brand new. But again, her account never showed even silver from the waiver. Am I missing something?
@John – The waver is only part of the equation to earn status. You also must have MQMs. Here is the chart on Delta.com
How many MQM did she have to end 2022? And which card(s) did she use to spend the $50k?
Ahhh. She needed another flight to make silver. Her card has a 747 on it.
Ugh, that stinks!
She has a Delta Reserve card.
Well… yesterday (16th) we got an Email thanking us for being Silver Medallion members. I guess they take a while to reconcile such things at the beginning of the year.
Quick clarification questions. Supposing a scenario where I have a Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card as well as a Delta Reserve Personal card and $125k is spent within the year on each of them, has the MQD waiver for Diamond been reached? Additionally, given the yearly status boosts, does this spend level result in 60k MQMs via status boosts per card? If the above is true then essentially by having two Reserve card accounts and accumulating an additional 5k MQMs, I can achieve Diamond status without spending more than $250k cumulatively between cards, correct?
Thanks!
That’s correct!