Want to get a jump on earning Delta Air Lines Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD) for 2025 elite status? (Remember, MQM and MQS are in their final weeks.) Delta will soon give you that opportunity — through physical and online gift shops.
Eye of the Flyer reader “Jon” commented earlier this week, “They’re going to be (essentially) selling MQD for next year for 2 weeks in November in-person at JFK, apparently. There’s a sign up in Terminal 4.” He followed that up with, “The sign says ‘The Window Seat Shop – A store where everything inside is a head start towards earning 2025 Medallion Status.’ Open 11/14 – 11/30.”
Sure enough, Delta launched The Window Seat Shop landing page with the following announcement (H/T pbjag via FT):
Starting 11/14/23, there will be a new way to grow your world.
Inside The Window Seat Shop at JFK, you’ll find items from many of the destinations Delta flies to. From French chocolate, to mochila bags from Colombia, to spices from Egypt, everything at The Window Seat Shop increases your earn toward 2025 Medallion® Status.
Stock up on gifts for the holiday season and get a head start on your 2025 Status. SkyMiles Members can earn $1 Medallion® Qualification Dollar (MQD) for each $1 you spend at The Window Seat Shop. (Bold mine.)
Delta SkyMiles® American Express Card Members can purchase items from The Window Seat Shop online right here starting at 12:00AM (ET) on 11/14/23.
Online access for non-Card Members begins on 11/15/23 at 12:00AM (ET).
That’s all the information we have right now.
Chocolate and Spices: More Useful Than Delta Amex Cards?
Ever since Delta announced its spending-based program for earning Medallion status and ensuing damage control updates, one thing that’s really sort of a head-scratcher for me is the dismal MQD earnings on Delta’s SkyMiles Amex Cards.
- The personal/consumer Delta Reserve Amex and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Cards will each earn $1 MQD for each $10 spent on a card.
- The personal/consumer Delta Platinum Amex and Delta Business Platinum cards will each earn $1 MQD for each $20 spent on a card.
I’m not saying Delta and Amex should award $1 MQD for each dollar spent on a card. But something in the $1 MQD:$7-8 spent would be slightly reasonable. Consider, too, that spending on each of American Airlines’ cobranded cards counts equally toward Loyalty Points. They don’t play the tiered credit card game Delta and Amex will next year.
But you can do way better than that! You’ll score $1 MQD for each dollar spent buying the chocolates, bags, spices, and whatever else will be offered in the Window Seat Shop.
Will you do holiday shopping just for the MQD?
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IF they sell anything I was going to buy anyway – why not? Now that MQD is part of the upgrade list – early spenders/flyers will have better upgrade chances.
I would have been much more impressed if I could earn current MQDs that I could put toward 2024 status.
If we are lucky, maybe the AMEX incidental airline fee credit will work at the site.
It will certainly be handy for folks finding themselves some trivial number of MQD short of a goal. Where else will you be able to grab, say, an extra $27 MQD or exactly however much you need?
Recall when they sent a trial balloon on the whole online travel agency idea? There was a short window where booking hotels and cars via Delta channels would earn MQD. Then the originally-announced set of SkyMiles changes promised to make that MQD-earning permanent starting in 2024. (Those plans were dropped in the updates to the announced changes.)
This strikes me as very much a similar method of testing the waters, and a possible reincarnation of SkyMall catalogs in the seat-back pockets from years past… Perhaps passengers will pay a premium for purchasing products, provided a promise of progress on program privileges and priority in upgrades. (Okay, sorry. Just having a little fun with alliteration, hah.)
While I agree that November is the correct time to try this, I’m hoping it doesn’t last. I’d rather see Delta focus the SkyMiles program around their core business of flying airplanes instead of all these distractions.