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I’m in a bit of a reflective, nostalgic mood. Until a couple of years ago, this was the time of year when I would start hunting for Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM) mileage runs.
I’d be on the mileage run lookout during most of the year. But autumn is when people (sometimes including my wife and I) realized they needed to either score some MQM for a particular status goal that year or pad their balance for Delta’s then-generous rollover MQM model.
It was a fun challenge that was an excuse to fly places, sometimes somewhere random because the points earnings were so good. (These were flights that were already scheduled. Calm down, environmentalists.)
My wife and I once flew Los Angeles to San Francisco to Minneapolis to Dallas to Detroit and back to Los Angeles — in 24 hours. We had a blast and scored a bunch of MQM for a great price. We flew to Tokyo, New York City, Hawaii (Honolulu and Kona), and Europe either on turnarounds or only for a couple of nights. Just because we loved the MQM game, enjoy traveling, and we never got tired of racking up miles and flying to Asia or New York for dinner.
Even finding good First Class deals or buy-ups was fun because those yielded bonus MQM — and we didn’t have to play the upgrade game.
And here’s the real kicker: we earned elite status by — gasp!— actually flying Delta and using their credit cards!
Ah, the good ole days, right?
Since Delta revamped the SkyMiles program two years ago, we’ve spent significantly less money flying Delta and using our Delta SkyMiles® American Express Cards. We spread the love across our Chase, Capital One, and Amex cards. (We’re rewarding Delta’s loyalty to us.)
We’ve given Southwest significantly more business. Even though we don’t love their new business model, we do love my Companion Pass and look forward to using that.
But we do miss the MQM chase.
Do you miss Delta MQM runs?
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I never did any mileage run but on our usually two vacation trips to the US (always starting at FRA) I was glad when we could fly thru ATL for the same (or better) price to wherever we wanted to go, just because this meant more MQMs.
Oh, wherever we wanted to go? Well, when planning our vacations I first looked at flights to somewhere in the West (LAX, SFO, SEA). When I found some more or less cheap flights I then started planning where to finally go for our vacation. Remain somewhere in the west? Or maybe flying to Texas? Or DTW for meeting Rene somewhere in Michiana? Or to New York? Maybe back to ATL to travel around the South?
So no true runs but I tried to maximize MQMs earned. Like when we flew back from DFW to LAX … via … ATL!
Now that distance don’t play any role anymore we will simply fly to where we want to stay … in case we fly to the US at all.
You made me smile. 2018, I was a first time qualifier and flew …. Wait for it…. A segment run from a hub to Boston and back for $100RT to get the last two segments to qualify for Silver out of a hub. I know. Rookie move. it was fun. I knew a vendor in my industry that traveled to a ton of trade shows and the like and his house was halfway between a hub and a regional airport and he would book his tickets thru the hub and into the regional airport to get two additional segments on every trip. That’s how he made medallion every year. No spend required.
Our group of five DIA fliers did the exact same thing. While we flew a lot for work, crazy mileage runs to get over the line were all for fun. And not one of us has done crazy travel since. Beijing, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore – people can blame the tourism fall on the economy all they want – DL may blame some of it on revamping the SkyMiles program.
Ah, yes, mileage runs. You never knew where you were going next, but you always knew you’d accumulate a bunch of miles toward elite status. There was also a thrill when finding a good mileage run deal, as there were always crazy people who would go along. That’s because the goal was a common goal, and many friendships were formed as a result. When working full-time, it was also a great weekend activity you could anticipate with excitement. MQD runs are pale in comparison. Yes, I miss mileage runs.
Not doing mileage runs and clearly Ed doesn’t give a sh*t about loyalty. As a longtime DM – I never get an upgrade in the 5 day window – just an upsell message with a ridculous cost. Delta’s hard product is scattered and not good; especially internationally. I flew to Rome last month in D1 on a 35 yo 767 with Song like TVs. I am 100K miles short of 3mm and will get DM for life (until they introduce a new level) and will start shopping around with other airlines. Delta is essentially Amex Airlines – so sad
I agree. I flew 4 or 5 runs a year and it was fun. Sad they are gone.
My longest was Miami-LA-Vancouver-Toronto-Amsterdam-Dubai-CapeTown-Paris-Atlanta-Miami, no stopovers. Longest layover was about 5 hours. But all legs were in business lie-flats and all for under $3k (JuicyMiles) and an insane number of MQM. It was FUN!
I too miss the Autumn mileage run. HNL, LAS, JFK SEA, then home was a memorable trip. This year I am oh so close to retaining DM and have scheduled a “run” to get me over the $$$ requirement. A fun run that I had considered for next year but moved it up to this year. Been DM for 15 years but will probably settle on whatever level I achieve with normal flying after 2026.
Honestly, this is part of the fun of doing the JetBlue 25 for 25. Figuring out how to do the 25 destinations with a combination of natural travel and destination runs. Never had a reason to go to Puerto Rico, but the challenge and flights to there made for some interesting routings like doing PVD-TPA-SJU just to pick up the connecting destination.
I too miss the running. Took several with Rene and several other group members. Last one to Brussels with a big group.
I totally miss mileage runs. I loved going to Sydney, Singapore or Johannesburg for a quick turnaround. Miss flying sone awesome partner Airlines that I normally wouldn’t have. The best trips are when friends agree to join you to get their miles too.
Seems like Delta could do something to open up MQM (MQD?) runs for limited times or certain locations during off-peak times to fill otherwise empty seats and reward those of us who have almost given up on the Medallion qualification game. But maybe they don’t need us anymore. Really sad that the only thing I consistently get from being Diamond is a thank you from most employees. But, they have to say that don’t they?
I’m still doing mileage runs. 5 cpm. All domestic. 2 MM within 3 months. Trying to reach 3MM by Feb 2031 when my MQM Diamond extension runs out. Still having fun with Delta cabin crews
Have made many MR thru the years but now that I am lifetime Diamond and my wife lifetime Platinum that is not necessary anymore and I can enjoy my travel and spend some SM and use up my gift cards and enjoy global upgrades and lifetime Executive lounge privileges, Made some wonderful friends on those MR and made many to SIN. When getting my boarding pass for the return flight from SIN would have to see ssecurity before going to transit desk and they would say great to see you again. Even though I lived on west coast would often start trips at JFK or MCO to get more miles. Still enjoy trawling and am writing this from SIN arrived at 6 am yesterday and will stay longer to see friends.
Long participation in software standards creates a lot of sorta-MR opportunities to meetings and created friendships in international places. It was fun to “optimize” trips to keep up DM over the years, and now with lifetime Diamond it’s less about gaming to accumulate and more for my wife and I to extend continuing meeting trips for new places and to meetup with lifetime friends.
Great post, Chris. Fall does bring out the nostalgia, doesn’t it?
I too miss the golden age of mileage runs, those glorious days when airlines (AA and Delta for me) practically begged us to take excess inventory off their hands. I remember those creative NRT and SIN runs via KL and AF the “wrong way around and back” for the MQMs (and MQDs). It was like treasure hunting at a salvage grocer. (Pro tip: still avoid the meat sticks.)
Now Delta’s (and others) ‘solved for X’ and every seat yields the maximum profit per mile, and it’s all about dollars and not so much about the frequency of our decision to fly their airline – often in impractical conditions. The game continues, but the social contract feels broken. I’ll still fly, but after thirty years, ‘loyalty’ has become a very loose term.
The irony? They’ve optimized us right out of caring to play.
Thanks, Cory! I’m a fall birthday, wedding anniversary, and other milestones, so I’m generally extra contemplative (and moody) this time of year!
300,000+ Diamonds. You mean nothing
Wow, talk about reading my mind? Last week my wife and I were sitting in the E Sky Club in ATL and – randomly – I turned to here and said, “You know what I miss? Mileage runs.” So, as long as we’re comparing…uh…size…my longest was: EWR-BOS-CVG-ATL-ELP. Then back was ELP-ATL-DTW-EWR. Not as wild as some of you, I’m sure. The good thing about being out of the NYC-area was the amount of little trips you could take and still get the 500 MGM minimum. Any NYC airport to BOS was worth 1000 roundtrip. Yeah…I totally miss them!