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Here we are: our first official mileage-status run for earning 2026 Delta SkyMiles Medallion elite status! This is a mini-vacation from Los Angeles (LAX) to Dubai (DXB) in Premium Economy — and there’s plenty of time to position to/from LAX if you don’t live in the L.A. area.
It’s sort of like a sampler platter of several Delta co-owned airlines: KLM, Air France, and Delta itself!
LAX to Dubai Mileage-Status Run/Mini-Vacation
The trip we found departs LAX on Wednesday, March 5, and gets you to Dubai just before midnight local time on Thursday evening. You can enjoy the entire weekend before heading back to the airport on Sunday for your 1:55 AM Monday flight to Amsterdam (AMS). You’ll get back to LAX at 4:17 PM that same day.
The Wednesday departure is currently slated for 1:45 PM. That’s enough time for out-of-towners to catch flights to Los Angeles and still make the early afternoon trip. Similarly, the late afternoon return should allow you to catch an evening or red-eye flight home if you decide to not spend a night at a local hotel.
When you book through KLM and credit the trip to your Delta SkyMiles account, this KLM “A” fare should earn you MQD based on 25% of the distance flown. The great SkyMiles calculator at Travel-Dealz.com estimates that to be $4,437 MQD. You should also haul in about 26,522 redeemable SkyMiles — before any applicable Medallion bonuses. It’ll also earn an estimated 17,845 miles toward lifetime miles flown/Million Miler status. That’s pretty decent for a $2,027.21 investment.
AGAIN, THE KEY IS TO CREDIT TO THE TRIP TO YOUR DELTA SKYMILES NUMBER. DO NOT BOOK THE TRIP THROUGH DELTA. DO NOT INVOLVE AIR FRANCE-KLM FLYING BLUE. If you’re unsure how this works, it’s probably worth your money, time, and peace of mind to get the point.me Mileage Run Department to book the trip for you.
Here’s a Google Flights link to help get you started.
Book Soon
These deals have a tendency to disappear not long after we blog them. Why?
- The airline hikes the price ASAP, or
- Readers snatch up the available inventory, or
- Both of the above
“Can You Help Create a Mileage Run That Works for Me?!”
The point.me Mileage Run Department are professional mileage run finders and bookers. They will work with you to create a mileage run tailored to your preferences, schedule, needs, preferred airports, airline alliances, etc.
They can also help book hotels and arrange some other trip details for you. Contact point.me today.
We trust point.me to take care of our readers.Â
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- Need to learn how to find a run? See THIS Rookie post for a how-to guide!
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Eye of the Flyer and its parent company, Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., are not affiliated with Delta Air Lines or any other airline. Eye of the Flyer and Chatterbox Entertainment are not travel agents or travel bookers. All information was collected independently by the author of the blog post. Eye of the Flyer is not responsible for any errors, mistakes, or failures committed by airlines, vendors, travelers, or the blog itself. This post is for entertainment and informational purposes only. Eye of the Flyer is a point.me affiliate partner.Â
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
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.
MQM as I am close to MM status ?
Sorry — I don’t understand your question!
You should show the Flying Blue XP that could be earned as well! 🙂
No, I shouldn’t. Then people would be screaming at me because they didn’t earn Delta MQD when crediting the trip to their Flying Blue account. Trust me on this one.
For those of us who are in NY/NJ/CT or Anywhere on the East Coast, here is an alternative run if you don’t want to incur the additional flight to LAX … Fly AF from JFK to NRT or HND. I just did a quick search on the AF site for March 2025, March 11 to March 17. The cost is ~ $2,610 for a (A class) Premium Economy ticket. The MQD is approx. 4842. Yes, it is $600 more than the DXB run; but if we factor-in the cost of a ticket flying to LAX from the East Coast, this will be about the same since this run will give you ~400 more MQD. Here is an added bonus…, this ticket is 100% refundable before the outbound departure flight. Buy it now, and you can change your mind later – I’ve done that. AF refunded my money within 1 week. Very easy process. Right now, the US dollar is still VERY STRONG in Japan.
The LAX to DXB mileage run is back again. This is for May 2026 to qualify for 2027. I just booked LAX to DXB R/T for May 2026. Premium Economy on Air France: $1,378. Yes, that is for Round Trip. Estimated MQD ~4,450. That is over 4X the return on investment. Book it now, because this ticket is non-refundable but changeable before the 1st flight, just pay the difference in airfare; and if the new airfare is lower, you get a credit voucher good for 1 year. Also, if you can you mind within 24hrs of initial booking, you can get a full refund. Air France issues their refund usually within days of cancellation. NO hassle.
Oh, I should also mention, I am a Diamond (aka Elite Plus for Skyteam flights). When I tried to select seat for the CGD to DXB segment while within the online booking process (meaning: before you submit the payment), A/F will ask you to pay $68+ for the seat selection. Just skip the seat selection, go to the payment screen, and pay for the ticket. Once the ticket is issued, you can go to the seat selection; and the seat will be no charge. Very Strange. May be the system recognized my Skymile number after the ticket is issued and granted the Elite Plus benefit for Free seat selection.
Thank you!!!!