Delta Air Lines is one of the oldest airlines in operation and is also among the major commercial airlines in the United States. Delta has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and operates regular commercial flights to various destinations across the globe with more than 860 aircraft.
There are nine primary hubs for Delta including Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–JFK, New York–LaGuardia, Salt Lake City, and Seattle/Tacoma.
The fare classes available are Delta One, Premium Select, First Class, Comfort Plus, and Main Cabin. Frequent flyers, and loyal Delta customers are offered a Medallion status loyalty program for an enhanced travel experience.
The Medallion Status consists of four levels: Silver Medallion, Gold Medallion, Platinum Medallion, and Diamond Medallion. We will discover the benefits of being a Delta Gold Medallion along with the requirements to qualify.
What does it mean to be Gold Medallion on Delta Air Lines?
Reputed airline companies offer a loyalty program to reward their loyal customers, and frequent flyers. As a major airline in the U.S., Delta also features its own loyalty program known as Medallion status.
Gold Medallion is the third-highest level of the Delta Medallion Status that offers more benefits than Silver Medallion. To qualify for this status, customers need to acquire Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) or the MQD Waiver or earn Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) or Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs) to qualify for Medallion status levels.
Delta Gold Medallion comes with various benefits such as Complimentary upgrades, complimentary checked baggage, priority boarding, and much more.
We will explore all the benefits in detail but before that let’s find out the requirements to qualify for the Gold Medallion Status.
How do you get a Gold Medallion on Delta? (Requirements)
As mentioned above, Delta passengers need to earn qualifying points based on various factors to become eligible for Gold Medallion. There are four important terms to be comprehended: MQM, MQS, MQD, and MQD Waiver.
- MQM stands for Medallion Qualification Miles, and it is earned based on distance flown, and fare class selected, excluding Basic Economy.
- MQS is an abbreviation for Medallion Qualification Segments that can be earned based on the number of flights excluding Basic Economy.
- MQD stands for Medallion Qualification Dollars, and can be earned based on customers’ annual spending on Delta flights, and other partner airline flights. On Award Travel tickets, MQDs will be calculated based on miles redeemed for the flight divided by 100 on Delta-marketed flights only.
- MQD Waiver means the MQDs requirement to qualify for Silver, Platinum, or Gold Medallion Status for the qualification year will be waived after Delta customers make $25,000 or more in eligible purchases during the calendar year using eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express Cards.
To qualify for Gold Medallion, customers need to earn at least 50,000 MQMs, or 60 MQSs, and $6,000 MQDs, or MQD Waiver.
For example, if passengers earn 50,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs), and $6,000 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) through flight, and spending activity during the 2022 calendar year (1st January – 31st December), they will receive 2023 Gold Medallion Status which will be valid from the day it is earned until January 31st, 2024.
Only the customers flying on Delta flights can earn MQMs, MQSs, MQDs, and MQD Waivers not the person who booked or paid for the flight. Progress made can be tracked by visiting the My SkyMiles page or the Fly Delta mobile app.
Delta SkyMiles American Express Cards can also be used to earn Medallion Qualification Miles. There are various cards available including Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card, Platinum American Express Card, Reserve American Express Card, and Blue American Express Card.
For example, customers can earn up to 10,000 MQMs, and 50,000 Bonus miles after they make $5,000 in eligible purchases using their Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card.
These are all the requirements to qualify for the Delta Gold Medallion Status. With that, let’s move ahead to explore the benefits of being a Gold Medallion.
What are the benefits of being a Delta Gold Medallion?
Customers qualifying for the Delta Gold Medallion status will enjoy the following perks, and benefits.
Unlimited Complimentary Upgrades
Gold Medallion Status members enjoy unlimited complimentary upgrades to Delta First Class, Delta Comfort+, domestic Delta One experience, and complimentary preferred seats. Besides, they also get an opportunity to select seat preferences for Delta Comfort+ complimentary upgrades.
The unlimited complimentary upgrade to Delta One Experience is only available on domestic flights within 50 states. It begins on the day of departure and is valid on all paid tickets (except E fares), Award Tickets, Miles+Cash, and Pay with Miles tickets.
The unlimited complimentary upgrade to First Class and unlimited complimentary Delta Comfort+ seat access beginning 72 hours (3 days) prior to departure is applicable on all paid tickets (except E fares), Award Tickets, Miles+Cash, and Pay with Miles tickets.
Companions traveling with Gold Medallion members will also receive unlimited complimentary upgrades to Delta One, First Class, and Delta Comfort+ for flights within U.S. 50 states. Furthermore, members will also receive unlimited complimentary Clase Premier upgrades (72 hours prior to departure) on select Aeromexico-operated flights.
Rollover MQMs
Delta customers get the opportunity to earn more miles with Gold Medallion Status, thanks to the Rollover MQMs. The Rollover MQMs benefit is offered to Medallion Members with which the Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) earned above the Medallion Tier qualification threshold will roll over to the next qualification year to provide a jump start on earning Status again.
Here’s an example of how Rollover MQMs work in a typical year: Once you reach Gold Medallion Status by earning 60,000 MQMs and $9,000 MQDs during the 2022 calendar year, your Status will be valid from the day you earn it through January 31, 2024. You only needed 50,000 MQMs to reach Gold and had enough MQDs for Platinum, but didn’t quite hit the 75,000 MQMs needed to reach Platinum. With Rollover MQMs, you’ll be able to rollover the 10,000 MQMs you earned above and beyond the Gold requirement, to your next year’s balance giving you a head start toward earning Status again for 2023. Delta will automatically rollover your MQMs by the end of January each year.
Complimentary Same-Day Confirmed Change
Delta Gold Medallion members can request a same-day flight change for free except when flying on a Basic Economy (E) fare. Members can request same-day flight change within 24 hours prior to their original departure time.
The following table depicts the same-day confirmed change requirement for different cabins.
| DELTA CABIN | REQUIREMENT FOR SAME-DAY CONFIRMED CHANGE |
| Main Cabin | Original Fare Class must be available. |
| Premium Cabins including Delta One, First Class, and Business Class | Same-day confirmed change can be made as long as a seat is available in the Premium Cabin |
Complimentary Checked Baggage
Delta Gold Medallion status holders can carry their first checked baggage for free when traveling on Delta or select partner airline flights. In addition, up to 8 of the travel companions also receive free first-checked baggage when traveling on a Delta Flight.
Amenities at the Airport
As a Gold Medallion member, you will receive various amenities at the airport including priority check-in, expedited security screening, expedited baggage service, priority boarding, CLEAR Membership discount, and more.
You will get the Sky Priority suite of services that features check-in, priority security line access, expedited baggage service, and Sky Priority Boarding. Talking about the CLEAR membership discount, passengers can purchase an annual membership for only $109 (a $70 savings).
Other benefits of being a Delta Gold Medallion are listed below.
Priority Wait List – With Gold Medallion status, passengers receive priority waitlist status on paid tickets if the class of service preferred is not available when making a reservation.
Dedicated Phone Line Priority – Passengers can call a Delta Reservations Specialist, or SkyMiles representative with questions about their flights or for assistance.
Reclaim My Status – Current, and former Gold Medallion members can apply to enroll in Reclaim My Status to fly with three months of complimentary Status in the Tier they applied for and earn back that Status through the following Medallion Year.
SkyTeam Elite Plus Status – Gold Medallion members are also entitled as SkyTeam Elite Plus Status holders who can enjoy the equivalent benefits such as Global Sky Team Lounge access, Priority Baggage Handling, and more.
Hertz Car Rental Benefits – Gold Medallion members will earn up to 1,000 bonus miles per Qualifying rental with Hertz. They will also earn Five Star status in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Program.
Instacart Benefits – As a Gold Medallion Member, you will receive 3 months of Free trial of Instacart Express that can be used to earn 1.5 miles per dollar spent on grocery orders, and enjoy more benefits.
Bag Tags – Gold Medallion members can show off their status with bag tags.
Drink Vouchers – You will get four drink vouchers with the Delta Gold Medallion Status. The onboard drink vouchers can be found in the My Wallet section of the Fly Delta App upon earning Status.
Delta Vacations –All Delta Medallion Members including Gold Medallion can save up to $350 per booking with Delta Vacations (including vacations booked with miles).
| DELTA VACATIONS | SAVINGS AS A GOLD MEDALLION MEMBER |
| $1250 – $2,499 | $50 |
| $2,500 – $3,999 | $100 |
| $4,000 – $6,999 | $150 |
| $7000 or more | $350 |
Conclusion on the Benefits of being a Delta Gold Medallion member
As we are at the end of this blog, we explored all the benefits of being a Delta Gold Medallion members along with the requirements to qualify. Gold Medallion is the third-highest level of the Medallion status that offers more benefits than the Silver Medallion.
Delta Customers need to earn at least 50,000 MQMs, or 60 MQSs, and $6,000 MQDs, or MQD Waivers to qualify for the Gold Medallion Status.
Let’s conclude with the key benefits of being a Delta Gold Medallion Member.
- Unlimited Complimentary Upgrades to Delta One, Delta First, and Delta Comfort+
- 1 Free Checked Baggage
- Sky Priority Suite of Services
- Complimentary Same-Day confirmed change
FAQs on the Benefits of being a Delta Gold Medallion member
Does Delta Gold get you Lounge Access?
Delta Gold Medallion members traveling in any cabin on a same-day, international SkyTeam flight get access to SkyTeam Lounges (SkyTeam partner-operated and SkyTeam branded lounges; excludes travel to/from the Caribbean, Guam, and Saipan when traveling in Main Cabin) and any Delta Sky Club® for you, and a guest as part of your SkyTeam Elite Plus benefits.
Is Gold Medallion better than Silver?
Silver Medallion is the lowest level of the Delta Medallion Status whereas Gold Medallion is one step ahead. Gold Medallion status offers more benefits than Silver Medallion.
Does Delta Gold get Sky Priority?
Delta Gold Medallion members get a Sky Priority suite of services that include priority check-in, expedited security screening, expedited baggage service, and Sky Priority Boarding.
Do Delta Medallion members get Priority Boarding?
Yes, Delta Medallion members get Priority Boarding services. Gold Medallion members get Sky Priority Boarding.
