How good is Delta Platinum Medallion? Discover Benefits in 2023.

Delta Air Lines, a major airline in the U.S, is recognized as one of the oldest airlines in operation. It operates flights to various destinations around the world with more than 860 aircraft. 

At present, Delta operates from nine major hubs: Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–JFK, New York–LaGuardia, Salt Lake City, and Seattle/Tacoma.

Talking about fare classes or cabin services, Delta offers Delta One, Premium Select, First Class, Comfort Plus and Main Cabin. A Medallion Status loyalty program is offered by Delta to its loyal customers, and frequent flyers.

There are four different levels of the Delta Medallion Status which are Silver Medallion, Gold Medallion, Platinum Medallion, and Diamond Medallion.

In this blog, we will find out ‘How good is Delta Platinum Medallion?’ by exploring requirements, and benefits.

How good is Delta Platinum Medallion? [Medallion Status 2023]

Medallion Status is Delta’s Loyalty Program offered to qualifying customers to enhance their travel experience. Among four levels, Platinum Medallion is the second-highest tier after Diamond Medallion.

Unlimited Complimentary upgrades, Free Baggage, Complimentary same-day confirmed change, and customizable Choice Benefit are the key benefits of Platinum Medallion.

Before getting into all the benefits, let’s find out the requirements to qualify for Delta Medallion status.

Delta Platinum Medallion Requirements

There are some qualification requirements to become eligible for the Platinum Medallion status. Customers need to earn Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) or the MQD Waiver or earn Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) or Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs).

• 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 Platinum Medallion, customers need to earn at least 75,000 MQMs, or 100 MQSs, and $9,000 MQDs, or MQD Waiver.

For instance, if passengers earn 75,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs), and $9,000 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) through flight, and spending activity during the 2022 calendar year (1st January – 31st December), they will receive 2023 Silver 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.

Now, let’s explore all the benefits of Platinum Medallion status in detail.

What are the benefits of Platinum Medallion?

To find out How good is Delta Platinum Medallion status, you can analyze it by referring to the benefits listed below.

Choice Benefits

Choice Benefits is one of the unique perks of Platinum Medallion status which is not available with Silver, and Gold Medallion. Platinum Medallion members can select a customizable Choice Benefit that includes the following choices.

• Four Regional Upgrade Certificates, which can be used on tickets booked as a part of a Delta Vacations® package
• Gift Silver Medallion Status to a friend or family member
• 20,000 bonus miles for yourself, someone else, or a SkyWish charity of your choice
• A $200 Delta travel voucher, also applicable toward a Delta Vacations package

Rollover MQMs Benefit

Delta customers get the opportunity to earn more miles with Platinum 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 Platinum Medallion Status by earning 100,000 MQMs and $15,000 MQDs during the 2022 calendar year, your Platinum Status will be valid from the day you earn it through January 31, 2024. You only needed 75,000 MQMs to reach Platinum and had enough MQDs for Diamond, but didn’t quite hit the 125,000 MQMs needed to reach Diamond. With Rollover MQMs, you’ll be able to rollover the 25,000 MQMs you earned above and beyond the Platinum 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.

Unlimited Complimentary Upgrades

Platinum 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 begins 120 hours (5 days) prior to departure and is applicable on all paid tickets (except E fares), Award Tickets, Miles+Cash, and Pay with Miles tickets. Likewise, the unlimited complimentary Delta Comfort+ upgrades are available shortly after ticketing on all paid tickets (except E fares), Award Tickets, Miles+Cash, and Pay with Miles tickets.

Companions traveling with Platinum 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 (120 hours – 5 days prior to departure) on select Aeromexico-operated flights.

Complimentary Checked Baggage

Delta Platinum 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.

Complimentary Same-Day Confirmed Change

Delta Platinum Medallion members can request a same-day flight change for free within 24 hours prior to their original departure time. This offer is not available when flying on a Basic Economy (E) fare.

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

Amenities at the Airport

As a Platinum Medallion member, you will enjoy 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 Delta Platinum Medallion are listed below.

Priority Wait List – With Platinum Medallion status, passengers receive priority waitlist status on paid tickets if the class of service preferred is not available when making a reservation.

VIP Phone Line – Passengers will get a dedicated Medallion Phone Line with Delta Reservations Specialist, or SkyMiles representative for live service, and support.

Reclaim My Status – Current, and former Silver 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 – Platinum 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 – PlatinumMedallion members will earn up to 1,250 bonus miles per Qualifying rental with Hertz. They will also enjoy President’s Circle Status in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program.

Instacart Benefits – As a Platinum Medallion Member, you will receive 1 year of Free Instacart Express Trial that can be used to earn 1.5 miles per dollar spent on grocery orders, and enjoy more benefits.

Bag Tags – Platinum Medallion members can show off their status with bag tags.

Drink Vouchers – You will get four drink vouchers with Delta PlatinumMedallion 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 Platinum Medallion can save up to $350 per booking with Delta Vacations (including vacations booked with miles).

DELTA VACATIONS	SAVINGS AS A SILVER MEDALLION MEMBER
$1250 – $2,499	$50
$2,500 – $3,999	$100
$4,000 – $6,999	$150
$7000 or more	$350

Conclusion on ‘How good is Delta Platinum Medallion?’

We are at the end of this blog where we discovered Delta Platinum Medallion status with its requirements, and benefits. Platinum Medallion is the second-highest level of the Delta Medallion Loyalty Program, and offers exclusive benefits to its members.

By reading this content you must have figured out how good is Delta Platinum Medallion. Being a premium status level after Diamond Medallion, members qualifying for Platinum Medallion receive various benefits such as unlimited complimentary upgrades, free checked baggage, Sky Priority suite of services, SkyTeam Lounge Access, VIP Phone line, Choice Benefits, Same-day confirmed change, and much more.

If you are a Delta frequent flyer, and able to meet the requirements of the Platinum Medallion, you can enjoy various benefits, and enhance your overall travel experience with Delta Air Lines.

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