In a move that has largely gone under the radar, Delta Air Lines is also cutting earnings on partner-issued tickets, effectively closing a backdoor that made it relatively easier to earn elite status on Delta.
Delta Air Lines Reduces Earnings On Partner Tickets – Death Of The Aeromexico MQD Run?
As noted by Zach Griff, Delta is reducing the number of Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) you will receive from many partner-issued tickets beginning January 1, 2024.
Delta has so-called “core global airlines partner” and “global airline partners.” The “core” members are partners with whom Delta has a closer financial relationship, including:
- Aeromexico
- Air France
- China Eastern
- KLM
- Korean Air
- LATAM
- Virgin Atlantic
Flying on these partners generally earns more miles than flying on Delta’s other partner carriers.
Historically, flying these carriers on longhaul routes in cheap paid business class or premium economy class marked a savvy way to accrue status for much less than if booking Delta-issued tickets.
For example, many took advantage of cheap fares from Dallas to Madrid on Aeromexico via Mexico City. The $1,900 ticket covered 13,155 miles. Without any way to know how much you paid for the ticket, Delta awarded MQDs on business class Aeromexico fares at a rate of 40% of the distance flown. So 40% of 13,155 is 5,262…meaning a $1,900 ticket earned $5,262 toward Medallion status.
Do that a few times and you could earn top-tier status for far less than those who exclusively fly on Delta.
But earning rates will be reduced effective January 1, 2024. Griff calculates among “core” partners, 106 of the 204 eligible fare classes will earn fewer MQDs as of next year (21 will see increased earnings). Among non-core partners, 36 out of 256 eligible fare classes will earn fewer MQDs in 2024 (with four earning more).
In my Aeromexico example above, discount business class tickets on Aeromexico will now earn 30%, not 40% of the distance flown. That may not fully eliminate the value of these mileage runs in every single case, but in many cases, it will. In the example above, the $1,900 ticket would earn 3,947 MQDs, which makes the hassle difficult to justify.
Will Delta Follow United?
It should be noted that United has strict limits in place which effectively dilute earnings on any partner-issued ticket by only awarding 16.67-20% of the distance flown (depending upon the partner) and capping earnings at 1,000 PQP per segment for business and first class segments and 500 PQP per segment for economy and premium economy class.
For example, if you spend $20,000 on a one-way Singapore Airlines ticket from New York to Singapore you will earn only 1,000 PQPs.
In short, it is extremely hard to earn United status by flying partners. That makes me wonder whether Delta will do something similar going forward…
CONCLUSION
While not totally eliminating partner earnings, Delta has reduced earnings on a great number of fare classes, making it harder than ever to earn elite status. These changes take effect in January and while they could be worse, they close another door to earning status that made it a bit more attractive.
image: SkyTeam
Quite used to it on UA. It’s amazing how little you get on SQ as to the example you pointed to and I learned the hard way when I switched to UA two years ago and didn’t know.
DL must be doing this to shed members in their program based on all of their recent changes. I can understand why based on the crowded Sky Clubs and the 25+ names on the list upgrades on my flights. If DL was just blatant like AY or KL saying this is for cost cutting, they would at least have some respect from customers, but in their PR, they keep on claiming that this is for an “improvement for customers” when it’s clearly not.
Hey, I said it first here :<
It was a "hack" for sure, at least a few years ago, when you can pay $2300 for ATL-SIN Premium Economy on AF and get close to 6600 MQDs and 33k MQMs roughly. My regret was I wasn't serious enough for travel back then to get EZ diamond, even without MQD waivers.
@ Matthew — DL just made this change, so I don’t think they will be doing it again anytime soon. If they were that concerned with this otential loophole, they would have made a bigger change.
What nonstop SQ flight SIN-NY has first class?
The nonstop only has J
To fly F, you’d have to connect via Frankfurt, which would result in 4,000 PQP as each leg has 2 segments
The end of the Aeromexico W class mqd run comes at a time that it became worthless to make the run in the first place. I don’t care what DL “walks back” in the coming weeks. Whatever they do, they will undo next year.
Depending on your flying wouldn’t it be easier to just earn the equivalent DL status via one of the Skyteam partners such as KL/AF/VS etc and attach that FF number to any DL trips you are taking. You will as Skyteam elite still be entitled to at least something. I’m not sure of the ins and outs of Skyteam’s benefits on DL but when I was OW Sapphire via BA I got some better perks than AA elite for example lounge access on domestic AA flights regardless of cabin flown
all very sad what Delta is doing and what @American express is allowing(6 visits to SC) –NUTS for what you pay for the Amex Plat card..wonder what the Centurion card is allowing
Delta needs to understand that LOYALTY is a two-way street. They have decided to be dis-loyal to me and I will reciprocate. Two Million miler with Reserve AX. Will not renew at next annual fee date, moving all business to AA with their highest Mastercard offering getting unlimited lounge access, and won’t look back.