I was one of the fortunate recipients of the email from Delta yesterday asking if I was interested in a status match to Diamond Medallion status. That presents an interesting dilemma for 2021…how much status is too much status?
Delta Offers Me A Generous 2021 Status Match
Yesterday, I received the following email from Delta:
As a valued SkyMiles Member, we know how important safety and cleanliness are to you, which is why we’re disinfecting before every flight with electrostatic spraying and intensive cleaning measures, requiring all travelers and employees to wear masks or face coverings, and eliminating change fees for select flights should your plans shift.
We’ve also extended middle seat blocking through the holiday season to give you greater peace of mind when visiting friends and family. In fact, Delta is the only U.S. carrier publicly committed to blocking middle seats through January 6, 2021.
To make your return to travel more enjoyable, if you have elite status on another airline, enroll in our elevated Status Match challenge between October 19 and October 31, 2020 and you can receive complimentary Medallion Status one Tier higher than your equivalent current status on that airline – through March 31, 2021.
Plus, complete the requirements below by March 31, 2021 to maintain that Medallion Status through January 31, 2022:
- If you receive Gold Medallion Status: Fly 2 Qualifying Round Trips or 4 One Ways
- If you receive Platinum Medallion Status: Fly 4 Qualifying Round Trips or 8 One Ways
- If you receive Diamond Medallion Status: Fly 6 Qualifying Round Trips or 12 One Ways
The email was not addressed to me by name, but had my SkyMiles number and balance in it.
When Airline Status Becomes Too Much Of A Good Thing
Although I’ve done very little flying this year compared to previous years, I’ve got top-tier status on American Airlines (Executive Platinum) and United Airlines (Premier 1K) locked in through January 2022 thanks to status extensions by both loyalty programs.
With Delta offering up Diamond status in exchange for a dozen one-way trips and no minimum spending requirement, part of me thinks it would be foolish not to accept it.
Then again, my concern is that if I enjoy top-tier status on all three airlines next year, I’ll wind up with very little status in 2022. The thing about loyalty is that you generally need to pick a carrier and stick to it. For 15 years, that is what I’ve done with United Airlines…and have lifetime Premier Gold status to show for it. But Gold status is hardly top-tier and enjoying the far greater perks of that top-level status requires a lot of flying on one airline.
All the rules have been thrown out the window due to the pandemic, but there is a traditional idea that you receive a status match only once. Historically, status matches were not offered again to the same customers…at least not for several years. There might reach a point where I need a status match to Delta in the future but cannot get it. With status on AA and UA, there’s no way I actually need it now or in 2022.
CONCLUSION
I have a feeling I’ll roll the dice and take the status match, do some reviews of Delta, and be one of the few travel bloggers to be able to compare top-tier status on all three major U.S. legacy airlines in 2021.
That said, it seems like beyond 2021 I am setting myself up for a return to what is essentially status-less travel.
Anyone else in the same predicament?
image: Delta
@ Matthew — Ditch UA for DL. You won’t regret it.
@ Matthew — If you do, I can give you some semi-secret tips! 😉
I’ll be reaching out!
In many cases, after a status match is granted, we maybe fly once with the new alliance, or not do business with it at all. It is because we still have PlusPoints, systemwide upgrade certificates to use or we already half-way to reach 2MM/3MM status with the current carrier, and sometimes it is because we are so naive to keep being loyal to the current carrier and hoping things will get better. It is just a waste of time sending credential proofs to the new carrier and not flying at all.
If any carrier would be the first not only to grant status match, but also MM match, that would be interesting. DL and AA, please consider this suggestion from a flyer that almost reaches 2MM with UA 🙂
I received the same email as you yesterday. For reference, Delta granted me a similar, unsolicited match/challenge in the 4th quarter of 2019. I accepted the challenge but was not able to reconfigure my flights to maintain the status past the challenge period. In short, I don’t think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I always click on these Tweets hoping you have some great insight and am disappointed. I, too, received the email and have statuses on other airlines. I am trying to decide if I should go for it…and, when I saw your Tweet I was hoping you’d provide insights or a way to think about the decision. But, other than laying out your facts, there weren’t many insights.
Not sure what insight you are looking for? We live in a world full of unknowns. I simply wanted to note the paradox of having top-tier status with three airlines will likely lead to low or no status on all three if I space out my business in 2021…
Something makes me think that Delta allows a status match every four years, or something fairly generous like that. I feel like I’ve read it somewhere.
Don’t forget- DL is rolling MQM and status over through next year….so if you can generate enough MQM you’ll roll over too
So if you are getting status one tier higher than what you have, who is going to be getting Gold? Assuming you can’t match if you have no status.
Good point. I assume not.
I have been a Diamond Medallion or Delta360 for the last 10 years. Actually by the end of 2019 due to a change in jobs my travel was going to decrease substantially and then Covid happened. As of now I have Diamond status extended until 2022 but enough MQMs to probably further extend it (I am not sure how that will work but I would start 2021 rolling over many miles). Anyway, if your offer comes with all the perks of being a Diamond Medallion that is great. You can chose international upgrades which are very valuable when traveling with family on vacation. However, if it really takes many years for things to get back to normal then no status is really valuable if one does not travel at all.
Excellent post.
IMHO – I think the likelihood is that those with earned status it will likely be devalued, and the plethora of status matches, low bar goals, extensions and other marketing gimmicks will dilute the value because the pool will be full for those that Chase the low hanging fruit.
Elite’s in name only.
Delta. Where they’ll serve you a can of beer in F at 6am but not a cup of coffee. Because safety, you know?
I haven’t been targeted but thought I would try anyway. As an AS MVPG75K, I generally fly about 125K on revenue and another 75K on awards as a leisure traveler. I am still flying. AS is rolling over EQM earned between January 1st and April 30th, 2020 to 2021 as a “head start” towards 2022 status. I will need less than 1K EQM in 2021 to requalify for AS MVPG75K through December 2022. Consequently, I have opportunity to check out other carriers offerings without losing status on my preferred carrier. The only issue I am seeing is the premium on fares DL is charging. A $35 add-on to buy out of Basic Economy on a $49 flight isn’t too appealing when their competitors are selling the same flight in Main for DL’s BE fare. For the routes I generally fly, I don’t see DL being anywhere near competitive but that may improve when DL terminates seat-blocking.
James
“That said, it seems like beyond 2021 I am setting myself up for a return to what is essentially status-less travel”
Doh – you have UA Lifetime Gold.
But you do enjoy UA’s 2-2-2 Business Class seats & cabin, don’t cha?
I must admit I do. But Golds rarely receive upgrades.