Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in o...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury
With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
& Juan Ruiz
Juan has been involved in credit cards, loyalty, travel, and personal finance for more than 10 years. He has worked for several outlets including The Points Guy and Forbes and was previously Editor-in...
![19 Best Ways To Earn Lots of Delta SkyMiles [2023]](https://upgradedpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Delta-Air-Lines-Regional-Jets.jpg?auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=1420&height=650&fit=crop)
35 comments
Shelly
January 18, 2018
Your article is wrong, you don’t receive choice benefits until you make platinum or diamond.
Alex Miller
January 22, 2018
Nice spot, thank you Shelly. This has been updated 🙂
Dave
January 14, 2019
Why be a b*tch about it. Easier to say there was a mistake…. jeez some people.
mbh
May 31, 2018
You didn’t answer the question I had when I clicked on the piece: what is the bonus MQM boost one gets (toward Medallion status) for C+, B, or F flights? I know there is a boost, but cannot find what it is. (Also, shouldn’t you mention, to be fair, that it makes much more sense to buy DL tix on the Amex Premier Rewards Gold card, since you get 3 miles/$, instead of 2, and they transfer to many airlines, including DL?)
Michael McHugh
June 02, 2018
Hi mbh
F and J fares are eligible for a 100% MQM bonus. P, A, G, C, D, I, Z, Y, and B fares are eligible for a 50% MQM bonus. I would call Delta re: C+ as this upgraded seat fare does not show a % MQM bonus on the DL website.
Re: buying DL tickets with a DL vs. Amex card, if you’re not trying to hit a min. spend on a DL card, it likely makes more sense to book a ticket with the Amex Gold to earn 3x MRs. The MR to DL transfer ratio is currently 1:1, which means you’ll earn DL points at a higher rate (3x) vs. a lower rate (2x).
Kellie Nielson
July 06, 2018
My question is how can I earn dollars toward status on Delta. I have more than enough MQMs to qualify for Diamond. But, I always have trouble coming up with the MQDs to qualify for Gold. What suggestions do you have for that?
Christine Krzyszton
July 06, 2018
Earning MQDs to qualify for Medallion Elite status with Delta is challenging if you’re not doing a lot of paid business travel annually. You can, however, earn MQDs quickly by traveling on premium fares with Delta’s partner airlines. For example, if you purchased a business class fare on Aeromexico and credit the miles flown to the Delta Sky Miles program, you would receive 40% of the miles flown towards your MQDs. A 9000-mile flight in business class on Aeromexico would earn $3600 MQDs. A business class flight on China Eastern to Asia is another example where you may fly 18000 miles and at 40% of miles flown, you would earn $7200 MQDs, more than enough for Gold status. You can access partner airline charts on Delta.com ( https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/how-to-earn-miles/airline-partners.html) to learn more about how the amounts are calculated.
You could also spend $25,000 on an eligible Delta credit card to waive any MQD requirement for Elite status up to Platinum status.
Thanks so much for the question.
Frances stepp
August 03, 2018
Do I receive points when I pay and travel with my grandson? It doesn’t allow me to put in my flyer number for him.
Michael McHugh
August 15, 2018
Hi Frances
The person who is flying will be the one who receives the airline miles. If you pay for both flights, you both will receive miles for the flights flown. I would create a frequent flyer account for your grandson if you want to earn airline miles for his flight.
bfitz
October 15, 2018
Can you explain rewards of a US Bank VISA flex perks card and using those versus Delta Rewards? It started out as NWA rewards. I am wondering if it is worth keeping this card or getting something else. Thanks.
Alex Miller
October 17, 2018
Bftiz – a great time to look at US Bank FlexPerks because a lot changed in 2018. Now points are worth 1.5 cents/point on airfare, either booking through their rewards portal or through their Real Time Rewards after you have used the card to purchase a ticket. An advantage of booking through their rewards portal is every ticket gets a $25 airline allowance. Instead of booking a round-trip, book two one-ways and get $25 each way. You have to make the purchase such as for baggage on the day of travel and call in to US Bank to request the allowance – it does not process automatically. This is great for economy tickets, and, since they are cash tickets, you earn miles for the flight. If you are looking for business class tickets, you’ll want to focus on cards like the American Express Delta cards that earn SkyMiles and you may get better value on those premium cabin awards.
Chang
January 02, 2019
Hi, thanks for the great article.
I would like to share that you can also link your Lyft account to your delta membership, so that you can also earn 1 mile/1$ & 2 mile/$1 on airport rides too.
Stephen Au
January 03, 2019
Hey Chang,
Great point! I actually use Lyft myself a lot, and it definitely helps your Delta SkyMiles balance quite a bit!
Thanks for reading and helping us with your feedback!
Eli
February 04, 2019
I was wondering if Delta gift card purchases still qualify for miles on my Delta Amex card? I’m trying to burn thru the 3k needed for the bonus miles.
Katie Seemann
February 06, 2019
Hi Eli,
According to their website, gift cards are not eligible for bonus miles on the Delta Amex cards. However, sometimes the system could read a gift card purchase from delta.com as an eligible purchase, so it might be worth testing out by purchasing a gift card in a small amount to see if you earn bonus points.
Joe
February 12, 2019
Hi,
When booking through the Hilton website, when I activate the Skymiles, will I still get the points and credit for the stay with Hilton or does it qualify as third party and kick me off their honors program? Trying to figure out if I can double dip or if it is one or the other only. Thanks!
Stephen Au
February 13, 2019
Hey Joe,
You can double dip in this situation. Be sure to verify that this is the case with Hilton before committing! Thanks for reading.
Jillian
March 04, 2019
Hello! I am wondering if monthly payments like gas, electricity, phone bill, and internet would count as eligible purchases towards the $3,000 spend needed to receive bonus points on the platinum card. Also, do Paypal purchases count as eligible purchases for the bonus miles? Thank you!
Alex Miller
March 05, 2019
Hey Jillian – all of those purchases would count towards the minimum spend required to earn your bonus points. With PayPal, just make sure you’re paying with your Platinum Card vs pulling funds from your bank or another card. It’s easily done!
Meagan DuBose
March 08, 2019
Hi!
Let’s say I find a great deal on another airline. If I use my Delta AMEX to purchase this, would I receive points for the dollar amount spent?
I realize it wouldn’t be the 2X points but possibly the 1X per dollar?
Thanks!
Christine Krzyszton
March 08, 2019
Hi Meagan. Yes, every purchase you make on your Delta Amex earns at least 1 mile per dollar spent. So, you would earn 1 mile per dollar for any other flight purchases other than Delta, which earns 2 miles per dollar. If you frequently purchase flights other than Delta, you may want to consider a card that earns more on travel. Here are some examples: /credit-cards/travel-rewards-credit-cards/
Mary Ellis
August 03, 2019
Excellent article. Thank you very much.
Christine Krzyszton
August 04, 2019
Thank you for reading, Mary. We’re glad you found the information useful.
Michael Evans
October 28, 2019
Do rent payments count towards the $3,000 in minimum purchases within 90 days for the welcome bonus?
Andrew Kunesh
October 28, 2019
Hi Michael, rent payments will count so long as the purchase doesn’t code as a cash advance. Thanks!
Rob P
December 04, 2019
When do the MQMs from the credit card spending actually come into my account? So if I get the Amex card today and spend $1k will the MQM’s hit my account before the end of the year?
Jarrod West
December 05, 2019
Hi Rob,
Traditionally, the MQMs would post when the statement closes in which the minimum spend amount was met. However, Amex also states that it can take up to 6-8 weeks.
Steve G
December 05, 2019
Hey Team – I’ve just finished my final biz trip on Delta and checked my qualifying status for Gold Medallion in 2020. Sadly, I am 6500 MQMs or 11 MQDs short (way more than enough MQDs). Siiigh – that was a lot of work to still not make it. Is there a way for me to get qualifying MQMs over the next 3 weeks via one of the methods you describe here? I’ve always viewed “QUALIFYING” MQMs as only achievable via actually flying somewhere but your article convinces me I may be able to save my current Gold Status!
One other question – if I can’t achieve status…I know my MQMs roll over in 2020 but not my MQDs – so I’d have to get 25K again on my Amex (I have Silver and Platinum Delta Skymiles cards) to gain my status back?
Thank you!!
Jarrod West
December 12, 2019
Hi Steve,
One option that many people do towards the end of the year to re-qualify for status is something called a “mileage run”. Essentially, you’ll want to locate flights that cover as large of a distance as possible, for the lowest possible cost. Another option would be to fly a really inexpensive flight, that covers a short distance, and fly it multiple times as the minimum MQMs you can earn on a Delta flight is 500 – even if the flight didn’t actually cover 500 miles.
Thanks for reading!
C Jones
January 14, 2020
Hi, as far as I can tell, I think you can spend yourself into Medallion Status? I have a Delta Reserve card and I can get a 15,000 MQM bonus when I spend $30k in one year. So does that mean if I spend $60k on that card, I would qualify for silver? You need 25,000 MQM’s and I would get 15,000 twice (so 30k) plus a minimum spend of $25,000 which will have happened. Thanks!
Jarrod West
January 14, 2020
Hi C Jones,
Yes, you are correct. The Delta Reserve card allows you to spend your way to elite status.
Joe Taylor
December 16, 2020
If I book a hotel through Delta to earn points then also use my Skymiles card to pay will I earn the points on the booking through Delta and on the use of my Skymiles card?
Jarrod West
December 17, 2020
Hi Joe,
Yes, you will earn points for making the booking through Delta and for paying with your Skymiles card.
Kelly Goodman
February 15, 2022
I am both a silver and a platinum delta amex holder. I get 3x for delta flights on my card and 7x as a silver, so am I getting 10x dollars spent? For example, flight cost is $500 on my amex, that’s 1500 miles, 7x as a silver is an additional 3500, so should I be getting 5k miles for that flight?
Stephen Au
February 15, 2022
Hi Kelly, that’s correct. However, keep in mind that your accrual is based on the fare and excludes any taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges like fuel srucharges.
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