Yes, you earn Delta Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) and Medallion Qualifying Segments (MQSs) for tickets booked through Pay With Miles just as you usually would. This is one of the reasons the program is so popular, especially among elite members.
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Can you earn Delta MQMs without flying? Yes, both the personal and business version of the Delta Platinum card and Delta Reserve card offer a Status Boost feature that allows you to earn MQMs for meeting annual spending thresholds within a calendar year.
MQMs are earned based on distance flown and your fare class, excluding Basic Economy. MQSs are earned based on the number of flights you take, excluding Basic Economy. Plus, get even closer to Medallion® Status with this special offer with eligible Delta SkyMiles® American Express Cards.
Basic Economy tickets purchased on or after December 9, 2021 for flights departing on or after January 1, 2022, are not eligible to earn miles in the SkyMiles Program or earn credit towards Medallion Status (meaning not eligible for MQM, MQS or MQD earn).
MQMs can be kept by the Basic Card Member or gifted to someone else. MQM gift recipients must have a valid SkyMiles account. If a MQM gift recipient is not designated within 30 days of the MQMs being made available, the MQMs will be deposited in the Basic Card Member's SkyMiles account.
Earn MQMs with the Status Boost perkIf you're looking to earn some extra MQMs, the Delta Platinum Amex's Status Boost perk can help. This benefit allows you to earn 10,000 bonus MQMs after spending $25,000 in a calendar year and another 10,000 MQMs after spending $50,000 in the same year.
Beginning in early 2024, Members will have a choice as to whether to put MQM Rollover balances toward MQDs or miles. And customers who have MQM Rollover balances over 100,000 will be given special offers to extend their earned 2024 Status—one year for each 100K Rollover MQMs.
These are different than miles earned for award travel which are based on ticket price and Medallion status level. Delta SkyMiles don't expire, but MQMs reset at the beginning of each year.
Only MQMs roll over, not Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs). That means you'll need to spend the full amount with Delta in 2023 to earn status again – and after a recent increase, those spending requirements are even higher for all but Silver status.
As a Gold Medallion elite, you get some decent mid-range benefits when flying Delta and its SkyTeam partners, including free checked bags, higher rewards earning rates and unlimited complimentary upgrades, to name a few.
In short, Delta SkyMiles is the rewards currency you earn and spend to book award flights on Delta and its partners, while MQMs help you earn elite status with Delta but cannot be redeemed for flights.
So Delta's highest public loyalty tier is in the neighborhood of only . 02% of their flyers. But by flying at least an order of magnitude more than everybody else, we use up 2-3% of their seat miles. So on any given plane you'd expect an average of 0-9 Diamonds, to a first approximation.
If you are a frequent Delta flyer — especially someone who values upgrades, bonus miles and free checked bags — reaching Platinum Medallion is quite rewarding given its value estimated at over $6,000.
Silver Medallion status does expire if you do not meet the required amount of flying and spend. That said, each year, you can roll over the EQMs earned beyond status to the next year so it can count for the next year's elite status.