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How to earn Delta Lifetime Medallion Elite status [2024 edition]

Back in 2021, Delta made a positive update to its Million Miler elite status program by giving flyers the chance to lock in its top-tier SkyMiles Diamond Medallion status for life (albeit for the life of the program, not the life of the traveler) and that was a surprisingly positive move for Delta to make. From the start of 2024, however, Delta has made lifetime elite status harder to earn, so this is what you need to know about its Million Miler program:
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Delta is launching a new elite status match promotion [Update: now live]

It’s possible that Delta may be seeing (or is predicting) a significant decrease in the number of SkyMiles elite members, and that its 2023 devaluation may (finally) be the straw that broke the camel’s back for a lot of its frequent flyers. I say this because it looks like Delta is going fishing for new SkyMiles elites in 2024 with a promotion that's coming at some point this month.
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Now JetBlue is courting disgruntled Delta SkyMiles members

The radical changes to Delta's SkyMiles program were only made public a couple of weeks ago, but already the vultures are circling. On Monday, Alaska Airlines was the first to offer SkyMiles members an alternative home and now JetBlue has joined the fray with what appears to be a very generous status match offer to Delta flyers looking for a more appropriate frequent flyer program.
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Alaska Airlines is tempting Delta flyers with a new route & a generous status...

The dust may not have yet settled on the remains of the old Delta Skymiles program, but with details of the new Skymiles program already angering, upsetting or annoying what appears to be a significant number of people, Alaska Airlines is making moves to capitalize on Delta's disenchanted flyers.
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Big changes coming to Delta Sky Club access rules

Delta has had a problem with overcrowding in its Sky Clubs for some time and in the past couple of years, it has brought in various measures to try and sort the problem out. Unfortunately, none of these measures have made much of a difference so far.
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Delta does what Delta does best… devalue its loyalty program (this time, in a...

Delta has announced that it will be moving down the path that American Airline's forged back in 2022 by revamping its frequent flyer program and using just a single metric to decide what elite status (if any) members of the program should have.
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Delta announces a new tie-up with Starbucks (earn miles & stars)

Delta and Starbucks have announced a new partnership that allows customers with SkyMiles and Starbucks accounts to earn miles and stars when they buy their morning coffee and when they fly.
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Delta makes earning elite status more expensive & adds new choice benefits

In the miles & points world, it's often a bad sign when you read of a loyalty program announcing that it is "enhancing" benefits, as no one running any of the major loyalty programs appears to know what that word means.
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Huge Promo: Fast Track To Delta Medallion Status With Bonus Elite Credits (Includes Award...

Delta has launched a new promotion with which it's giving flyers the opportunity to fast-track their way to Medallion status through bonus Medallion Qualification Miles, Medallion Qualification Segments, and Medallion Qualification Dollars. Also, rather amazingly, Delta is also offering elite status credits for award bookings.
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Excellent News: Delta Extends Upgrade Certificates & Makes Them Much Easier To Use

With air travel still potentially months away from showing any real signs of recovery, Delta has announced that it will be extending the validity of all existing upgrade certificates and that it will be offering an amnesty to Medallion members whose certificates had recently expired. In further good news, Delta flyers now also have more ways in which to use their upgrade certificates
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Delta Devalues SkyMiles Again – Partner Award Costs Increase Significantly

It's not like Delta isn't known for devaluing its currency as frequently as possible, but at a time when the airline industry claims to be on its knees and very few people are flying out of choice, Delta's decision to quietly increase the cost of partner awards by 25% (and more) is very hard to understand.
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Delta Eliminates Change Fees On Most Domestic Award Bookings

Delta Platinum and Medallion members have long been able to change award bookings without incurring a penalty but now, with immediate effect, everyone else can feel a little bit more like an elite flyer with Delta after the airline announced that change fees on domestic award bookings are now (mostly) a thing of the past.
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Delta Extends Sky Club Memberships & Benefits For Amex Credit Card Holders

At the beginning of April, Delta was the first of the major US carriers to announce status extensions and, among other things, extensions to select benefits offered by the Delta SkyMiles credit cards issued by American Express. Now, with the travel crisis not looking like it's going to get better any time soon, Delta has announced a second round of extensions to select benefits that accompany its co-branded credit cards.
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Ending Tomorrow: Earn Cashback & Bonus Miles With Delta AMEX Credit Cards

American Express has been offering a cashback + bonus miles sign-up deal on two of its co-branded Delta credit cards over the past few weeks and, with under 48 hours to go before the offer expires, I thought I’d highlight the options that are currently available for anyone who may not have seen them.
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Delta Introduces ‘Reclaim My Status’ As A Loyalty Benefit…..But I’m Not Sure It’s All...

Delta has today announced the introduction of it's "Reclaim My Status" program which allows SkyMiles Medallion Members to restart their travels with a challenge which offers them the opportunity to regain their old status after taking time out for one of life's expected or unexpected major events.
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You Can Now Upgrade Your Existing Delta Bookings Online

Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission which helps contribute to the running of...
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Delta Will Now Let You Pay To Secure Status For 2019

If you're a frequent Delta flyer but not frequent enough that you've managed to reach your status targets for 2019, Delta has reintroduced a program that may be of use to you - Delta's Elevate Your Status is back!
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Delta Silver Medallion Members Now Get An Extra Checked Bag On Virgin Atlantic

I hold absolutely no status with Delta or Virgin Atlantic but as I look to possibly change my airline allegiances going forward I'm paying a lot more attention to what the like of Delta and Virgin Atlantic offer....and that's why an update posted today caught my eye. An alert I received today let me know of a change posted to the Skymiles News & Updates page today (15 November 2018) which suggests that Delta Silver Medallion members now get at least one checked bag on Virgin Atlantic operated flights.
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Earn Up To 50 Miles/Dollar At Airline Shopping Portals This Labor Day

It's a holiday weekend so naturally there are sales and deals appearing all over the place right now. Some are pretty good while others are a complete waste of time but, if you can drag yourself away from the grill, some of the offers at the airline shopping portals may be of use.
a plane taking off from a runway

Delta Is Selling Medallion Qualifying Miles & Segments For 2018 Status

Through 15 February 2018 Delta is running a promotion it's calling "Elevate Your Status" in which Medallion members can purchase Medallion Qualifying Miles and Medallion Qualifying Segments in order to boost their Medallion status for 2018.
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Why I Don’t Mind Delta’s Ridiculous $250,000 Credit Card Spend Requirement For A MQD...

Delta is the only one of the 3 legacy airlines that offers customers the chance to have the spend requirement (Medallion Qualification Dollars or MQD) for top-tier status waived. United and American Airlines will let you earn a waiver of some of the spend requirement....but not enough so that you can earn top-tier status.
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Delta Improves Complimentary Upgrades With Immediate Effect

Back in May of this year Delta announced that, from this fall, Medallion members traveling with one companion would clear for Complimentary Upgrades to both First Class and Delta Comfort+ based on the status of the higher-tiered member. Well, we're half-way through the second month of fall and Delta has finally made good on that announcement.
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Earning Status With The Big 3 US Airlines – Meeting Minimum Spend Requirements

On Tuesday I took a look at the qualification criteria set by the Big 3 US legacy airlines for anyone looking to earn status in their respective rewards programs and yesterday I followed that up with a post on how the Big 3 US airline award miles towards elite qualification. Today I'm going to take a look at the second major requirement that all three legacy carriers now have as part of their rewards programs - the minimum spend requirements - and specifically look at how flyers can meet the spend requirements on the 3 Big US legacy airlines.
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Earning Status With The Big 3 US Airlines – Earning Miles Towards Elite Qualification

The announcement on Monday that American Airlines will be introducing minimum spend criteria to its AAdvantage program spurred me into taking another look into how elite status can be earned on the Big 3 US legacy airlines. Yesterday I took a look at the criteria set by American, Delta and United for those wishing to attain status in their rewards programs and today I'm going to take a look at how easy each airline makes it to earn the required number of miles that each elite status level requires.
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Earning Status With The Big 3 US Airlines – The Requirements

After yesterday's news that American Airlines is further devaluing the AAdvantage program in a number of different and disappointing ways, including introducing a spending requirement for elite status, I thought it would be interesting to compare the criteria for earning status with all three of the remaining legacy US airlines. I also thought it would be interesting to see how easy or difficult each airline makes it to earn their status based on how they award miles, what exceptions they make to status requirements and what extra ways (other then flying) they offer to help travelers attain status faster.
Delta Upgrade Changes

Good News! Delta Upgrade Priority To Change

Delta is not an airline I write about a lot because it doesn't come up in my travels very much and, to be frank, I really don't know enough about it to make too many useful or insightful comments. But I do know just how badly the airline has been squeezing its frequent flyers over the years (my commiserations if you're one of them) and I do know that the way Delta has peen prioritising upgrades for those flying with companions has been a big issue for Delta flyers. But things are about to change.
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