Delta SkyMiles will be undergoing some changes for 2024 that will see status qualification be based 100% on spend. The airline is also making changes to lounge access to help combat serious overcrowding at their Sky Clubs. While the SkyMiles program isn’t common place for many Canadians there are some who do use Delta as their airline of choice for flying to the U.S. and beyond as well there are some who choose to use SkyMiles as their program for flying on WestJet (earn and burn). It is those Canadians who fly enough with Delta, WestJet or other Delta Airline partners who will be most affected by these changes.
Status will be based on Medallion Qualifying Dollars only
Similar to the changes that American Airlines put in place with their AAdvantage program in late 2021 (read more here), Delta SkyMiles is simplifying elite status qualification to be based on spend only. Elite Qualifying spend will be awarded in Medallion Qualifying Dollars as follows:
- Earn $1 MQD per US$1* spent on the ticket price for a Delta-marketed flight operated by Delta or by one of their partner airlines.
- MQD’s can be earned with Delta Credit Cards however Delta SkyMiles no longer has a Canadian issued credit card. If you do have U.S. based credit cards you earn $1 MQD for each $20 of purchases on your Delta SkyMiles Platinum or Platinum Business Card or $1 MQD for each $10 of purchases on your Delta SkyMiles Reserve or Reserve Business Card.
- Earn $1 MQD per US$1* spent on car rentals booked directly via Delta
- Earn $1 MQD per US$1* spent on hotels booked directly via Delta
- Earn $1 MQD per US$1* spent on vacation packages booked with Delta Vacations
Status Levels and Threshold Requirements
Earning Delta SkyMiles Medallion status will require 6,000 MQD for Silver, 12,000 for Gold, 18,000 for Platinum and Diamond tops it off at 35,000 MQD. Those are some pretty high numbers and remember it is based on US$ so a Canadian wanting to reach Silver status will be spending over $8,000 on flights, car rentals, hotels etc.
If a lot of that spend is made on flights with WestJet you will probably be better off crediting those flights WestJet Rewards as you would easily get higher status with WestJet. For example, WestJet Gold and Platinum provide SkyPriority benefits and lounge access when you do fly with Delta.
Sky Club Lounge Access
There are sweeping changes as well to accessing Delta SkyC lub lounges. namely for many of the U.S. issued credit cards. The only Canadian card that may be affected by these changes however is the Platinum Card from American Express.
The changes being put in place by Delta will see U.S. issued American Express Platinum Cards being limited to six visits per year starting February 1, 2025. Those same cardmembers can receive unlimited access if they spend $75,000 or more annually on their card. We are awaiting confirmation if this same rule will be placed on Canadian issued Platinum Cards.
UPDATE (Sep 15) Rewards Canada has received confirmation that Canadian Platinum Card from American Express cardmembers WILL NOT be subject to these same rules. We will continue to receive unlimited access to SkyClub lounges at no charge for the cardmember who is travelling with Delta.
Also if you are flying Delta on a Basic Economy ticket or an equivalent ticket with a partner airline and have an American Express card with lounge access, you will not receive Delta Sky Club Access effective January 1, 2024
Wrapping it up
Major changes from Delta SkyMiles sees the airline moving their frequent flyer program to only one type of elite status qualification requirement, Medallion Qualifying Dollars. With MQDs being the only form of status qualification it may now become harder for Canadians to qualify for status, especially those who qualified on MQM (Miles) or MQS (Segments) and had the MQD waived thanks to residency outside of the U.S. You may want to look at WestJet Rewards or other SkyTeam programs like Flying Blue as your go to program for flying with Delta.
In terms of the lounge access changes, they don’t really affect Canadians as much unless the 6 visit limitation is also placed on Canadian issued American Express Platinum Cards. We’ll be sure to provide an update once we find out the details for Canadian cardmembers.