It may feel like forever ago that Delta riled up even its most diehard flyers by announcing some sweeping – and wildly unpopular – changes to earning Medallion status and Delta Sky Club® access.
Shifting to a spending-only model for earning status, drastically increasing the dollar thresholds to climb to the next tier of perks, and killing off a popular workaround to bypass those requirements had thousands of travelers swearing they'd fly other carriers or chop up their *delta reserve card*. It triggered a nationwide backlash that made the mainstream news, forcing airline executives to apologize and then backtrack on some of the most painful changes.
That was two years ago. Delta made it clear even then that it's not that they changed too much but did so too quickly, spooking loyal customers. CEO Ed Bastian said so himself: “Our team wanted to rip the bandaid off. We moved too fast.”
Then and now, the same problems remain. After automatic extensions through the pandemic and giving their most frequent flyers a creative way to lock in years of benefits, the rolls of travelers with Medallion Status are bloated. Complimentary upgrades are rare – especially when Delta is selling a vast majority of those seats instead, whether it's a bargain or not. Many Sky Clubs remain overcrowded.
All of which begs the question: Is this the year Delta comes back to finish what they set out to do two years ago?
Delta isn't saying just yet. An airline spokesperson said Thursday that the airline had no updates on what may or may not be in store for earning Medallion status in 2026.
But as summer comes to a close, we're nearing the point of the year where Delta (and most airlines) make such announcements for the following year. Here's why we – and other loyal Delta flyers – are waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Have the Changes Worked?
Before backtracking, Delta proposed some massive changes to earning status and flying with the airline:
- Eliminating annual mileage requirements and shifting to the almighty Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) to earn status – all that matters is spending with the airline
- Increasing those spending thresholds by as much as 100%, requiring a massive $35,000 in spending to unlock top-tier Diamond Medallion status
- Killing off a popular “MQD waiver” workaround to clinch status by spending $25,000 on a Delta co-branded card, replacing it with a far-less lucrative earn-as-you-spend system
- Capping annual Sky Club visits for premium travel credit cards like the Delta Reserve and *amex platinum* at 10 and just six times a year, respectively … while banning travelers with the cheaper *delta skymiles platinum card* from buying their way in and anyone with a Delta basic economy ticket altogether
Read more: Dissecting Delta’s Botched Status Overhaul & Why It Backfired
It was supposed to be a two birds, one stone solution: Clear out overgrown upgrade queues and overcrowded Sky Clubs all at once.
Delta eventually relented after the ensuing uproar by lowering those spending threshold hikes, increasing annual Sky Club access, and introducing new ways to earn toward status like an automatic $2,500 MQD Headstart benefit for select cardholders. Here's where they are today.
Almost two years later, we can't know for sure whether Delta accomplished its goals … but it seems unlikely.
A company spokesperson pointed to Delta's “continued growth in engagement … in the SkyMiles program since fall 2023,” adding that they've seen a record number of new co-branded card acquisitions “with our Delta SkyMiles American Express Reserve card leading among those applications.”
That's great to stem the fears that cardholders might cancel in droves – not to mention for Delta's bottom line, which relies heavily on American Express. But considering the *delta reserve card* now provides the easiest path to Delta Medallion status – and that, in some ways, the final changes made in 2023 actually made earning elite status easier than ever – it seems unlikely that Delta has made much headway in its goal of reducing Medallion bloat.
With flying requirements out the window, it's now possible to earn elite status before ever stepping foot on a Delta jet. With the *delta skymiles platinum card* or the top-tier *delta reserve card* in your wallet, you're already halfway to Silver status each and every year thanks to the cards' 2,500 MQD Headstart benefit. Heck, you can can even get instant Silver status by holding both of these cards. Whether or not you should is an entirely different question …
Add in the fact that you can earn additional MQDs when purchasing a Delta Vacations package and through your regular spending on either the SkyMiles Platinum or Reserve Card, and low-level status is more attainable than ever.
We recently asked our Thrifty Traveler Premium members how Delta's current status system is working out for them. As you'd expect, the reactions were mixed.
For a handful of travelers, Delta's changes actually made status easier to earn – with some even going from no status at all to Silver or Gold.
Others, though, have dropped down the ranks or even say they've given up on Delta loyalty altogether …
All that's to say: If Delta's real goal with these status changes was to thin the herd, it might not be working.
And there's one other wrinkle to consider in all of this. After all the blowback, Delta threw its most loyal travelers a bone by allowing elites to convert extra MQMs to MQDs and extend status for years to come. With this one-time opportunity, many Delta flyers were able to extend their top-tier elite status for several years – as far out as 2028, in some cases.
Why Now?
Again: We don't know. Delta hasn't said if or when it'll tweak its Medallion Status program next.
But the timing is ripe:
- Aside from a long pandemic pause, many airlines adjust elite status requirements in two- or three-year cycles. Prior to the 2023 dustup, Delta last adjusted Medallion status just one year prior
- After having the podium of the country's top “premium” airline all to itself for nearly a decade, Delta is suddenly feeling pressure from United and needs to make sure it's delivering on those expectations for its top-paying customers
In an earnings call with investors after the blowup in the fall of 2023, Bastian again signaled the airline was still serious about major changes.
“Most everyone also agrees that something has to be done because everyone sees that the premium number of customers that we continue to build are in excess of the premium assets that we have to offer,” he said.
They're now two years behind where they wanted to be with status requirements. So what should Delta diehards expect?
We don't need to look far to get a sense of what could be coming. Here are the MQD requirements Delta initially proposed:
That'd be a 20% increase from the current thresholds to earn Silver, Gold, and Platinum status … and a whopping 25% increase to earn Delta's top-tier Diamond status. Less than a year ago, Delta's biggest competitor United introduced new status requirements that are roughly in the same ballpark.
Asking Delta loyalists to spend even more to earn the same level of elite status might seem like a tough sell, but it's only a matter of time before it happens. It makes even more sense when you consider Delta's goal to grow its revenue from American Express credit cards to $10 billion a year. They're still a ways off, and finding more ways to encourage travelers to swipe their cards in pursuit of status is an essential element of making that a reality.
None of this means that Delta will make a move this fall that will affect flyers chasing Medallion Status – or that, if they do, they'll copy the approach above that they ditched two years ago. But whether it happens this year or next, it's only a matter of time.
Bottom Line
Despite Delta's efforts to thin the Medallion ranks with its botched program overhaul two years ago, the new system is still leaving elite benefits stretched thin.
While nothing is certain, Delta flyers are understandably anxious. The conditions are ripe for the airline to come back and finish the job it started two years ago.
