Call it savvy or insane, but I've done some … let's just call them questionable things in the decade since starting this flight deal website, all with one goal in mind: Keeping my Delta Medallion status.
Back in 2017, I flew from Minnesota to Madrid and back … twice … in the same month. The next year, I sat in a Delta economy seat for nearly 80 hours and 37,000 miles, flying roundtrip to Singapore twice to ensure I'd requalify for my prized Delta Platinum Medallion Status.
I've had a good run flying with Delta, but I'm done – done going out of my way to earn the increasingly expensive (and progressively meaningless) Medallion Status, I mean. I'll end this year with lowly Silver status, maybe Gold. I wouldn't be shocked if I lose status with Delta altogether after that.
And I couldn't be happier about it.
Delta's unpopular overhaul of its status program didn't just make earning top Delta status harder and more expensive, it's also less fun: The Delta mileage run is officially dead … and so is the need to punish myself in pursuit of status. More importantly, I'm far better off putting the gobs of money I'd need to charge to my Delta Amex on another credit card – with a program that won't charge me 400,000 miles or more for a business class redemption.
To be perfectly clear: I'm not divorcing Delta altogether. While its recent meltdown has raised plenty of doubts, I'd still consider Delta the best airline in the U.S. by far. And they'll still be my go-to for domestic flights – though, as a hub captive based in Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), it's not like I have much of a choice.
Unless you're constantly flying Delta on your company's dime, we've told travelers for years that they're much better off as airline free agents. And I'm finally taking my own advice.
Here's why.
Changes Make it (Much) More Expensive
I've locked up Delta Platinum Status for nearly a decade using the same formula, every single year:
- Book cheap Delta-operated flights – often, the same ones we send to our Thrifty Traveler Premiummembers – torack up annual mileage requirements
- Bypass annual spending requirements by charging $25,000 to a *delta skymiles platinum card* or *delta reserve card* each year
Delta officially killed off both of those this year. Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) are gone – it's all about the almighty Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQDs) now.
The end of the MQD Waiver – that trusty workaround to bypass annual spending requirements that I and countless other loyal Delta flyers relied on – hurts. In its place, there's a far-less lucrative return for spending on my Delta Amex cards. And to make matters worse, the airline also increased how many MQDs you need to earn each year to unlock each tier of Medallion Status.
Add it all up, and keeping my once-prized Delta Platinum Status is now far more expensive than I'm willing to stomach.
Case in point: In the past, I earned that status in part by spending $25,000 a year on a Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card. To do it again, I'd need to spend as much as $300,000 on that same card. No thank you.
But it's more than that. Delta's money-centric overhaul sucked all the fun out of it.
Nothing tops feeling like you beat the airlines at their own game – at least for sickos like me and many others on our team. Sure, I had to put myself through some pain to do it, but racking up enough mileage to earn status by taking a cheap trip to Singapore or Spain felt like cheating the system. And I won't lie, I had a blast doing it.
That's no longer the case: All that matters to Delta is how much you spend with the airline.
I'll keep a Delta co-branded Amex card in my wallet for the free baggage and other perks like Delta companion certificates and the TakeOff 15 discount when redeeming SkyMiles. But I'll probably keep it in a drawer because earning Delta status isn't just more expensive – it feels less rewarding than ever.
Shrinking Benefits & Fewer Upgrades
Travelers lust after status for one main reason: Free upgrades. Who wouldn't want a first class seat for the price of coach?
But the reality is that upgrades have become few and far between for all but the top Delta Diamond members – and even then, it's no slam dunk. Why? Because Delta is simply selling them instead.
Selling upgrades on the cheap has become common in the airline world these days. But no airline has taken it further than Delta.
Years ago, more than 85% of the airline's first class seats were staying empty, open for status holders like me to get a free upgrade. But Delta has gotten so proficient at convincing travelers to buy (or pay to upgrade to) those first class seats, the airline's president Glen Hauenstein recently said they're now selling 74% of domestic first class seats, according to the Airline Observer.
I've felt it in my own travels: Regular upgrades to first class have pretty much evaporated over the last few years. And the other perks of Platinum status don't move the needle as much, either.
Choice Benefits like a set of four regional upgrade certificates are nice, but hardly worth the (higher) cost of earning the status to begin with. Free cancellation on award tickets booked with SkyMiles was once a hallmark of Platinum and Diamond status, but now that flexibility extends to even everyday SkyMiles members redeeming miles. And while banking on a Delta Comfort Plus seat after booking is great, what I really want is that first class seat.
So should I spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with Delta to earn status and the privilege of missing out on most upgrades? Or should I just pay more for that first class seat to begin with or buy a cheap upgrade afterward?
For me, that's an easy choice – particularly when I'm increasingly looking at other airlines instead.
The Free Agent Life is Better
I could focus on Delta to earn status and SkyMiles, spending years to rack up the absurdly-high 400,000 SkyMiles (or more) I'd need to book a one-way ticket in business class to Europe.
Or I could put my Delta loyalty aside and focus instead on earning transferrable credit card points like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, and Capital One miles. You know, the points I can send to a partner airline and book my whole family flying Air France business class to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) or KLM business class to Amsterdam (AMS) … for as low as just 50,000 pointsinstead.
I'm choosing the latter.
Whether you're booking tons of Delta flights, swiping your SkyMiles Amex Card everywhere you go, or both, you have to stop and consider the opportunity cost: What are you giving up by chasing Delta status? And is it worth the tradeoff?
For me, it's an unequivocal no.
My priority these days is booking lie-flat business class seats abroad – not just on Delta, but on other airlines.And a service called (stop me if you've heard of it) Thrifty Traveler Premium has been helping me do it for a fraction of the SkyMiles I'd need to fork over. It's almost comical how poor of a value SkyMiles are compared to other mileage currencies – especially compared to my new favorite: Air France/KLM, a Delta partner, with their Flying Blue program.
Booking a business class flight to Germany for just 60,000 points is a bargain, especially compared to the 345,000 miles Delta is charging for similar flights. Untethered from my loyalty to Delta, it's freed me up to chase these better deals and spend less time chasing Delta status.
Flying Lufthansa business class, Condor business class, Air France, and KLM this year alone has reminded me that sometimes, the grass is indeed greener on the other side.
Best in the US, But…
Despite its recent embarrassing meltdown (and even more embarrassing response), Delta remains the best airline in the U.S.
It's still the most reliable carrier in the U.S. by far, and has been for years. The in-flight service is often far superior to what you'll get flying with American or United. The modern seatback screens and free in-flight Wi-Fi on almost every plane make its competitors look ancient by comparison.
But zoom out and your perception of Delta may shift. While it was the top-rated U.S. carrier in SkyTrax's recent annual rankings, Delta didn't even crack the top 20 airlines in the globe. That's no accident.
You need only look at Delta's business class seats on long-haul flights to see a reason why. Sure, Delta One Suites are fantastic – at least on the routes where you can find them.But the majority of Delta's long-haul fleet consists of cabins that are more than a decade old … and look even older.
Compared to even #10-ranked SWISS business class, it's no contest. The service, food, drinks, and amenities are often much better on other foreign carriers, too – at least in my experience.
So why should I stay blindly loyal to Delta when I can get a better experience with another airline … and pay fewer points for it, too?
I'm Flying Less
Airlines are brutally adept at getting their customers (like yours truly) to do irrational things in the name of status: Paying hundreds more for flights, last-minute mileage runs, and paying $2,500-plus for end-of-year status offers.
Just as with annual fees with credit cards, you need to do the math on whether status is worth the cost – and whether you'll really travel enough to benefit from those perks you're (over)paying for.
While it might seem obvious, this is the part that too many travelers blindly chasing status fail to consider. That math has turned against me lately.
I've got two young boys at home now, and I'm traveling far less than I used to just a few years ago. We travel together as a family, of course – but I'm increasingly booking tickets on other airlines when we do. And at least for now, the days of quick domestic getaways or last-minute positioning flights with Delta before a trip abroad are over.
Not only would chasing Delta status cost me drastically more, but I'm also flying Delta drastically less. Maybe that'll change in the years ahead … but until it does, it's simply not worth the effort to hold onto Platinum Status for an eighth consecutive year.
Bottom Line
After its botched status overhaul, raising credit card annual fees, and recent meltdown, plenty of diehard Delta flyers are rethinking their loyalty. I'm one of them.
Don't get me wrong: I'll keep flying with Delta. But for me, it's no longer worth the absurd amount of money it now costs just to earn Medallion Status.
Lead photo courtesy of Chris Lundberg via Flickr
