Hey Lady!
Welcome to the world of dining-for-miles!
The
status business has to do with past dining patterns, and nothing to do with "status" on the airlines involved. It is a very new idea cooked up by the folks at Rewards Network earlier this year. You are at the Delta miles level you are because you have had at least 12 qualifying meals post in the past 12 months. Rewards Network originally wanted to cap that level at 5 miles/dollar, but relented and are offering as much as 20 for "elites" (such as your Delta dining status now stands) through June 30, 2006. To make things even more confusing, current dining elite statuses end 12/31/06, but June - Dec. 2006 earning has likely not been established yet (for certain); as it stands, elites revert to 5 miles/dollar (as opposed to lowly peons at 3:1) on July 1, 2006.
Your husband is at 3 miles/dollar (base) until he has 12 dines by the end of this year. The same will be true for you if you open a new American Airlines dining account in your name. However, you can have multiple accounts with different airlines at the same time (some joints are still one-visit-per-month-per-airline so multiple accounts are a great idea), so you will still earn Delta miles at the higher elite rate for another 12 months (at least) with that linked card, and regular (non-elite) American miles for your first dozen visits with them.
If you are still confused, it is
NOT you! This new incarnation of the program is difficult to understand.
