MFNlaw

I lurk much more than I post, and I want to thank all of you for the good advice I've read over the years.

I know that there are a lot of these threads at this time of year, but I need opinions. I used to travel frequently, then I switched to a job where I didn't travel at all for 2 years. Now I'm back traveling frequently. I'm based in the mid-Atlantic, and my territory is the middle of the country and West Coast. Right now, I have about 41,400 miles for the year, and a trip to CA the first week of December that will get me approximately 5,000 MQMs. I'm fine on MQDs. I would have hit Gold already if I didn't have to fly WN to HQ in MHT.

My travel will be about the same next year. The question is do I stretch and MR for Gold, or hold at FO and roll over a ton? This would be a no-brainer if rollover didn't exist--I'd do a MR. I've been upgraded once this year, but I appreciate being able to select preferred at booking and EC seats on the day of travel. It makes a huge difference. I never want to go from Platinum to no status ever again. It was painful.

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

injera

if i were in your shoes and had the time/money i would say go for it. or get a delta amex for the bonus MQMs.

I dont get that many ug's as a GM either but the free ec, sky priority and free sds provides a lot of value for me.

SCEflyer

The great unknown here is whether the MQD requirement will have the effect of culling the Medallion herd in 2015, which might enhance the value of FO status. Opinions vary on this point. However, just to be safe, I would go for Gold. I started the year as an FO and was Gold for a few months, as I made my way to PM. There was a big difference between FO and Gold, but perhaps not as great as between having no status and FO.

jrl767

for that much domestic travel, free EC when booking is reason enough to secure GM

xliioper

You can do BWI-SEA or BWI-LAS for $298 roundtrip. Not a great deal CPM-wise, but I'd say it's worth to jump from Silver to Gold.

MFNlaw

Thanks, everyone. I have the Delta Reserve card, but I don't do enough spend on it for the MQMs. It's mainly there to get me into the SkyClub these days. (I have a reduced rate because I have other AMEX products that make it less than a membership now.)

I may try to make a weekend out of a MR, though I have a feeling it's going to be a quick turn with the holidays and my schedule. Thanks for the tip, LBJ.

howtofreetravel

Do it but make a vacation out of it

Quinlanty

Last year I went from Silver to Gold and my upgrade percentage increased drastically. I fly out of BWI when I am at Johns Hopkins for school, so same airports. Another bonus is boarding with sky priority and getting the free HOOU coupons that give you free booze when you don't get upgraded. But in my case, i got double the amount of upgrades as gold.