Hello everyone. I have one more trip this year which will put me at 49,244 MQM. I can fit another quick MR in (company trip) if I need to, but have a couple of questions for you experts. I do see the benefit in achieving gold, given I will travel roughly the same amount next year and will have one international flight that I know of. Anyway, on to my personal dilemma:

I was thinking of applying for the Delta SkyClub membership using the MQM bonus as a way to push me over the 50K for gold. So, if I was already thinking about spending the $400

Would it make better sense to apply for the Delta AMEX and pay the $450 annual fee instead? I see that this card gets me 10K MQM with my first purchase which posts within 2-4 weeks. This would then put me around 60K so I could rollover the 10K, right? And for just $50 more I would still receive SkyClub access for the year. Is my thought process correct?

And, just to make sure, if I get the Gold through the 10K MQM kicker, I would still have access to the shorter security lines, SDC, EC seats, etc. for 2012?