I achieved Platinum in 2019 and got it carried over to 2020, where I flew only for the first few months of the year. I have like 33K MGMs carried over to this year. I currently have a Delta AMEX platinum card and achieved my first $25K spend, which removes the MQD requirement AND got me the 12,500 MQMs. So, I'm really close to qualifying for Gold for next year (5K MQMs away), and probably will make it on card spend alone.
I just got an offer to UPGRADE my card to Delta Reserve. This gets me 60K miles, and a $300 statement credit for spending $4K in 6 months. I get the Reserve perks (lounge access and first-class companion cert, etc.) as well as the 15K MQMs for $30K spend (instead of 10K MQMs for $25K spend).
BUT, wouldn't I be better off just applying for a Reserve card directly? I lose the $300 statement credit, but I gain 20K MQMs, and the 60K becomes 80K with some relatively insignificant spend in 3-4 months. I think I'll spend another $30K this year - certainly if I do something like pay taxes via the card.
Thoughts on optimizing cards to get would be appreciated.