Originally Posted by
vbiagiot
Am I correct that it is much harder to earn high status with Delta vs. United/AA? My (probably incorrect) understanding is that there is a requirement for flight segments in addition to total spend that isn't apparent for other airlines. I just started to fly from NYC to Europe regularly in business class, with my fare usually being about $9-10k. I'm debating choosing United or Delta as my carrier. My colleagues have told me they earned 1K in 2 trips, but Delta seems to have much better flight times for my airport so I would prefer to pick Delta if possible. My only concern is that it would take way longer to earn Delta's top status. I'm also considering trying to status match. Would anyone have any thoughts? Is it also right that United generally is cheaper for miles spending vs. Delta?
With DL, you earn status based on EITHER status miles MQMs OR segments MQSs, but it is NOT true that both are required. What is also required is MQDs or a waiver. In your case, two RTs at this fare level will meet the MQD requirement and your flights will earn 150% or 200% (on the most expensive business class fares) distance as MQMs, As a very rough conservative estimate, since you don't state your destination or fare class, if you earn a minimum of 10,000 MQMs per RT, you would need 12.5 RTs to get the 125,000 MQMs for DM starting from zero and with no DL AmEx cards.
What status would you use for a status challenge? DL doesn't generally do status matches.