Originally Posted by
alexiar
I am the closest I have ever been to making diamond. I have the miles, but am short on dollars. Trying to see if I can make it. Note that I have the Delta Reserve Amex.
Departure Airport: ATL/NYC/MIA/Any east coast hub
MQD Needed: $10,500
Required Spend or Budget: As cheap as possible
Available Travel Dates: Any dates before December 2022
Required Metal or Codeshares okay*: DL or any partner
Miami to Capetown on Virgin Atlantic is available for $1239 (economy delight class) on weekends in November (e.g. Nov 12 - 14). The MR would earn about $5000 MQDs.
Miami to Johannesburg is about $200 more.
Two runs to CPT in Economy Delight would earn you about $10,000 MQDS. If you bump half of one of the trips (i.e. MIA-LHR-CPT or CPT-LHR-MIA) to Premium Economy for around $430, you would have enough MQDs to meet your MQD requirement. Premium Economy earns 30% of distance flown for MQDs.