wrytoast

Here’s the deal: I’m currently a GM with 38,000 miles flown YTD. Between now and the end of the year, I’ll be flying another 30,000 miles, which gets me to 68,000 for the year. I’m about 60% on upgrades so far as a GM out of the NYC area, so I figure the jump to PM will make a pretty significant difference. So, how to get the extra 7,000 MQMs? I’ve got about $50,000 budgeted for stuff that I can put on credit cards between now and the end of the year. Choices are:

1) MR;
2) Charge on my current DL Platinum card. I’ve got about $7k charged so far, so another $18k gets me 10,000 MQMs.
3) Upgrade to Reserve card for 5,0000 bonus MQMs, and put $30k of spend on that card. ($23k, I guess, with the $7k already on the Platinum card);
4) Apply for the Platinum or Reserve business versions of the card, neither of which I’ve ever had;
5) Wait for an Amex MR MQM bonus like they ran 2 years ago;
6) Straight up buy the MQMs if DL offers that this year;
7) The option I haven’t thought of yet, but which I’m sure brilliant FTers can fill me in on…

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

jspira

There is a non-online offer for the Platinum Amex business card that will yield 15,000 MQMS with a $1,000 spend.

You get 5,000 MQMs with the first purchase and 10,000 more when you hit $1,000. I think you also get a total of 30,000 miles but I'm not sure when they hit.

davetravels

So, how does one get this deal?

Ooompa Loompa

If it were me I'd find a cheap MR to Europe and spend a weekend there. Mini vacation/MR, and an ex-NYC Europe MR should yield you right around the perfect amount of miles.

jspira

On the phone. A rep I spoke to told ME about it.

When I called back to apply, the 2nd rep simply had to shuffle thru some virtual files and find it. It was not a targeted offer or a special offer.

mot29

Why not go for diamond with an AF premium economy mileage run to Asia by way of CDG? You can book to an AF Asia destination from the US by way of CDG, spend a few days in PVG or HKG (no visa), return by way of CDG with a stopover in Europe for a few days. These price out at about $2500 or so, earn 25% base miles bonus and 50% mqm bonus and you can get a pretty neat one week trip. If you can price into S instead of A you can even use sky miles for upgrades to AF business. Adds a few hundred dollars.

view-with-a-room

The Reserve card will yield 5,000 MQM. One weekend in any west coast destination will yield 5,000 MQM. The Reserve card also benefits status.

BoeingGuy

Spend a weekend in either Los Angeles or San Francisco. A transcon trip on M fare or higher will yeild you over 7K MQMs (LAX - 7,426; SFO - 7,758) and will run you around $1,100.

roknroll

I'd save the CC applications for a tougher situation where making the MQM's is tougher or you need more. If you have the time, then 7k isn't too tough to get with a MR vacation where you don't mind spending the money.

LGA-ATL-SJU round trip can be had for $224 over a weekend, which nets 4,616 MQMs (4.9 cpm). For a nice destination that you can actually turn into a vacation, that's a great value. That leaves an easy 2,400 MQM's to get on a short MR that you could do in a single day turn.

Aside from that (or in addition to), my next recommendation would be to put the spend on your current Delta Plat card. If you've got $50k in spend available, choose the $18k of it that wouldn't earn any bonuses on other cards and put it on the DL card. Add that to the SJU MR/vacation and you'll have PM with a 7k rollover to jump start you for next year.

PM is definitely worth going for, UG chances go up quite a bit, the choice benefits are nice (choosing the $200 voucher nearly pays for the SJU mileage run), and having free award changes is a huge benefit in securing optimal awards.

wrytoast

You folks are brilliant! I knew I came to the right place. SJU for a weekend sounds fabulous. That, plus the $18k spend on the current card gets the job done, and is probably what I'll wind up doing. Thanks, Roknroll! And I think you're right on saving the cc bonuses for a stickier situation. Plus, my 1 year anniversary with the Plat card is in October, so I'll bag the companion cert first and then figure out what to do.

Also, M to LAX is pretty useful, since I've got some business to do, and a tax-deductible flight (since, of course, the primary reason for the trip would be to visit clients) seems like a winner, too. Thanks, BoeingGuy!

Mot29-- Juste! Or, at least it would be if I could get away for a week between now and the end of the year, which would be difficult.

Thanks again to all who offered help.

roknroll

JFK-LAX has pretty reasonable K fares, which are upgradeable with SWU's (PM choice benefit). I think you can get round trips somewhere in the mid $400 price range. That route has business elite cabin and service, so a great choice to use a SWU on. They never will release X (upgrade) inventory, and all upgrades are done at the gate. But if you use your SWU (and it's applied properly), you will be at the top of the UG list.

You won't get the 50% MQM bonus like you would on an M fare, but I don't think an extra 2500 MQM's is worth paying $700.

amolkold

If your goal is PM, just go all out on the MQM earnings. You'll rollover anything above 75K. Diamond isn't for another 50K after that.

I'm GM and am at 43K with no Delta travel booked for the rest of the year. I might book a transcon to hit 48K, but my plan is to stop there, rollover 23K, then travel a lot in January and February to re-earn GM (while I still have this year's GM). That'll put me in an easier spot to earn PM through February 2015.

Dieuwer

I see winter fares BOS-CDG-HGK with AF premium economy starting at $2200 rt ai. At approximately 18,800 miles this comes to 8 cpm (includes 50% MQM bonus). Considering you get discounted CDG club access, and a somewhat better seat and service, that is a pretty decent rate.

Fares from NYC start at $2150 ai.