OH... there's a 12 months wait?? I upgraded from Gold to Platinum in July. I received 5,000 MQMs. Hmm... i was reading the Reserve page.. it said instead of getting 10,000 MQMs...i would only qualify for 5,000 MQM...but didn't mention about the 12 months wait.

I called Amex Platinum to inquire about upgrading to Reserve. Was told the membership fee will be prorated...but the rep. said it will take 6-8 weeks for the MQM to apply to the account...so won't be able to make it before the end of the year to qualify.

Does this sound right? or should i call and speak to another rep?

This does sound correct. The miles MAY show up sooner. However, if the goal is to achieve status, I would not take that chance. You may have to suck it up, and buy the MQMs.

This late in the year, you're going to be limited for a MR. I did a quick check out of HNL to the west coast (SEA, SFO, LAX, SMF & PDX) for the rest of the year. The best I'm seeing is the weekend of 12/28: HNL-SEA for $621.50 (12/28 DL 2246 out & 12/29 DL 2237 return). Not as economical as buying up, and your weekend is shot.

What are the rules for getting the MQMs for the reserve card? When I applied for the DL platinum, there was an initial bonus after the first purchase and then further MQMs after $1000 spend. I don't know exactly when they posted; the fine print said 6-8 weeks, so I expected it to be after my next billing statement. I remember noticing the added MQMs sooner than that, but since I wasn't expecting them to post soon (or needing them to), I didn't check every day. It did post within a few weeks of the various thresholds, but for all I know, it could have been within a few days.
I would just buy the MQMs, rather than chance it. If you live in the Pacific (presumably, Hawaii?), you have to factor in the time to have the card mailed to you after approval. It very easily might not show up in your mailbox until some time in January. FO really does have its benefits, even if it's just to have free bags, guaranteed zone 1, and access to priority/discounted EC. It made a world of difference for me this past year, and I even got a few upgrades out of it. It'd be a shame to be so close and lose it all, since nothing under 25000 will roll over.

Buy Up to Silver
 

Given how meaningless silver is, does it make sense to buy up for 2014? I will easily reach gold on DL in 2014 and reach silver potentially as early as April (well, early for me).

I would have to buy 5000 MQM for $675

Think of how many of your flights you can FCM for $675.

Probably depends on what routes you fly and when (i.e. day of week and time of day), how far out you usually book, and whether you have a DL AMEX that gives you the same boarding zone as FO.

If you aren't traveling at prime commuter times or from hubs, you would have a decent chance of upgrades on some of the segments (FWIW, as a FO who has some flexibility about times, I can usually average about 20-25% on UGs), plus whatever the 25% bonus skypesos are worth to you. If you book further out, having FO means you have a decent chance of getting better preferred seats such as exit rows (over non-status), and the mid-pack boarding (if you don't have the amex).

OTOH, $675 is a decent bit, and were it me, I'd sock it away towards a nice vacation and suffer non-status for a couple of months.

For about the same or a little bit more, you could book a cheap stay at a Hilton property for 2 nights, and save the day of flying. The Hampton Inn EWR looks like it's going for $99/night this weekend.

My MQM bonuses have been posting within about a week, but the credit date is listed on DL.com as the day I checked in.

The HHonors promo ended last week.

Thanks for the advice... I think i'll punt this year.

So DL is not helping anyone within 100 MQMs to jump over? I guess that makes sense, have to draw the line somewhere. My significant other will be at 49,943. We have the outbound trip to MSY on the 30th that will get him to 49943, but thinking we should SDC if possible to connect through MSP or MEM to get him over the edge.

DL does not do bump ups or soft landings, period.

We found an extremely cheap mileage run. SLC-CDC (Cedar City, UT) for $107 round trip. I'm going with him for fun! Will yield 1000 MQMs.

Wow, how did you find that? I've checked CDC/SGU and usually the prices are much higher, at least double what you paid.

10cpm is hardly cheap IMO...