Status Run for DM
 

If my little spreadsheet is right, I'm going to end the year with 106562 MQMs.

That leaves me 18,438 MQMs short of hitting diamond and a rollover of 31,562 MQMs for next year.

Part of me has this urge to make the run to hit DM. That would mean doing a run that would involve some of the longest flights in the Delta network. I'd be able to accomplish this with BOS-ATL-JNB-ATL-BOS or BOS-ATL-NRT-SIN-NRT-ATL-BOS.

The risk is that I would hit DM with only a few hundred MQMs to roll over. I don't necessarily NEED to hit DM, but it's on my travel bucket list, and I WANT to make Diamond.

Any thoughts from the gurus?

I am in the same boat. I was able to get Kayak to price out SFO - MSP - SIN and back for $900 with a bunch of connections. 21,000 MQM and Diamond. Being so close, you gotta weigh the cost of the flight + the cost of your time against the increased benefits of DM.

For me it's the GUCs and Free Sky Club that add up to make the run financially worth it, any additional upgrades, and occasional customer service help is icing.

do it.

did it last year. damn glad i did.


/endthread

'Diamond, worth' restricted to titles in Advanced Search is productive.

If you foresee being able to use the GUC benefit for long flights then I'd do it.

You can also look at flights from Germany to South America [via DTW/JFK/ATL]. They get you about 18k for $700. But this would require you to somehow get to Germany...

I was in the same boat. Just caved and did a run to Singapore to get over the hump to diamond. Even if I don't roll over a ton the guc will be very handy.

I'm in the "Meh" camp. Unless you're planning on enjoying some R&R in those places, I wouldn't bother--I do mostly transcons (company paid in J) or TATLs (mix of company paid and some O/H paid (typically using GUC or miles to get into J)).

I've made DM for the past few years (re-qualified in early Sep b/c I've had a lot of BiS miles this year). Upgrades aren't that important to me, since most of my travel is company paid, I rarely check luggage, and when I do, it's one bag so the free ck bag thing is a non-factor, I got pre-check through Global Entry, and I get access to SkyClubs either through flying in international J or through Amex (which also provides me with reimbursement on the GE application fee, which I won't need to renew until next year anyway).

So I take the $200 cert which is nice when I'm booking my own travel, the GUCs (for when I can use them, but they're not that great anymore, b/c unless you're flying on DL metal the whole way, you get to buy a "Y" fare to use them on AF/KLM. Joy.) And I usually get the Tiffany gift card and get a nice trinket for any of the various "Significant Hazards" or for one of my sisters/nieces.

So sit down with a spreadsheet and figure out whether the cost of the 'Status Run' makes sense to you in terms of value you receive out of the program and base your decision on that. Good luck however it turns out.

O/H

I am in pretty much the same boat - I'm looking to finish the year around 105,000-110,000 MQMs. For the moment, I've decided NOT to pursue DM and will rollover a significant amount of mileage. I'm not sure how much I'll travel next year, so if I go into 2016 with the rollover what I have now, I'll easily hit GM next year and likely PM again for 2016. I'm not sure spending the $$$ for 15,000-20,000 MQMs worth of mileage runs is worth it. However, if some work trips pop up between now and the end of the year that get me to within 10,000 MQMs of DM, I've decided I will likely MR and push myself over the hump.

Heading to SIN on Thursday for the weekend to get my fix. 20k for $730 out of JFK.

MRs were much more rewarding before RDM earning changed from mileage to revenue. :(

Getting a pot full of RDMs made the MR easier to endure.

David

I have plenty of MQMs this year but I did book that C fare to EZE a few months ago on AM. I'll be getting over 40K RDMs from that flight. I think the key to RDMs is to book a partner now. :)

Not as good as getting 40k for a $600 ticket to HKG like I did twice last year. ;)

Be quiet, "they" will hear you. :)

Even at $.01 per mile, that's a 67% rebate. Awesome. ^

David