MQD waiver, how does it work?
 

I currently have the Platinum Amex (charge card) which gives 5x membership rewards, so a huge return. Plus I don't plan to drop this card anytime soon for reasons which have nothing to do with Delta. So so far I had no plan to get the Delta Credit Card, which has way less return in my case.

But now, for the first time, I'm concerned about the silly MQDs, because I'm slightly but surely slipping and getting more MQMs than MQDs and might not make my MQD target for 2018 (Gold should be ok, but I want to skip Platinum - which offers nothing of value in my case - and hit Diamond)

So what's the deal with the credit card waiver? I get that you need to charge 25k/year to get the waiver but how is it accounted? Say I get the card now and I charge 25k between mid-2017 and mid-2018, am I going to get the waiver for 2018, or is accounted for in a calendar year, in which case what would be the point for me to get it mid-year?

Also have you heard of any upcoming plan regarding the Delta Card? It seems silly that it gives less return on Delta flights than an a regular Amex Platinum charge card. From what I understand the only benefit remaining of the Delta card is the MQD waiver, right?

It's a calendar year waiver.

The benefits of the card vary by level; I have the Reserve, which has not only the MQD waiver but two MQM bonus thresholds at $30K and $60K (15K MQM each), Sky Club access (useful for DMs in 2018 because you can skip the SC membership and take a third Choice Benefit), and the companion certificate.

The delta cards also get 20% off onboard purchases (admittedly not a very good benefit)

I hold the Reserve for the MQM boosts, companion cert, and waiver. Starting next year I'll be using it to get into the SkyClub as well.

The regular Amex Platinum does give the Sky Club access and Comp cert (useless) as well, so really the only benefit of the Delta Reserve in my case would be the MQD waiver and the MQM booster, right? And I won't be able to use it properly if I start mid-year, right? And I would get less value than the 5xMR, right?
So what's the point of this card anyway now?

You can use it if you can spend over $25/30k before Dec 31 this year, which really isn't that hard.

The certs are different, I believe - the Delta one is potentially easier to use? At least, I haven't found the DL one useless, while I've heard that complaint often about the amex platinum charge card cert.

The Amex plat does give sky club access (for now). The Reserve also theoretically gives some tiny % increase in tie breaker for upgrade list ordering.

The DL Amex Reserve card is a tie breaker for upgrades between elites in the same level and the same fare class.

It's not hard to run $25k in spend through the card if you know how to do it.

I'm not convinced, I was hoping for some thing I was missing, but right now I don't see the point of the Delta card compared to the regular Amex Platinum. I guess I would sign up if they would give 5x on Delta purchases though, but other than that I'm too close to sign up just for the waiver.

The Amex Platinum (non-Delta) charge card does not have a companion certificate. It does have a non-airline specific international first/business companion program with unlimited bookings, but the required fare classes are usually so expensive that booking two discount tickets is cheaper.

Mhhh, ok I did not catch that difference, so how does the companion certificate on the Delta card works any better? Say I book a "cheap" business class ticket to Europe, I can't use the companion program from the Amex Platinum because of the limitation you mentioned, but if I get the Delta one it does work?

The DL-branded Platinum AMEX companion certificate can only be used with LUTXV fare classes in the main cabin. As a recent development, these are now upgrade-eligible.

The DL Reserve AMEX companion certificate can be used on the same fare classes, plus A and I in first/biz.

See also: Have you been successful with the AMEX Delta Companion certificate?

Domestic flights only and excluding Hawaii.

The Delta Platinum also has a 10K MQM bonus at $25K spend (and perhaps another 10K at $50K). So you get the spend waiver, the MQM boost, and the companion certificate. 2x on the miles, though, not 5x.

Yes to the second 10,000 MQMs at $50,000 spend.

Note that spend doesn't include the annual fee and most other fees, returns, and certain other transactions that are more like money than goods and services, IIRC such as cash advances.

Ok so basically we are down to that, since the companion certificate in my case is as useless as the Amex one, the Delta card would only give me the MQD waiver and some bonus MQMs, at the cost of getting 2x miles instead of 5x, correct?
I'm still not sold to that card just for the silly waiver, I wonder if I should just not switch my main residence to my alternate home in Europe and get rid of the MQD question once and for all.