HELP: 12.5K MQMs to Diamond on Delta
 

Hi - I’m 12,500 MQMs short of Diamond on Delta and with the new qualifications taking effect for 2018, I don’t think I’ll have the opportunity to be Diamond again.

What would you suggest for a low cost / efficient way of getting ~12.5K MQMs on Delta before EOY?

I would suggest you post this in the Mileage Run Discussion forum.

Use GC Mapper to see miles (easier than using Delta's Website) where are you based out of?

Welcome to FT.

It would be helpful to know where you would be starting a mileage run from. Otherwise, use Google flights and the explore map to find something that will work. SIN can be cheap but given the holidays and short notice, you may not have a lot of luck with that one.

Sorry should have included that I'm based out of NYC!

Thanks all for your help so far!

Out of NYC I would try for something down in South America if you don't feel like flying all the way to Asia. JFK-ATL-SCL (Santiago, Chile) is available for ~$1,000 RT departing tomorrow (12/8) and returning 12/10. This would get you just a hair under 12.5k miles, you could plan another quick weekend trip later in the month like NYC-ORD.

Southern South America is getting into high season, for example in Buenos Aires and other places that will be warm. Take this into account in planning for hotel prices and availability. Otherwise it's the right region for 12,500 miles.

Anywhere in Asia will be well over 12,000 miles RT from NYC.

OTOH, given rollover, if you're spending a thousand dollars on a pure MR, you should try to maximize the number of MQMs you'll earn and not just aim to hit the 12,500 you need. [SIN is very good for this reason, plus it's easy, interesting, and warm.] However, this should be done within reason so don't, for instance, pick extremely tight connections that risk getting stranded or missing work.

If you don't mind flying China Eastern, it looks like you can get ~17k MQMs on a 2-3 day run to Hong Kong and back via Shanghai for under $1,000. You need to be careful of fare classes, but I'm seeing N and S fare class (100% MQM on Delta) available for the TPAC segments and B (150% MQM) on the PVG-HKG sector.

NYC-SCL is a good idea, and the $1,079 fares filed allow for more than two segments each way.

LGA-MSP-ATL-SCL is 6622 miles.

Don't forget the BIZ Delta Amex Reserve yields 10k MQMs plus 10k SkyMiles for the $450 fee after 1st purchase. Get fast, make charge, get MQMs and you only need 2,500 more MQMs.

I recently flew this exact routing, bought it on Justfly.com, was booked in I class on the TPAC segments and J class on PVG>HKG>PVG, for $2,500 and got a total of 21,522 MQMs, $4,920 MQDs and 41,198 Award Miles. Good attentive FAs and free WiFi on the TPAC segments, good for tablets and laptops, although cell phones are still not allowed.

It looks like the Welcome offer has reverted to the one I got a month ago: 10K MQMs and 40K SkyMiles after $3,000 in spending. Same as the current offer for the personal card.

There are links to the lower offer with lower spend. My links go to the one dollar (ie 1st purchase) to get the points offer for example.