Crackdown on MS for MQD waiver?
 

If I recall there were some other reports about a disconnect between the DL meter and the actual Amex spend. Thought that was a technical issue/glitch that was resolved... but if you're seeing it then obviously it wasn't.

AMEX should dictate what qualifies, not Delta. Could it be a lag time, or are you able to trace the purchase amounts to the "missing" spend?

ETA: Technically, Delta could dictate what qualifies in the agreement with AMEX, but AMEX is still the one determining whether the transaction qualifies because Delta wouldn't have that level of detail.

Always found that there was a delay between my spend posting to Delta, i wouldnt worry (yet).

From AMEX T&C's (Bolding mine)

Eligible Purchases means purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible Purchases do NOT include fees, interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers' checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents

According to Amex, I spent over $26,000 between Jan 1 and Feb 28, but Delta still has me under $25,000. Should I worry?

I'd think that it depends on what you spent it on.

For the delta Reserve and Platinum cards, towards the bottom of each statement, there is a paragraph about your progress for hitting the spend-based bonuses.

Amex doesn’t really enforce those T&C on the Delta cards. You’re probably fine.

Pretty sure Simon Mall isn't counting towards the MQD waiver anymore (but for some reason still counted towards the MQM boost). My MQD waiver amount on delta.com is less than my YTD spend on the Amex by exactly the amount I've manufactured at SM. And it's in the tens of thousands range, so it's not a minor rounding error.

Yep, especially since this is co-branded card. It is usually up to the cobrand to tell the issuer if they want to enforce or not, but they never do. You only need to look at how long the SPG gravy train that lasted all these year without any issues. Aside from the signup bonus, don't think it costs Amex anything for the milles afterwards.

Only thing to worry about is making sure you do organic spend for the signup bonus, then feel free to go crazy with MS after hitting the min spend.

If I compare my charges to the credit I received on my statement in the paragraph following my activity, I am approx $5K short in purchases qualifying toward the MQM bonus threshold (this is on a DL Plat Card). I just noticed it in May, but it appears to relate charges at Ikea in March or April. Amex is "researching" it. I'll post the result if/when resolved.

See my thread in this forum about my long saga waiting for my Amex Platinum card to 1) accurately reflect my spend, and 2) for Delta to acknowledge the spend and upgrade me to FO based on reaching the waiver threshold.

Long story short -- there is a significant delay between the actual spend and when Delta.com will reflect your MQD waiver. In my case, it was about 2.5 months, and there's not much you can do about it (I called both Amex and DL multiple times).

Perhaps certain types of 'returnable' purchases are delayed from posting.