randysea

I had dropped from Gold to Silver this year. But last month, I went back up to Gold with miles to spare. It's those miles to spare (i.e., carry over) that are causing my dilemma.

With two more trips to go this year, I will go over 75k by a whisker. (I also have the Delta Amex MQD waiver this year.) If I do that, I'll have Platinum next year. It will be my first and likely last time for Platinum.

The problem is that I will then have virtually 0 carryover miles. Based on my projected travel, that could make it hard to reach 50k in 2020. If I carry over, say, 24k, I will almost certainly make Gold next year. That's with my usual two Seattle-Paris trips at a minimum.

I've compared the benefits of Platinum vs Gold. Mostly for me, it seems like there are more upgrade priorities. But the difference between Gold and Silver is tremendous. Sky Priority lanes in foreign airports and business class lounge access on international flights are the biggies.I don't want to go another year (2021) in Silver, that is, without these benefits.

I am assuming I could just switch one of my shorter upcoming Delta flights to another airline's mileage. That would be a one-way to Maui in Economy. If it's not possible, then my question is moot. If it is possible, should I do it?

TheMadBrewer

Outside of upgrade priority (which depends a lot on your travel patterns -- I didn't get many upgrades as a DM on cheap tickets flying hub-to-hub) I think the biggest benefit of PM over GM is probably the waiver of the redeposit fee on award tickets. If you don't have a bunch of award trips to deal with in the coming year then I'd agree 2 GM > 1PM + 1SM

manually

Other than the redeposit waiver fees, the other benefit I like is the automatic seats to comfort+ when available.(book few weeks or more in advance). For the longer flights, that is a great benefit. However, agreed that GM GM is greater than PM SM unless you can do something to be PM GM.

randysea

Does the automatic upgrade to Comfort come within the 24 hour window after booking? Even with Gold (upgrade 3 days before flight), I haven't been willing to chance the 10+ hours to Paris in regular Economy. I have just booked up front in Comfort.

I could see booking Economy but cancelling within 24 hours if no upgrade appears, then rebooking in Comfort.

In any case, based on your helpful answers confirming what I thought, I'll probably go for the GM GM rathe than PM and risk SM.

Oh, no. It just occurred to that there may be no way to avoid getting the mileage credit towards PM. If I switch mileage credit on my upcoming Delta flight to Maui from Delta to a partner (Flying Blue I have), I still get MQMs.

Can I waive all mileage for a flight?

I guess I better do some careful calculations and then call Delta.

Duke787

PM upgrade to C+ is virtually instantaneous as long as you book ahead and there are a fair number of C+ seats.

That to me is a huge benefit and applies to +1 companion on same ticket (which I've used to book a few shorter TATL Y flights with my wife and the instant upgrade to C+ on flash sale Y mileage is a good deal).

On the flip side if you are buying straight up that benefit doesn't matter and two years of GM means two years of STE+ (aka lounge access on international flights) which you won't get if you do 1 year of PM and 1 as Silver.

And why would you get MQMs if you credit elsewhere? Even if on DL metal you won't receive credit unless it's your DL number so just credit to FB or VS for any DL flights the rest of the year you don't want MQM/MQD for and all the relevant earnings will go to those airlines (though make sure you have your GM card with you for benefit purposes)

MSPeconomist

Is the OP at all interested in doing some additional travel? He/she apparently has a passport and is based in SEA, so flights should be relatively easy and there are some relatively inexpensive long trips that pick up lots of MQMs. SIN has been a standard (now connecting with MU or KE as DL has ended service) and mainland China tends to be cheap (PVG/PEK nonstops) or one could look for deals (again with MU or KE connections) to HKG. How about Amsterdam or London (for easy European cities) in addition to the two Paris trips? Argentina is also particularly cheap now (for anything paid in local currency), although as December approaches we get into high season.

ADDED: You can credit to a different partner but then you're throwing away the miles as orphan miles can be very hard to use, plus they tend to expire unless you bother to spend money to keep the account active as required. However, when you do this, you officially give up various benefits that derive from elite status such as upgrades, free C+ seats if available, free checked bag (although showing a DL AmEx card might work), preferred seats, SkyPriority lines and relatively early boarding, etc., although YMMV.

I'm estimating that two SEA-CDG RTs earn at least 20,000 MQMs total and the OP gets an additional 10,000 MQMs from a DL AmEx card. So about 20,000 additional MQMs per year are needed to guarantee GM status. OP might be able to spend more on the DL AmEx card to get more MQMs (especially if it will be close to the required spend by the end of the year) or upgrade to the Reserve card (which would also give free admission to DL SCs as well as more MQMs). I'd guess that a RT to Hawaii from SEA earns about 5,000 MQMs. So I'm trying to figure out how much the OP really travels and how variable it is from year to year, although unlike some others here, I'm normally not inclined to say that one doesn't travel enough to bother with FF programs.

randysea

Hi, MSPeconomist

In answer to your question, I am not actually based in Seattle. It's just the closest international airport. I also have a free place to stay and park nearby. Any trip I take requires long road travel days to and from SeaTac. That is particularly problematic in winter, with mountains to cross. YVR (Vancouver, BC) is a similar distance, but only in summer. Road closures in winter add hours to a YVR trip.

After this heavy travel year (which isn't over for me), I'm not looking for more travel than I already have. Even with upgrades and occasional business class fllights, it still gets tiring. But by next year, who knows how I'll feel.

randysea

I already have my Maui flight booked on Delta. Since FB is a partner, won't I still get MQMs if I switch my mileage credit to FB? I guess I should know the answer myself, but right now my brain is mush. Haven't had my coffee yet.

Let me repeat here my thanks to all of you who are answering and trying to help. I really appreciate it.

ATOBTTR

You'll receive elite points within Flying Blue but that won't count towards your status with DL - it won't show up as MQMs for DL or count towards DL status - it would show up as credits towards elite status within FB based on however FB calculates elite points for DL coded, DL operated flights.


The C+ at booking versus 72 hours is a big factor as well.

MSPeconomist

I agree with the answer just above, but want to emphasize that you need to be very careful that your FB number and only your FB number are associated with your reservation/ticket. If there's a mistake--or if some airport agent changes it for you--the miles will credit as DL and this generally cannot be undone.

Note also that once you've boarded the first segment in your PNR, you cannot change the FF number. In particular, you cannot credit one direction of a RT to DL and the other way to FB. This seems to be a strict DL rule.

jdrtravel

I'll just share that I'm pretty happy coasting along at Gold as I have for a number of years. It was really sad when they took away free C+ seats from GM, but I now just pay for it (or buy F) on longer flights. GM still gets all of the Sky Priority airport benefits and much better phone line than SM (I think GM/PM gets the same). These customer service benefits are what I have come to value most.

NOLAnwGOLD

PM is great with C+ free, award deposit, and you get a Choice Benefit (20k miles or 4 RUCs).

MSPeconomist

Or a $200 DL voucher, although the miles would be more valuable at the moment, especially if you view pay with miles at about one cent per mile as a lower bound.

gretchendz

I sympathize..I go through the same thing each year between Plat and Diamond. I always choose to carry-over the miles and stick with Plat. It's lovely to have a nice boost at the start of the year.

To me, the big attraction to Platinum is the immediate upgrade to Comfort (lately they have been coming immediately) and, of course, being higher on the upgrade list. And the gift

spamkiller

I may disagree with you there. If you can get and use the GUCs, it may worth it to be platinum. I used them for LAX-SYD and LAX-NRT-MNL, LAX-JFK-LHR.over the past few years.