sparksals

I have a Delta Gold Amex and I earn Gold Medallion every year as I get the MQD' waiver by spending $25K in a year, which I see is being eliminated. I may have to do a small mileage run to get the MQM's, but this year I won't have to. They are also removing the lounge access for $29, which I imagine also extends to free lounge access on international flights on partner airlines.

I need to decide what card to upgrade to with the bonuses available until Oct 30. Getting lounge access is important to me. I don't mind paying for it if it is available on the Platinum card with the international automatic lounge access on partner airlines. No way we will ever make the 90K spend on reserve, but can make the 25K spend for the Platinum, but the other perks especially Centurion lounge access on the reserve are attractive . I also assume, that perk also extends to when traveling on Delta partners? I am leaning to the Reserve, but not entirely sure.

ALSO, I am the primary card holder and my husband an authorized user. Somehow he is $885 away from MQD's but we have no idea how he did it. Does my spending over $25K get transferred to his MQD? He never gets gold, but he is super close that we have to do whatever for him to earn it. He will have the MQMs from our next upcoming trip, but we need to figure out how to spend $885 more MQD for his gold status. Any ideas? We can't figure out how he earned these MQD's. He has a Gold account, but we always use mine since I make it every year. He doesn't always have the airline choice when he flies for work and it is paid by his employer, so no cc bonuses for airline bookings.

MCO Flyer

It depends on how much you are willing to spend on the annual fees. The DL Platinum card will go up to $250 and will still access paid access to the SC, but the fee will go up to $39 per visit. You will also still be able to earn 10K MQMs with $25K spend as well as earn the Y companion certificate, which may be useful with your husband and offset the annual fee. The DL Reserve Card will now be $550 and add access to the centurion lounges in addition to the SC, although you must be on a DL operated/ticketed flight or DL ticketed WS operated flight. I would specifically note that if you do go for the Reserve card, an additional card for your husband will cost another $175 which is something to take note of. I would also note that you only need to spend $30K to get a 15K MQM bonus on the reserve card, not $90K as you stated in your original post. For your last point, spending over 25K doesn’t transfer anything to your husband or anyone for that matter.

xliioper

Lounge access on international Skyteam flights is solely based on your status level (Skyteam Elite Plus which means DL Gold Medallion or higher) and has nothing to do with which Amex card you hold. The MQD Waiver only applies to the primary cardholder of the Amex card. Your husband will not benefit from the Waiver from your card and will need to earn 885 MQD's on his own.

sparksals

I am talking about the MQD's. Not the waiver. Ahhh... I just figured it out. I had in my head the MQD's were based on Delta card spend. It is $1 for each dollar spent. This explains it. He had a huge trip to Nairobi on Delta and partners and his employer pays pretty much full fare.
We have a trip to Mexico in a couple weeks that will get the MQMs, but we will need to figure out $300 in MQD to get that Gold for him.

sparksals

Ahh Missed the $30K. That is more doable.
I didn't know about the additional fee for the auth user. That is good info.
Do you know if the entrance to partner airline lounges will still be valid for Gold Members on international travel with the new changes? I haven't been able to find any info on that.
Thanks for your help.

GagaPilot

Sort of related to your situation:

I too had the Gold DL Amex. I elected to simply “upgrade” my existing Gold DL Amex to the Platinum DL Amex. Many on here suggest getting a whole “new card/account” to get the sign on bonuses. That’s fine if you want the sign on bonus desperately, but for me I always advise against a hard pull on credit (I’m the son of a banker). It wasn’t clear to me when I upgraded my card product if my spend on the Gold DL Amex would count on the Platinum DL Amex to get the MQM and bonus mile “miles boost.” Turns out it did! Posted on my latest statement. For me it was important to keep the MQD waiver and Sky Club purchase access that previously used to be on the Gold DL Amex. That’s the whole reason I upgraded to the Platinum. The increase in annual fee was no issue for me. I also like the enhanced Skymiles earnings I will now get with the Platinum.

TheMadBrewer

The access to lounges on international flights is not tied to any credit card but your Gold (Skyteam Elite+) status. Assuming you are not in J, you and a guest will get access to any SkyTeam lounges along the way. You won't get lounge access to the 3rd party lounges Delta might use for J passengers at out stations (e.g. BRU, FRA, PRG, etc)

GregInMN

[QUOTE]
"I would specifically note that if you do go for the Reserve card, an additional card for your husband will cost another $175"

One possible solution/option: I have the Reserve card and instead of paying the extra $175 for my wife's Reserve card - we got her a Platinum card (tied to my Reserve card) for no extra cost. All the spend on both cards roll up to my Reserve totals.

xliioper

Note that MQD's are earned on base fare and any airline-imposed surcharges and they do not include any government taxes and fees. You'll need to spend around $350 on a domestic non-stop roundtrip in order to earn 300 MQD's. Also, MQD credit is only awarded after flights have been flown (so any flights booked for next year will not count towards this year's MQD totals).

gooselee

I think that's just rewording. I would expect add'l Reserve cards to still cost $175 and non-Reserve add'l cards to still NOT include SC access.

The new terms are likely meant to be read as "Delta Reserve Credit Card Basic and Additional (Delta Reserve) Card Members receive...."

Just keep in mind that while adding the Platinum card helps with spend, but the add'l cardholder does not get lounge access (unless I'm wrong about JayTeaBee 's post above) . It's still a good option depending on what's important. Certainly this is the solution Mrs. Lee and I use as she doesn't care that much about lounge access on domestic trips, and on int'l we're generally in J anyway. We also have Priority Pass which allows guests and worst case, we pay the one-time fee. So far we've only had to pay a couple times a year, so even at $39 still much cheaper than any kind of standing access via CC.

free_whine

If you already have an Amex card, they will not do any hard pulls when opening additional accounts.

hikouki

I don't quite know if I should upgrade or stay put...

I have the Amex DL Gold card, and 2019 was my first year flying DL (was with CX/ Alaska prior to this year). This year, I flew one longhaul to Asia in D1, one domestic transcontinental in First, and all the rest very short hops in Y+. I made it to Silver Medallion with about 5-10K MQM to spare. I did not meet the MQD but did meet the waiver. I'm flying another Asia longhaul in D1 this December, but this second longhaul is more an exception this year rather than the norm, as I only usually fly once a year. With this second longhaul this year, I will more than meet my MQD for gold and will have enough MQM to make Gold Medallion. These are my own travels and I paid for them out of pocket. I don't usually fly international business class or domestic First but I figured I would invest on earning medallion status.

Next year, I anticipate a more 'normal' travel pattern: I will either have one or two Asia longhaul in Premium Select, and all domestic legs in Y. I feel I will be short of the MQD for gold, but might make it to silver medallion, with effort.

I am still thinking if I should upgrade to the Platinum card. I'm not sure if that extra yearly payment would be worth it?

Also, if I apply to "upgrade" instead of apply for a new one, will they run my credit report? I'm about 4-6 months away from a house purchase and I don't want to pull down my credit rating.

MCO Flyer

I would definitely UG to the DL Plat card. You will be getting a yearly Main Cabin companion certificate which in itself is worth the extra $155 in annual fee. Also since you stated that you were able to get the $25K MQD waiver, the Platninum card is keeping the ability to have this for next year and you will also earn 10K bonus MQMs for spending $25K which should easily get you to Silver next year if not Gold. BTW, upgrading your card does not result in a hard credit pull, so you should be fine in that regard.

lsquare

Anyone here planning to keep both the personal and business versions of the Reserve long term?

sydneyracquelle

I have both to get the 60,000 MQMs for $900. Now I will only need one for $550.