Literally $5 short from Gold, please help!
Nov 27, 2019, 6:00 am
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,713
Nov 27, 2019, 6:42 am
#32
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: USA - Seattle area
Programs: DL Platinum, "alum" of high status with UA but not any more
Posts: 532
Once upon a time, the airlines were nicer for borderline qualification cases
Once upon a time, if you were "close", the airlines would bump you up to the next higher elite tier. I remember in 2005, when I lived in Atlanta, I needed about 700 miles to make Gold, so I planned a December 31 "mileage run" from ATL to DCA and back to make Gold for the first time in my life . . . I figured I'd go up there and visit the Spy Museum. Well, as it turned out, a day or two beforehand, Delta bumped me up to Gold (they just did it, I didn't ask them for it). This made the mileage run unnecessary, but I did it anyway . . . and I remember being upgraded to F on the way home (I think that was before "unlimited" upgrades existed, it was just a perq they threw at me on a nearly empty New Years Eve flight . . .and as a young man at the time, I thought that was pretty cool).
Nowadays, threshold status situations are nothing more than another monetization opportunity for the airlines. And even though all you need is $5, there's no way they'll allow you to qet gold for a mere $5.
I suppose one thing I might recommend is tracking your qualification closely and plan accordingly . . . if you had seen this $5 shortage coming, you could have booked into a one-higher fare bucket on your last trip.
A similar annoyance is making a higher level of status but it taking several days to take effect, and you are traveling during that period, so you are "cheated" out of status that you earned.
Nowadays, threshold status situations are nothing more than another monetization opportunity for the airlines. And even though all you need is $5, there's no way they'll allow you to qet gold for a mere $5.
I suppose one thing I might recommend is tracking your qualification closely and plan accordingly . . . if you had seen this $5 shortage coming, you could have booked into a one-higher fare bucket on your last trip.
A similar annoyance is making a higher level of status but it taking several days to take effect, and you are traveling during that period, so you are "cheated" out of status that you earned.
Nov 27, 2019, 3:56 pm
#33
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,399
In cases like this, it's always wise to start by "auditing" your own FF account to make sure that you've been properly credited for every MQD. Sometimes you find some surprising mistakes.
Nov 28, 2019, 7:24 am
#34
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 258
In the past there have been options to get mqm from other sources. For example there was a time you could get them for staying at hilton or hampton hotels because I used that. Maybe the op is looking for something like that for mqds. I don’t know of any.
Nov 28, 2019, 9:08 am
#35
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 45
I’m 25 miles short of platinum for the year. Maxed out on DL Amex Reserve bonuses and no trips planned in December. I called just to see what my options were and was told it’s either fly a trip or use elevate my status. I’m strictly a leisure traveler so platinum isn’t that big of a deal for my situation. It was more out of curiosity if there were other options but apparently not. I’ll probably just keep the 24,975 rollover miles at this point.
Nov 28, 2019, 12:09 pm
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,040
https://skymilesselect.delta.com/
"SkyMiles Members can earn Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) from purchase of SkyMiles Select membership."