Jan 1, 2020, 3:46 pm
Last edit by: Zorak
Direct link to the Choice Benefits selection page: https://www.delta.com/en_US/skymiles...hoice-benefits
(click on the text in the red background that says "SELECT YOUR CHOICE BENEFITS")
NOTE: see Delta changes/devaluation to GUC Program -2022 (Only 1 Class of Service Upgrade) for important information on changes to Upgrade Certificates (mainly Globals but Regionals are affected as well)
For the 2020 Medallion Year (status earned in 2019), you receive one Platinum Choice Benefit (CB) upon reaching Platinum Medallion, and in addition three Diamond CBs upon reaching Diamond Medallion. You may choose these benefits individually at any time during the Medallion Year, so you might choose one Diamond benefit (such as Sky Club membership) immediately and wait to choose your Platinum benefit and other Diamond benefits until you need them.
All benefits must be selected by the end of the Medallion Year (Jan 31, 2021 for the 2020 Medallion Year)
Platinum Choice Benefits
Diamond Choice Benefits
Expiration Dates, Other Considerations, and Related FlyerTalk Threads
Roughly speaking, there are three classes of Choice Benefit:
Choose as early as possible:
These will end at the same time no matter when you choose them, so you're best off choosing them immediately (or for gifted status, Feb 1 if the recipient had that status or higher for the preceding Medallion Year).upgrade certificates (GUCs and/or RUCs), Delta vouchers. These expire 1 year after selection, so if you choose them in June they will expire much earlier than if you choose them in December (or the January ending that Medallion Year).
Choose whenever (keeping in mind the Jan 31 deadline for choices): redeemable miles, Tiffany gift cards. These do not expire (AFAICT in the case of the Tiffany cards).
Regional and Global Upgrade Certificates
Using Regional Upgrades
The Official - GLOBAL UPGRADE CERT success thread - Yay! I got it!
Sky Club Options (Diamond only)
Diamond Choice Benefit - Sky Club Guest Pass (Consolidated Thread)
20k or 25k SkyMiles (RDMs)
Travel Vouchers
Gifting Status
Tiffany Gift Cards
(click on the text in the red background that says "SELECT YOUR CHOICE BENEFITS")
NOTE: see Delta changes/devaluation to GUC Program -2022 (Only 1 Class of Service Upgrade) for important information on changes to Upgrade Certificates (mainly Globals but Regionals are affected as well)
For the 2020 Medallion Year (status earned in 2019), you receive one Platinum Choice Benefit (CB) upon reaching Platinum Medallion, and in addition three Diamond CBs upon reaching Diamond Medallion. You may choose these benefits individually at any time during the Medallion Year, so you might choose one Diamond benefit (such as Sky Club membership) immediately and wait to choose your Platinum benefit and other Diamond benefits until you need them.
All benefits must be selected by the end of the Medallion Year (Jan 31, 2021 for the 2020 Medallion Year)
Platinum Choice Benefits
- 4 Regional Upgrade Certificates (RUCs)
- 20,000 bonus redeemable miles (RDMs)
- $200 travel voucher
- $200 Tiffany gift card
- gift Silver Medallion status to another person
Diamond Choice Benefits
- 4 Global Upgrade Certificates (GUCs) *OR* 8 RUCs *OR* 2 GUCs + 4 RUCs (upgrade certificates may only be chosen once)
- Sky Club individual membership
- Sky Club executive membership (allows 2 guests in addition to the member) as an upgrade from individual membership (this can be combined with an individual membership selection by using 2 Diamond CBs)
- Sky Club guest pass (allows 2 guests in addition to the cardholder if you have access via Delta Reserve or non-Skymiles Amex Platinum credit cards)
- 25,000 RDMs
- $200 Delta travel voucher
- $200 Tiffany gift card
- gift Gold Medallion status to another person
Expiration Dates, Other Considerations, and Related FlyerTalk Threads
Roughly speaking, there are three classes of Choice Benefit:
Choose as early as possible:
These will end at the same time no matter when you choose them, so you're best off choosing them immediately (or for gifted status, Feb 1 if the recipient had that status or higher for the preceding Medallion Year).
- gifted status
- Sky Club membership
- Sky Club guest passes
- Global/Regional Upgrade Certificates starting with the 2022 Medallion year
Choose whenever (keeping in mind the Jan 31 deadline for choices): redeemable miles, Tiffany gift cards. These do not expire (AFAICT in the case of the Tiffany cards).
Regional and Global Upgrade Certificates
Expire one year after selection, so ideally you should wait until you want to apply one before you make this selection (but note the overriding deadline for selecting all CBs as noted above)- Starting with the 2022 Medallion Year, Upgrade Certificates expire at the end of the associated Medallion year. The example from DL's web site is:
For example, if you reach Diamond Medallion Status on August 1, 2022, then you will be eligible to select Choice Benefits for your 2023 Status and any Upgrade Certificates selected for your 2023 Status will be valid until January 31, 2024, regardless of the date they were selected. - Usually appear in your account within a few hours after selection. Agents may not be able to see them right away, but as long as you can see them in "My Wallet" you can give an agent the 006 certificate number and the redemption code via phone/Twitter.
Using Regional Upgrades
The Official - GLOBAL UPGRADE CERT success thread - Yay! I got it!
Sky Club Options (Diamond only)
- Sky Club options expire at the end of the Medallion Year (Jan 31, 2021 for the 2020 Medallion Year) no matter when the selection is made
- if you have Choice Benefit selections pending from multiple Medallion Years, be careful which year you are selecting from as this will affect the expiration date. The DL web site will list the expiration date of the benefit before you finalize your selection, so pay close attention. If you have multiple years in play, select from the latest year for the longest validity period.
- there is a minor technical distinction in guests permitted between an Exec Membership (two guests, or spouse and children under 21 without any limiting language) and the Guest Pass (two guests) but in practice SC agents seem to permit spouse+children (even if more than two guests) for the Guest Pass as well.
Diamond Choice Benefit - Sky Club Guest Pass (Consolidated Thread)
20k or 25k SkyMiles (RDMs)
- Do not expire
- certain Delta-branded American Express cards allow "Pay With Miles" at 1c/RDM; tickets bought that way will earn full MQMs, but earn MQDs based only on the dollar amount paid (if any). Since RDMs do not expire, this may be preferable to the voucher.
Travel Vouchers
- Expire one year from issue, so ideally you should wait until you want to apply one before you make this selection (but note the overriding deadline for selecting all CBs as noted above)
- travel vouchers used on future tickets will earn Medallion Qualification Dollars
- certain Delta-branded American Express cards allow "Pay With Miles" at 1c/RDM; tickets bought that way will earn full MQMs, but earn MQDs based only on the dollar amount paid (if any). Since RDMs do not expire, this may be preferable to the voucher.
Gifting Status
- gifted status expires at the end of the Medallion Year (Jan 31, 2021 for the 2020 Medallion Year) no matter when the selection is made. If you know this will be one of your selections, then select it immediately so it is effective as long as possible.
- if you have Choice Benefit selections pending from multiple Medallion Years, be careful which year you are selecting from as this will affect the expiration date. The DL web site will list the expiration date of the benefit before you finalize your selection, so pay close attention. If you have multiple years in play, select from the latest year for the longest validity period.
- status cannot be gifted if the recipient currently has that level or higher status
Tiffany Gift Cards
- Tiffany gift card has no expiration date listed in the terms
Platinum and Diamond Medallion Choice Benefits (The Definitive Thread)
Jul 22, 2022, 1:53 pm
#241
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Minneapolis
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 2,233
The deadline was never "book by" date. It was always "fly by" date. Many people had luck getting DL to look the other way, but the T & C was "fly by". I asked many times and was turned down most of the time. As always, YMMV
Jul 22, 2022, 1:58 pm
#242
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,013
Jul 23, 2022, 1:53 am
#243
Join Date: May 2004
Location: formerly Gold now Diamond, formerly MSY, now LAX, formerly NW, now DL
Programs: Hyatt Plat, Hilton Gold, SPG Gold, Delta Diamond/1MM
Posts: 4,635
PM: What's better 20k miles or $200 or RUCs....just used my last RUC from before....pretty not helpful I've found
Jul 24, 2022, 10:12 pm
#244
Join Date: Sep 2012
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 755
As much of a pain as they are to redeem, I still stick with the RUCs. Depending on the valuation used, 20k SkyPesos is roughly equivalent to $200. I’d say a free one-way upgrade (especially if used on the right flight(s) is worth more than $200/4 = $50, so still seems like the best value to me.
Jul 25, 2022, 6:58 am
#245
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,050
Keep in mind you can always wait and see if you have use for the RUCs before you make your selection. They will expire at the same time as the selection deadline, so if it's getting close to the deadline and you don't have imminent use for them, then you can feel comfortable choosing the miles.
Jul 25, 2022, 7:08 am
#246
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NYC (LGA, JFK), CT
Programs: Delta Platinum, American Gold, JetBlue Mosaic 4, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond,
Posts: 4,887
I don't get how people are saying 4 RUC aren't worth more than 20,000 miles. My first time using an RUC, I waitlisted two passengers on a 3 hour fight where the cash upgrade to F was about $200 each (so $400 value, or about 40K miles). My next time, I waitlisted an RUC to upgrade from SEA to JFK, which I value at least at 50K SkyPesos. iMO RUC are much more useful than 20K miles. Delta gives out 15K miles if your flight is cancelled these days, and they give out 5K for each time your bag is late, which usually ends up at 20-25K a year at least. 20K miles isn't comparable at all IMO.
Jul 25, 2022, 8:26 am
#247
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1,882
I don't get how people are saying 4 RUC aren't worth more than 20,000 miles. My first time using an RUC, I waitlisted two passengers on a 3 hour fight where the cash upgrade to F was about $200 each (so $400 value, or about 40K miles). My next time, I waitlisted an RUC to upgrade from SEA to JFK, which I value at least at 50K SkyPesos. iMO RUC are much more useful than 20K miles. Delta gives out 15K miles if your flight is cancelled these days, and they give out 5K for each time your bag is late, which usually ends up at 20-25K a year at least. 20K miles isn't comparable at all IMO.
Source: I have netted 10,000 SkyMiles in the last 2 weeks of travel by this method. Lucky for me, I travel with tools that must be checked!
Jul 25, 2022, 8:31 am
#248
Join Date: Aug 2007
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 1,079
I don't get how people are saying 4 RUC aren't worth more than 20,000 miles. My first time using an RUC, I waitlisted two passengers on a 3 hour fight where the cash upgrade to F was about $200 each (so $400 value, or about 40K miles). My next time, I waitlisted an RUC to upgrade from SEA to JFK, which I value at least at 50K SkyPesos. iMO RUC are much more useful than 20K miles. Delta gives out 15K miles if your flight is cancelled these days, and they give out 5K for each time your bag is late, which usually ends up at 20-25K a year at least. 20K miles isn't comparable at all IMO.
If, on the other hand, given your flight patterns or choice on when to try and use the RUC, you end up not being able to use them, you could end up with no value on these. Similarly, if you always buy F, you may not see any value to the RUCs.
Jul 25, 2022, 9:59 am
#249
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
I don't get how people are saying 4 RUC aren't worth more than 20,000 miles. My first time using an RUC, I waitlisted two passengers on a 3 hour fight where the cash upgrade to F was about $200 each (so $400 value, or about 40K miles). My next time, I waitlisted an RUC to upgrade from SEA to JFK, which I value at least at 50K SkyPesos. iMO RUC are much more useful than 20K miles. Delta gives out 15K miles if your flight is cancelled these days, and they give out 5K for each time your bag is late, which usually ends up at 20-25K a year at least. 20K miles isn't comparable at all IMO.
I agree that RUCs can deliver more value than $200 and/or 20,000 miles ... "if you get to use them"
If, on the other hand, given your flight patterns or choice on when to try and use the RUC, you end up not being able to use them, you could end up with no value on these. Similarly, if you always buy F, you may not see any value to the RUCs.
If, on the other hand, given your flight patterns or choice on when to try and use the RUC, you end up not being able to use them, you could end up with no value on these. Similarly, if you always buy F, you may not see any value to the RUCs.
Typically I've been able to find good value from them -- the lone exception early Covid when my 2019 RUCs were only partially extended so I burned 2x on RDU - PWM and return when the planes were still pretty empty (this was early 2021) so probably would've cleared anyway at the Plat window but wanted to ensure my (then-pregnant) wife and I had a row in F to ourselves in both directions.
Apart from that I've been pretty successful in using them to SFO or SEA for work trips (including one coming up in a couple of weeks and another one in September) and this year I also used one for an F upgrade to SXM for an upcoming holiday with my wife.
That said if you either buy F or only fly routes where even an RUC is impossible to clear (like JFK - SFO/LAX), I can see why 20k miles or $200 could be more valuable
Jul 26, 2022, 12:12 am
#250
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Delta Platinum Medallion; IHG Platinum; Marriott Gold; Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,071
It's not impossible to clear on JFK-LAX. I only use RUCs on that route and I'm a Platinum. This year I've been successful many times. Last week I got upgraded from my seat right before the door closed. On next week's return flight I was able to clear at booking about a month ago. I cleared at booking on another flight earlier this year. I do have flexibility as to when I fly so that helps, but I have been more successful than not with the RUCs on JFK-LAX.
Aug 4, 2022, 1:38 pm
#252
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,882
If you expand the triangle sections it should indicate how long each type of selection is good for. In particular, certificates now expire at the end of the Medallion year no matter when you select them, so there is no advantage to waiting to select them if you know you'll use them (the main advantage to waiting is if you end up not having a use for them, you could select miles instead at the last minute before the selection deadline)
Aug 4, 2022, 1:43 pm
#253
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,013
Regional and Global Upgrade Certificates now expire at the end of the Choice Benefit status year for which they were earned. So 2022 Regional and Global Upgrade certificates would expire on Jan 31, 2023 and must be used by then. They are no longer valid for a year from selection (there has been much discussion on this change). The gifted status and Sky Club memberships have always worked like this and there is also no value in waiting to select those. The only option that still has a 1 year validity from selection are the travel voucher options.
Aug 4, 2022, 1:46 pm
#254
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 167
I think they must be used by Jan 31, 2023 based on the info link. If you follow the link it states
- For example, if you reach Diamond Medallion Status on August 1, 2022, then you will be eligible to select Choice Benefits for your 2023 Status and any Upgrade Certificates selected for your 2023 Status will be valid until January 31, 2024, regardless of the date they were selected."
Last edited by kobyjones21; Aug 4, 2022 at 1:51 pm Reason: wrong information
Aug 4, 2022, 1:53 pm
#255
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,013
If you follow the link it states - "
- For example, if you reach Diamond Medallion Status on August 1, 2022, then you will be eligible to select Choice Benefits for your 2023 Status and any Upgrade Certificates selected for your 2023 Status will be valid until January 31, 2024, regardless of the date they were selected."
