WScottsdaleInsider

Have taken two Delta vacation packages, and both have posted incorrectly when it comes to MQDs.

Per the 2022 Medallion Status Accelerators, under the FAQ's

How do you earn towards Medallion Status by purchasing a Delta Vacations package?
You earn MQMs and MQSs like you normally would:

• MQMs: based on distance flown and the fare class bonus
• MQSs: 1 MQSs per segment of your trip
• MQDs are earned based on the distance and fare class bonus divided by 5, regardless of whether the ticket is paid in full or if miles are used towards a portion of the cost.

A 50% or 75% bonus will be applied to MQMs, MQSs and MQDs, depending on the cabin you paid for.

However, based on recent flight postings it does not appear that the MQDs are being calculated by this method.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with Delta vacation packages not being posted correctly?

ryandc99

Can you post how it actually posted?

jrkmsp

Mine posted exactly as expected for MSP-HNL-MSP in J, except I haven't seen the 75% bonus credit yet. They said by the end of the month, so I'm just waiting to see if it comes through. expect it will.

nrr

In the “main accelerator thread” in post #541 OP posted his trip, it looks like DL divided by 10 instead of the correct value of 5.

xliioper

Flown miles divided by 10 is correct for MQD earn on U/T/X/V/E fares. Redeemable mileage is earn is 50% base miles on those fares and MQD earn is 20% of redeemable mileage earn (not base flown miles). It states this clearly in the example (see below). Why would they grant same MQD earn for cheap coach fare classes vs. the expensive ones?

"To earn toward Medallion Status with exception fares, one-fifth of the miles earned will count as Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs – U.S.-based Members only). For example, if you earn 1,500 “redeemable” miles on an exception fare, you would also earn 300 MQDs on that fare. "

nrr

OP was not worried about RDMs.
Independent of the accelerator, for exception fares (like DL Vacations) one firsts takes the �official�� distance between A and B this should be the MQM, full fare F and A get a 100% bonus, discounted PREMIUM fares PS and higher get a 50% bonus, after these bonuses are computed, the MQD = MQM/5. So for a 3000 mile (exception fare) trip from A to B in G class, the MQM = 3000 + 1500 (G class bonus) = 4500, the MQD = 4500/5 = 900. [The accelerator bonus would now be added to the �pot�.]
PS: In looking at the DL fare class chart I don�t see any class earning �discounted� MQMs, only BONUS 50% or 100%.

xliioper

OP clearly was complaining about MQD credit, not MQMs. The text "based on distance and fare class bonus" is what is tripping up OP. It is true that MQD earn is "based on distance", but that basis is only 50% of flown distance for U/T/X/V/E fares. "Based on distance" does not mean a minimum of 100% of flown miles as OP is interpreting it. Read the text under exception fares -- https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles...xception-fares

one-fifth of miles "earned", not "flown", are the basis for MQD's.

nrr

In the OPs post #541 in the “main accelerator thread”, he flew lga-msp-Mia and was credited with MQM = distance traveled, since he was on a DL Vacation his MQD should equal MQM/5. If DL wants to factor in “discounted classes” they should do it at the MQM computation, but the only reference for DL Vacations MQDs notes division by 5(not division by 10).

xliioper

Thats not how MQDs work on DL vacations packages. It is NOT one-fifth of MQMs. It is one-fifth of RDM earned. Read the entire text above. It clearly says based on "miles earned", not "MQMs earned". They are not the same thing.

If you book D1/F, miles and MQM earning will be the same.. But for lower class fares, they are NOT. UTXVE fares only earn 50% miles flown.

WScottsdaleInsider

Looks like Delta has updated its terms on this:

MQDs: Delta Vacations tickets are Exception Fares. Exception Fare classes (Delta-ticketed only) earn MQDs based on the distance flown multiplied by a percentage based on the fare class, then divided by 5. The percentage multiplier based on the fare class is as follows:

nrr

In the "main accelerator" thread I complained that DL should have given examples of MQD earnings on Vacation Packages when they first announced the accelerator.
In the "updated" DL Vacation rules noted in #10 one item which needs further clarification is C+, as noted for initial MQD counts in the 100% category, BUT for the accelerator portion earns at 75% (not 50%).
"A 50% or 75% bonus will be applied to MQMs, MQSs and MQDs, depending on the cabin you purchased" should be more explicit.

nrr

A slightly faster way of computing MQD for DL Vacations: MQD = (A * B * C) / 5, A = miles traveled, B = one of 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 or 1.50 (from chart in #10), C = 1.50 or 1.75 [if B = 1.50 then C = 1.75, otherwise C = 1.50; for C+ travel C = 1.75]
for the T class traveler (in #10), MQD = (3000*0.5*1.5)/5 = 450
for the Z class traveler, MQD = (3000*1.5*1.75)/5 = 1575

nrr

In Delta Status Accelerator - 2021/2022 Skymiles Year - Page 37 - FlyerTalk Forums post #541, a re-cap of activity for LGA to MSP (on a DL Vacation) is posted, the distance is 1020, presumably this was flown "deep discounted", shouldn't the MQM = 1020 * 0.5 = 510, the MQD would = 510/5 = 102 [[b]as listed]
the accelerator bonus value for MQM = 255 dividing by 5 = 51 MQD [[b]as listed]. Based on updated MQD earnings rules for DL Vacations, the division by 5 (and never 10) should be used--the "initial tinkering" should be done with MQMs.

xliioper

The root problem here is that the earnings for DL Vacations are documented in two places now. The Exception Fare page here -- https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles...xception-fares and the DL Status Accelerator page. The text below on the Exception Fare page makes it clear that MQD is calculated as a function of redeemable mileage earn (which is 50% of flown miles on UTXVE exception fares), not mileage flown. This text has been there for several years. It's not new. Whoever wrote the documentation for the Status Accelerator page clearly didn't read the rules in the Exception Fare page very thoroughly and erroneously stated that that DL Vacation MQD earn is based on mileage flown plus class of service bonus which is false. The Status Accelerator program simply adds a bonus to your earnings, it didn't change the function of how those earnings are calculated.


Here is the chart from the Exception Fare page which is used for DL Vacations earn and is also not new and was reposted to the Status Accelerator page. It's been there several years.

nrr

Yes, well thought out on Deltas part.