Delta extends medallion status through '22 Medallion year
Jul 29, 2021, 4:25 pm
#256
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Huntsville, AL
Programs: DL DM 1.929MM, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, IHG Platinum, Avis CHM, Marriott Titanium (lifetime gold)
Posts: 7,856
That site in no way appears authoritative to me and it appears he just cut and pasted the fare groupings from a Delta source so he could refer to all the fare clases, but in no way makes the case that fare groupings override what Delta has consistently said that it's fare classes. Y should always be higher than B and B should always be higher than M and so on and so forth. As a Reserve Card holding, early-in-the-year AMEX waiver earning, million miler I would be quite fine if L was the same as H, since I much more often fly on L fares than H fares, but I simply don't believe that is true and I have never seen a reliable source that says different fare classes are grouped.
"Members at the same Medallion Tier will be cleared in order of fare class groupings for paid tickets, Award Tickets and Pay with Miles2 tickets, with higher fare classes among all ticket types holding higher priority."
Last edited by DiverDave; Jul 29, 2021 at 4:40 pm
Jul 29, 2021, 5:34 pm
#258
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: DL, UA
Posts: 592
pretty sure 'earned' status in calendar 2021 will trump any 'extended' status based on what you were at in 2021.
presumably DL are motivated enough to extend status due to what they know and see already and what they forecast coming up.
It probably follows that even if you only get awarded extended status, you're still likely to be facing less competition for benefits such as UG space than you otherwise would be. As others have posted on, it is possible and more than likely an extended PM who may not have traveled at all this year, but just spent on their DL Amex card, will beat out someone who has earned their status via BIS and only reached FO or GM. That could be a prima facie case for unfairness.
Best bet this year, however you do it, is earn the status you want. DL is a commercial entity. They don't 'owe' status that is offered to be earned. I accept they are doing what they can to try to appease a lot of people. Not everyone is gonna be happy. Such is life.
presumably DL are motivated enough to extend status due to what they know and see already and what they forecast coming up.
It probably follows that even if you only get awarded extended status, you're still likely to be facing less competition for benefits such as UG space than you otherwise would be. As others have posted on, it is possible and more than likely an extended PM who may not have traveled at all this year, but just spent on their DL Amex card, will beat out someone who has earned their status via BIS and only reached FO or GM. That could be a prima facie case for unfairness.
Best bet this year, however you do it, is earn the status you want. DL is a commercial entity. They don't 'owe' status that is offered to be earned. I accept they are doing what they can to try to appease a lot of people. Not everyone is gonna be happy. Such is life.
Jul 29, 2021, 6:38 pm
#259
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,579
Maybe, I find it highly unlikely they have that limited of delineation, that they count H (which is pretty expensive) the same as L for example, but even if they use such 'groupings' the quote from that other site does not label those as 'groupings'. If they really are that imprecise I'm fine with it as I said, I have a Reserve Card plus I get my MQD waiver early plus I'm a Million Miler, and I'm much more likely to be at the lower fare end of a grouping than the higher, so it would work in my favor since I have a lot of tie-breakers.
Jul 29, 2021, 6:44 pm
#260
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Nashville
Programs: DL DM 3 MM AA PLAT HH Lifetime Diamond Marriott Plat AMB lifetime titanium Hertz PC
Posts: 6,187
I have gifted my wife and all my kids, and they have been extended.
Jul 29, 2021, 7:40 pm
#261
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,332
I wonder based on what they are choosing which members with gifted status to extend and which not. Both of our status for 2022 currently states just "SkyMiles Member". Would be nice if we would also get extended.
Jul 29, 2021, 7:41 pm
#262
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: York, PA
Programs: MRSPG LT Tit, HH Diamond, Hertz Pres.
Posts: 1,737
The details for the upgrade priority will be interesting. Will it be a tie breaker at fare class like reserve card or will it effectively create new “medallion levels” creating earned DM - extended DM - earned PM - extended PM - etc. I guess we will have to wait and see.
earned Diamond
earned Platinum
earned Gold
then
extended Diamond
extended Platinum
extended Gold
Jul 29, 2021, 8:46 pm
#263
Join Date: May 2011
Programs: Delta PM, Hyatt Plat-ist, Bonvoyyyyyyed, Hilton $15 Daily F&B Receiver, Food Lion MVP
Posts: 1,203
Jul 30, 2021, 6:33 am
#264
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,579
Jul 30, 2021, 7:43 am
#265
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 3,097
Maybe they should do what American is doing and just based the upgrades next year on total miles flown in 2021. If a diamond didn't fly at all and an FO has 20K mqms the FO gets the upgrade or on spend. We all know that deltas IT dept can't handle it.
Jul 30, 2021, 7:47 am
#266
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 3,097
Delta is definitely consistent about referring to "fare class groupings" when it comes to upgrade priority but we don't have any clear authorititative statement that the groupings in that article are the same groupings they use for upgrade purposes.
Jul 30, 2021, 9:23 am
#269
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Pagus Bracbatensis, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Programs: DL SPlat, KLM Bump, Privium Plus, GOES
Posts: 2,065
Didn't the last status extensions happen at the beginning of January -ie when Delta processed & updated SM Medallion rollover miles?
If SM Medallions qualify the regular way their status should already be showing in the app/on the website with a 'valid thru 1/23' date.
If SM Medallions qualify the regular way their status should already be showing in the app/on the website with a 'valid thru 1/23' date.
Jul 30, 2021, 9:27 am
#270
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Kanasas City
Programs: DL DM, 2 MM; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 358
I don't think that will be true for those of us PM's who earn it this year, I don't expect earned PM's will fare worse than a PM did in 2019. Business travel is not returning to pre-Covid levels any time soon IMO, and while there will be lots of unearned DM's, many of them simply won't be competing for upgrades nearly as much.
I don't believe that's very accurate, there are literally dozens of groups, if not hundreds if tie-breakers are implemented in an appropriate manner. 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are only tie-breakers. 9 (Reserve Card) is a tie-breaker for Medallions and an upgrade priority on its own for non-Medallions. The order looks something like this, looking at only Earned PM on a Y fare and ignoring the date/time thing which gives you nearly infinite possible combinations starting at 330 days and incrementing down in one second increments.
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/Delta Corporate Booking/MQD Waiver/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/Delta Corporate Booking/MQD Waiver
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/Delta Corporate Booking/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/Delta Corporate Booking
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/MQD Waiver/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/MQD Waiver
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card
Earned PM/Y Fare/Delta Corporate Booking/MQD Waiver/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Delta Corporate Booking/MQD Waiver
Earned PM/Y Fare/Delta Corporate Booking/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Delta Corporate Booking
Earned PM/Y Fare/MQD Waiver/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/MQD Waiver
Earned PM/Y Fare/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare
So that's 16 combinations with just Earned PM on Y Fare, and I honestly don't know where GUC and RUC fits in that, but it adds even more permutations, and as I said, this is ignoring time of purchase which makes it nearly infinite.
Makes it seem like as a MM with Reserve Card and MQD waiver I should do well, but the reality is that those tie-breakers rarely matter in practice.
I don't believe that's very accurate, there are literally dozens of groups, if not hundreds if tie-breakers are implemented in an appropriate manner. 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are only tie-breakers. 9 (Reserve Card) is a tie-breaker for Medallions and an upgrade priority on its own for non-Medallions. The order looks something like this, looking at only Earned PM on a Y fare and ignoring the date/time thing which gives you nearly infinite possible combinations starting at 330 days and incrementing down in one second increments.
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/Delta Corporate Booking/MQD Waiver/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/Delta Corporate Booking/MQD Waiver
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/Delta Corporate Booking/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/Delta Corporate Booking
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/MQD Waiver/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/MQD Waiver
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Reserve Card
Earned PM/Y Fare/Delta Corporate Booking/MQD Waiver/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Delta Corporate Booking/MQD Waiver
Earned PM/Y Fare/Delta Corporate Booking/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/Delta Corporate Booking
Earned PM/Y Fare/MQD Waiver/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare/MQD Waiver
Earned PM/Y Fare/MM Status
Earned PM/Y Fare
So that's 16 combinations with just Earned PM on Y Fare, and I honestly don't know where GUC and RUC fits in that, but it adds even more permutations, and as I said, this is ignoring time of purchase which makes it nearly infinite.
Makes it seem like as a MM with Reserve Card and MQD waiver I should do well, but the reality is that those tie-breakers rarely matter in practice.
