MQDs for DeltaVacations
 

Hi

I already have plenty of MQMs but just need MQDs to make Diamond officially (and get global upgrades). Need about $6600 to get there and was looking at a trip to Hawaii in Delta Vacations. Called and was told that "as long as it does not say that it does not count towards MQDs, then it does" which is not very reassuring. My question is:

Do all dollars spent with Delta on a vacation count towards MQDs, or only the flight portion? And if I book in first/business, does that entire value get the bonus of 50%? Trying to figure out if I spend $3300 on the full trip, does that could as my $6600 MQDs and I am good?

Thanks in advance,
Anne

Unfortunately, agents are frequently useless for this type of advice. Only the flights in package count and MQD earn is not actually based on flight cost, but rather flight mileage. You need to look at the exception fare earning table on delta.com for Delta Vacation packages -- https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles...xception-fares. MQD is earned at one-fifth of base miles earned which vary from 50% of miles flown to 150% depending on fare class. Although, these packages are also eligible for Medallion Status Accelerator bonus which provides an extra 50% to 75% bonus for flights in 2021.

With the Accelerator bonus, a Comfort+ fare roundtrip for ATL-HNL (about 9000 miles) would earn about 3150 MQD and a First Class/Delta One fare would earn roughly 4725 MQD. Earnings on MSP-HNL flights will be somewhat less as it's only 8000 miles roundtrip. Taking more circuitous routings will add to MQD earn. gcmap.com can be used to calculate distances (use Controls to specify 500 mileage minimum on segments) -- http://www.gcmap.com/dist?P=MSP-HNL-...&DM=500&SU=mph

Thanks for that info, much appreciated!

When DL started the accelerator the rules were not very clear, particularly for DL Vacations, eventually they added llustrations to show accelerator computations for DL Vacation bookings.
In the early days of the accelerator I booked a DL Vacation, I wanted to "double check" if my MQM and MQD computations were correct, it took two DL Skymiles agents: the first agent couldn't figure how the accelerator worked with DL Vacations, she had to contact her "help desk", their computations were within 5 miles of mine.:tu: Via the accelerator and DL Vacations I'm a "real":p DL Diamond for 2022, I earned my stripes by flying.:D

Thanks for your comments. But you only got MQD for the flight portion of your DL Vacation, correct?

I recently had a Delta Vacation trip and found the RDM (and MQD) were based on the mileage flown. I then checked the receipt and saw the base fare displayed as IT. So check your Delta Vacations receipt, if you do have a "real" base fare then your MQD will be that number multiples 1.5 or 1.75. If your base fare displays as "IT", then your MQD will be based on mileage flown (one-fifths of RDM) which could be lucrative based on fare classes. And yes, MQD is only based on the flight portion.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...140587835b.png

You earn MQDs on Delta Vacations bookings based only on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class booked and nothing else. Depending on the distance this MQD amount could end up being more or less than the actual total cost of the package.

Here's an example of a DV booking I had back in June. Paid F (C &D class) earn 150% miles (based on distance flown) and you get 1/5 of those miles earned as MQDs (shown in each individual segment). Then add the 1.75x status accelerator multiplier for MQDs in FC (shown as the total amount in the box). Not bad seeing as the total cost of the package was $1500 each including hotel and we got $1871 MQD each for the flights.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...33a75090c9.png

Independent of the accelerator MQD were D(istance) based when using a DL Vacation itn (it did NOT matter how much you paid); most of the time this should work in favor of the flyer. The accelerator just made things nicer.