Unfortunately, the service is much better than AA or UA. It's more expensive then either of them on most routes from TPA. It's unfortunate, but I still prefer paying a little more for DL than saving $50 or $100 and flying AA or UA. I came to the realization years ago that my DL miles are pretty much complete trash...actually trash may very well be MORE valuable than my DL miles.

Well the rumors were true. A lot of folks on here thought we were crazy to believe them.

Do I read that right that Delta Reserve Amex only gets 10 visits per year but Platinum Amex has no such restriction? If true, that's messed up.

$75,000 is a lot to spend on a card which rewards points worth very little. I will probably cancel my Reserve card and buy a Sky Club membership.

When I first clicked on that link, it had the same article from a week ago with nothing new, but now it has been updated with the first details of the changes.

Starting as of January 1, 2024, all SkyMiles members will exclusively earn toward status through Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs)
SkyMiles members will no longer earn Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) or Medallion Qualifying Segments (MQSs)
SkyMiles members won’t lose any rollover MQMs that have already been accrued — starting in early 2024, members can choose to convert rollover MQMs into MQDs, redeemable miles, or a combination of both

And for SkyClub access changes:

As of February 1, 2024, those with a Delta Amex Reserve Card (personal or business) will receive 10 Sky Club visits per Medallion year; members who spend $75,000 on their eligible card in a calendar year will receive unlimited club access for the remainder of the current Medallion year, plus the following Medallion year
As of January 1, 2024, those booked on a Delta basic economy fare will no longer have Delta Sky Club access, regardless of the entry method
As of January 1, 2024, the Delta Amex Platinum Card (personal or business) will no longer provide Sky Club access for a $50 fee

No, just that the details for the Amex Plat access hasn't been released yet.

No hard details here. But if true, it is what we expected. I will be surprised if they keep the current MQD terminology and don’t go to a new metric all together like the other legacy carriers have.

In that article it says

doubtful; the language is “Platinum AmEx will no longer provide access for a fee” which tells me that it doesn’t get you in *at all*

I guess this makes mileage runs pointless

not having unlimited access for reserve holders is crazy given the yearly fee (oh unless you spend 75k in a year!)

When I travel long-haul overseas, I ALWAYS fly international carriers. Generally speaking, much better soft and hard products and get better mileage earning and elite qualification with the translations. I've had 15-20 long-haul overseas trips in the past decade or so and flew DL for one R/T to London in D1 (pretty pathetic on the old 767s) and back SYD-LAX in Y (flew LAX - SYD in Y on Virgin Australia and it was far superior to DL in every way). I've been in J/F on JAL, Qatar, China Southern, Swiss, Aer Lingus, and Virgin in J, and I'd rank all their hard/soft products and lounges higher than D1 at a fraction of the cost (other than Aer Lingus, which is comparable in air, but lounges were worse)...as much as 1/3 the price in most instances! I don't foresee flying DL for long-haul international again if there are alternatives on the routings.

It says Platinum Delta Amex. Different from the Platinum Amex non-Delta card, which seemingly now is better than the Reserve.

So my hypothesis (don't necessarily expect the entire thing, but to my mind, there's a thematic unity):

Qualification:
* The broad outlines of MQD/waiver and MQM (with rollover)/MQS continue
* Same MQD thresholds as now and MQS doesn't change either
* Elite credit for award flights doesn't change
* No rollover for foreign members unless they also clear MQD
* Million miler status is unchanged
* MQM thresholds increase, especially for higher tiers (30k FO, 60k GM, 100k PM, 200k DM), which burns through rollover and quietly devalues the waivers
* MQD waivers become 25k FO/GM, 75k PM and only apply if you have a Reserve
* DLAX Plat MQM boosts go away (only the Reserve gets MQM boosts up to $120k spend on the Reserve)
* MQD earn on partners continues as before (the payments from AFKL/KE/LA/etc. are almost as much "money for nothing" as Amex or any other partner)
* $10 or portion thereof in purchases on each no-fee/Gold/Reserve DLAX statement (regardless of configuration: $200k on the no-fee DLAX gets you 20k MQD) earns 1 MQD
* 5 RDM or portion thereof earned (including from bonuses and offers) on the DLAX Plat each statement earns 1 MQD
* Every 5 RDM earned from Hertz/Lyft/Delta Vacations/etc. also gets 1 MQD
* RDM earn from flying restructured to 3 RDM per MQD for kettles, 5 for FO, 6 for GM, 7 for PM, 9 for DM (which tilts RDM earn toward credit card etc.)
* MQD definition for DL metal becomes more correlated to profit by applying a multipier based on fare class: 0% E (no MQD, no RDM), 33% UTXV, 50% QKL, 100% SMH, 125% GWYB, 150% ZPA, 200% CDI, 300% J (C+M offers apply the S/G/Z multiplier to the original fare+offer)... a DM on a J fare earns 27 RDM per $
* Every 1k MQD you exceed the normal threshold by cuts the MQM requirement (effectively increasing rollover) by 5k (so at 20k MQD, you have the choice between using 200k MQM for DM, 60k MQM for PM, or taking GM for zero MQM: at 60k MQD (which could be anything from $20k worth of full J to $180k of UTXV fares or $600k of card spend) you get 2021-style Diamond (no MQM needed, rollover everything))
* Sustainable Aviation Fuel is offered on all tickets; purchasing SAF gives 3 MQD per dollar

Cards:
* Reserve and Platinum companion certificates unified and become good for domestic IZGSLUTXV fares and award flights
* No-fee and Gold Amex don't really change, beyond MQD earning
* DLAX Plat becomes the premium leisure card: companion certificate becomes the same as the Reserve, loses SkyClub access except on F/PS revenue/award tickets, DL charges earn 6x, additional companion certificate every $30k of spend (maximum of 1 issued per month based on spend)
* Reserve becomes the frequent Y flier card: the only one to earn MQM, waive MQD, and the most extensive SkyClub access this side of lifetime members, and can SDC as long as the desired flight is Y1
* vanilla AX Plat lounge access is limited (for those without DL status) to F/PS revenue/award tickets and cannot be used under any circumstance for access on a revenue E fare
* Reserve annual fee goes to $1000-ish, DLAX Plat goes to $500
* Pay With Miles limited to Gold/Platinum/Reserve DLAX (i.e. no longer on the no-fee card)

Lounge access:
* Moves to a point system, except for non-DL STE+ (and up to 1 guest), lifetime SkyClub members, or DLAX Plat holders on revenue/award F/PS tickets accessing a SkyClub
* 7 points are required to access a SkyClub, 15 points to access D1 Lounge
* Reserve card and individual SkyClub membership are good for 6 points, vanilla AX Plat is 3 points, executive membership is 15 points... these methods can stack so Reserve plus membership plus AX Plat (nearly $3k a year) can access D1 lounge when flying solo
* D1 is worth 15 points, PS worth 5 points, F worth 4 points, C+ worth 2 points, Main worth 1 point, Basic worth 0 points (operational and medallion/corporate traveler upgrades do not qualify, but upgrade certificates qualify)
* FO is worth 1 point, GM 2 points, PM 3 points, DM 5 points
* Points can be transferred between guests in a party, as long as at least one member of the party clears 7 points (or 15 for D1 lounge) and all in the party have scheduled departures within 90 minutes of one another: e.g. a DM with Amex Plat in F (12 points) can give 5 points to a non-status companion in C+ to guest them into the lounge
* Up to 3 additional non-transferrable points may be purchased per person in the party (as long as at least one member of the party clears 7 points) at a rate of $10/1k RDM for 1 point, $40/4k RDM for 2 points, $90/9k RDM for 3 points
* Individual membership goes to $1000-ish, executive membership goes to $2500-ish

Upgrades:
* Introduction of PS on domestic routes beyond Hawaii
* Paid-for (including FCM) cabin and then current cabin prioritized ahead of status, though YBMH fares seated in Main is considered paid-and-occupied C+ (i.e. FO in paid C+ is ahead of DM who paid for Main)
* Medallion, corporate traveler, and Reserve upgrades must be requested per segment through app/website/at counter
* Requesting a medallion or corporate traveler upgrade requires posting at least 5k RDM (waived for Reserve holders): if the upgrade does not clear, the RDM are returned
* Up to 5k additional RDM may be posted on request for a medallion, corporate traveler, or Reserve upgrade to go on the list 24 hours earlier (can move back up to 96 hours; i.e. DM without Reserve can post 25k RDM to clear at T-216 or an FO with Reserve who buys C+ can post 20k to go on the list at T-120 and clear ahead of DMs in Main)
* RDM posted for upgrades that clear are refunded at the beginning of the next Medallion year if you requalify for the same or higher status

Choice Benefits:
* Can opt out of all Choice Benefits for a 30% rebate of RDM redeemed on award flights if you qualify as PM for the next year, 50% rebate if you qualify as DM for the next year
* Every 50k MQM above the (MQD-adjusted) MQM threshold for Diamond gets additional Diamond Choice Benefits (or a companion certificate for any DL metal award flight if opted out of Choice Benefits)

Overall themes are:
* having Reserve and vanilla or DL Plat is encouraged (or even all three)
* economy road warriors in hubs basically have to get the Reserve or give up on status; economy road warriors in outstations still have MQS
* mileage earnings almost entirely from premium cabin and credit cards
* overall card spend is encouraged
* WFBF/WPSBPS/WC+BC+ encouraged

EDIT: now I'll compare with what's leaked etc....

Given that American median household income is 75K a year, I think asking for that spend level is going to result in a lot of cancelled cards and backfire on Amex/Delta.

Letting people cash out MQMs for redeemable miles is going to be an interesting decision.

Are they going to keep letting you get MQDs on award tickets? They were often pretty token but it was something.

Are you referring to the OMAAT article that released an hour ago? Because it says the MQM/MQS is going away and MQD will be the only thing.

We’re Diamond with reserve and see less than 50% upgrades. We don’t buy C+. If we did we’d likely see more upgrades.

My initial thoughts based on those details is that I will be dumping my DL Amex Platinum if it no longer has the option to pay to get into the Sky Club. I wonder what kind of retention offer I'll get. Maybe I'll get the Reserve if these changes coincide with boosted sign up bonuses, but I will have to think on that decision a bit when the full details are out.

Having the option to turn rollover MQMs into redeemable miles seems like the route I will go as I won't be chasing status any more. The conversion rate and any potential changes to the Million Miler program will dictate how much effort I put in to rolling anything over. I'm near 1MM and that might be my only path to status for the foreseeable future.