Delta Million Miler Calculation
 

I've searched around looking to see how this MM program will be calculated going forward in 2024. I have read the statement form DL saying
"As of 2024, Delta will only count eligible miles flown on Delta toward million miler status".
I'm trying to fully understand the term "eligible miles". Does this mean it will only count "actual miles" from point A to B or will it also include the "bonus miles" one gets based on their various status levels?

butt in seat miles only. no bonus or override. for the purpose of actual recognition, a 1MM passenger that earns from 2024 onward will actually have to fly 1M miles while on Delta metal to qualify.

which means business/first class has no bearing on MM status.

I always thought it was odd that DL counted everything under the sun toward MM status. I can’t complain, because I benefitted from it, but before switching to DL I earned MM on United and that felt like a real achievement. When I hit MM on DL after 3 years of flying with them, it felt artificial (because it was).

I feel for those who fall under the new program, but it seems like a corrected “error” of sorts.

Glad to see they somewhat improved the benefits along with making the achievement considerably more challenging.

Has it been confirmed that MM accrual will be limited to Delta metal? I know there were a lot of questions about partner eligibility towards MM when the news broke but still haven't come across a definitive answer.

I wouldn't exactly say they counted EVERYTHING. I have earned over six million RDMS in my lifetime but only 2.5 MMs.

I would like to know this also...

and basic economy...

Definitely not Basic Economy. This page says:

No mention of it being Delta metal only, though I'd really like to know that answer, too, since that's going to have a lot of bearing next year for me when choosing between DL and VS on JFK-LHR.

Curious about this too. Will make several trips to Europe next year and would still love to fly partners for potential better MQD earnings while accruing MM status

It would be really frustrating when Delta would sell you an ATL-AMS flight on 006 ticket stock with an DL flight number but that would not count towards your MM balance. This would cut MM earning TATL flights by ~50%.

Look - I really want to hit 2MM and get Platinum until whenever, but are people really going to make decisions on flights with hitting MM thresholds in mind? If you're very close, sure, I see that.

But if you're 500K miles away? ATL<->AMS would give you 8802 MQMs assuming it counts under whatever Delta institutes going forward. That's less than 1% of 1MM. So you'd need more than 100 of those trips to hit a million miles. 113 roundtrip flights to Europe. How much would you go out of your way time/stopovers/money/carrier to get yourself almost 1% closer to the next MM threshold?

For me, I'm hoping that I think this through consciously when making these decisions and don't fall prey to Delta's marketing tactics here.

I believe that the 2024 MM wording included earning BIS miles on flights flown with core partners also, such as KLM, AF, Korean, AeroMexico and LATAM.

They better count MU on a 1:1 basis for all fare classes...

Under the old system a shrewd person could get 160k MQMs per year with just credit card spend. So with modest flying they could earn a new 1M threshold tier every 5 years. This is going to become exceptionally more difficult now.