I guess if you're not going to be flying anywhere and looking at the delta between current and end of year status there's some logic here, but, I think I have a better deal. For every $150 in cash you send me, I'll make you a special itinerary and vacation opportunity that will net you $100 MQD. It's a half price discount offer on the special Delta version. And, I'll plant an acorn too for future sustainability feel-goods aged in oak.

Or book a Delta Stays at a hotel near your own residence. You could make it a mini-stay-cation or even opt not to stay there, just check-in and leave. If the place has breakfast, you could still stop by in the morning and at least get breakfast too or use other amenities. Regardless of how you use it, you're at least getting pretty close to 1:1 (again, not getting MQDs for taxes/fees but certainly better than this rip-off) instead of a pathetic 1:3 ratio at 1 MQD per $3 in spend.

It's for the environment

Note: unless there is a promo going on, Delta Stays do NOT earn 1$:1MQD. Delta Stays ≠ Delta Vacations.

I mean, in fairness, it's quite the gumption to even sell 1 MQD for $1 since an MQD doesn't have any inherent value. I mean I realize this is a hyper edge case (people that are $100 short of Diamond or Platinum where you can actually get more than $300 worth of benefits from making it) but it is still humorous on its face.

Of course one could book an unnecessarily expensive ticket just to spend money on DL and earn MQDs, but I was thinking more in terms of what I would expect to spend normally on tickets for different types of itineraries. Your example requires being away from DLH airport for about twelve hours. If we add in reasonable travel time to and from the airport and plan to arrive well in time for the flight, that would add two or three house, which would still essentially be a full consulting day versus a saving of $5000.

Ah true. I thought an MQDs for Delta Stays Promos was going on but I guess it ended. I haven't been pursuing MQDs this year so I haven't really tracked the promos and when DL is and isn't offering MQDs through Delta Stays (seems so silly to only offer it as "promos" since unless you're using Delta Stays to get your DL AmEx Delta Stays credit, there's little to no reason to book through Delta Stays otherwise).

Origin is actually DTW, not DLH. Yes, it's probably not the best example since there are no DTW-DLH flights and they require a connection in MSP. I probably should have used non-stop filter in Google Flights to save transit time. For example, DTW-TPA roundtrip booking below. If you really want to save time, you could just look up fare filings on ExpertFlyer and feed them to an agent to book them (although that's not nearly as interesting).

If you are doing an MQD run, don't forget about the 10%/20% MQD "Extra" promotion if you are eligible. Be sure to enroll in the promo before booking.

I'm 164 miles short of Silver. Would probably use (or attempt to) an upgrade or two next year.
The "elevate my status" offer was $600 for 200 MQD.
I have the Delta Amex Reserve, which I believe is 1 MQD per $10 spent? So if I spent $1,640 I'd get the 164 MQD?
(minus bonuses, etc.)
Of course, cheapest flight (since we're at holiday time) round trip that i can find is almost $1,000.
Anyone know if Amex/Delta cares about a little MSR via GC? (I know for SUBs Amex cares, but wasn't sure about other spend). Technically I think their "gaming" mentions benefits as well, but wasn't sure about reality vs. technically. IF I could do that, would cost me $18 extra (VGC fees).

I suppose other option is to use the Delta Stays, but given I've not used my $250 or whatever credit from the Reserve card, it would get credited back, thus wiping out any MQD, right?

Don�t pay DL the $600. Use the $200/$250 DL Stays credit asap as that�s real money in your pocket (not for any MQD). And prepay $1,700-$2,000 of IRS taxes before 12/31 on your Reserve card. You�ll get it back in April after you file your 2025 return.

I don�t think Delta Stays are currently earning MQDs - that promo ended in October:
https://carsandstays.delta.com/lp/b/mqd-loyalty#.
Terms and Conditions for Delta Cars & Stays Limited Time Offer of 1 MQD Per Dollar

MQD Offer: Car Rental, Hotel and Vacation Rental bookings reserved on carsandstays.delta.comOpens in a new window from August 29, 2025 through October 24, 2025 (for travel dates from August 29, 2025 through October 31, 2025) will be eligible to earn Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) upon the completion of a qualifying car rental, hotel or vacation rental booking. For clarity, this offer does not include any stays or car rentals booked through Delta Vacations or any cruises booked through Delta

Long shot, but anyone know why I could be suddenly ineligible for this program? I am going to fall roughly $130 MQDs short of Diamond and was going to take advantage of this. I was able to purchase yesterday when I checked but as of 8:30PM EST 12/31 it is saying I am ineligible. Program rules show it runs through 11:59 PM EST 12/31. By the other program rules, I should be eligible as well.

Yes, I know I can prepay taxes and that might be what I do but just looking to see if anyone else has run into this today.

Unfortunately, it may be too late to prepay your taxes; I doubt it would clear before 1/1.

Amex uses the CC transaction date to provide the "Activity" date to Delta for MQD postings which is the year they count towards (not the Posted date to your account). It is not based on the date the charge "clears". I had Amex MQD postings as late as Jan 3rd at the beginning of the year which counted towards 2024 totals because the date of the Amex transactions were on Dec 31st, 2024.