EpsilonZer0

With international travel opened back up I requalified for 1K in June going straight PQP. My guess is they will keep the same metrics for 2025 minus the starting bonus. I think that would be fair.
If they try to push it further then I think they risk alienating some customers.

DELee

Some of us were already aliened a few years back.

David

rankourabu

Is it too early to start speculating on 2024 requirements given how DL just upped the thresholds?

jsloan

Delta's other shoe has dropped, and 1K -- even at the 24K level -- now looks to be potentially the least expensive top-tier status (depending upon how you count AA EXP):

Delta SkyMiles Program Changes (Total Revenue Based) for 2025 Medallion Year

TL/DR: DL is moving to MQD-only, very similar to the PQP-only approach from UA, but their tiers are 6K for Silver, 12K for Gold, 18K for Platinum, and 35K (!) for Diamond. The AmEx cards will provide MQD at a rate that is either slightly better, or quite a bit better, than the Chase cards, depending upon which AmEx you get -- but if you're not getting some of your MQD from your card, that's a lot of flying spend.

It looks like you can also get MQDs from car rentals or hotel stays, but, again, if you don't happen to want to use their program for your hotels or cars...

Polytonic

And I thought 24k for 1K was nuts.

Repooc17

Alaska is looking better and better!

Polytonic

Indeed. At ~40 TCON segments a year, I'd have MVP100K on lock pretty reliably (and at my ~$160 average segment, I'd spend $6400 to do it, way cheaper than UA). The main downside is lack of international benefits, and I don't find AS miles all that valuable either.

*G and E+ at booking (esp. for international flights) is still a pretty major motivator for me. I suppose with the $2600 savings, I could buy those outright, but UA has done a pretty good job taking care of me, for what it's worth.

Repooc17

You would be OneWorld Emerald, so whatever benefits attached to the tier should be included.

Kacee

Hotel spend is dollar for dollar. Not as generous as AA, but still very substantial earnings opportunities apart from flying. Basically, DL wants you to commit all your travel $$ to the DL ecosystem, and for those who are willing to do that (not me), Diamond will be considerably easier to reach than 1K at 24k PQD.

OWE brings the best international benefits of any alliance. Not just F lounge access, but free seat selection on numerous airlines which otherwise charge big dollars even for J seats (including BA, AY, and QR).

Agreed though that AS miles have been seriously devalued, not just in absolute terms but in significantly reduced partner availability.

cfischer

DL DM is more than 1K. Don’t think UA will go to $35k for next year. But yeah, PQP only is definitely on the horizon which for me won’t make a difference.

we can start to speculate … 6/12/18/30 ? Consider GS to go to min $50k UA metal?

jsloan

In order to book my hotel through the DL ecosystem, I presumably have to give up my elite benefits with the hotel, right? That's a significant hurdle for me personally.

Sure, if you happen to want to pay to fly those carriers -- as hard as PlusPoints have gotten to use, they still represent a substantial discount over J. So, yeah, for someone who lives on the west coast, or whose domestic travel is concentrated on the west coast, and is resigned to paying for J as opposed to upgrading to it, AS is a good choice.

Polytonic

I absolutely agree OWE has the best benefits. F lounge access + guest is incredibly appealing to me. Unfortunately, I'm not in a good position to actually take advantage of it from the airports I'm originating at (or my destinations for that matter).

That being said, trying AS 100K for a year wouldn't be that bad considering I can still keep E+ at check-in via Marriott Titanium -> UA Silver if I really wanted to go down that route.

fumje

Haven't used it, but looks like DL repackages hotels.com. You can still get hotel-group status benefits when booking that way, but it's far from seamless. I wouldn't be shifting all my hotel spend to that.

Kacee

Yes, same reason I have no interest in playing AA's loyalty points game, either.

I wouldn't play that game for 1K, either. Waitlisting PP vs. giving up Hyatt/Marriott elite benes and points? No thanks, not a good trade, at least not for me.
Unless you're SEA based, 75K is just fine. OWE and near cert upgrades on most routes.

SPN Lifer

If UA increases the PQP requirement for Premier Silver, I will need to get used to UA General Member status. Fortunately, I still have my lifetime United Club membership.