Final day: Make your Delta MQM rollover choices earlier than it is too late

It is your final likelihood, Delta elite vacationers. Time is working out to make your choice on find out how to convert any rollover Medalion Qualification Miles (MQMs) in your SkyMiles account from final yr. The deadline is right now, Dec. 31 — at which level they’re going to robotically be transformed to Medallion Qualification {Dollars} (MQDs).

As a reminder, Delta Air Traces introduced a slew of modifications late final yr — affecting Medallion standing, its cobranded bank card portfolio and entry to the Delta Sky Membership. Briefly, Medallion Qualification {Dollars} (MQDs) — how a lot you spend with the airline — turned the one solution to qualify in 2024.

Previous to this alteration, Delta allowed you to roll over extra MQMs to the subsequent elite standing qualification yr. Nonetheless, that ended this yr since MQDs are actually the only real qualification metric.

Associated: You requested, Delta answered: Here is what we learn about MQMs

And for anybody with rollover MQMs from the 2023 calendar yr, you possibly can select find out how to convert these.

Rollover MQM conversion choices

Very frequent vacationers — particularly, these with not less than 100,000 rollover MQMs from 2023 — can lengthen their 2024 standing. For each 100,000 rollover MQMs you had sitting in your account after the top of 2023, you possibly can select to increase your standing by a yr.

Alternatively, you possibly can select to transform your MQMs to MQDs, redeemable miles or a mixture of each. Listed here are these decisions:

• 100% redeemable miles, 0% MQDs
• 75% redeemable miles, 25% MQDs
• 50% redeemable miles, 50% MQDs
• 25% redeemable miles, 75% MQDs
• 0% redeemable miles, 100% MQDs

The final of these ratios — 100% MQDs — is the default in case you do not choose by right now, Dec. 31.

So, how do you resolve which possibility is finest for you?

Begin by taking a look at your present qualification progress. What number of extra MQDs do it’s essential to attain the subsequent tier? And is that inside attain with one of many conversion choices?

In that case, choose the mixture that can get you simply over that threshold. Keep in mind that extra MQDs past the given thresholds is not going to roll over this yr. Consequently, there isn’t any level in “losing” your decide on MQDs that will not do something to your 2025 standing.

Here is how TPG’s senior editorial director, Nick Ewen, crunched the numbers on his account:

I’ve certified for Gold Medallion standing subsequent yr, and my MQD tracker is at present at 10,283. I solely had 9,024 rollover MQMs from final yr, so changing these to 903 MQDs would do nothing — I might nonetheless be properly wanting Platinum Medallion standing. Consequently, I opted for 100% redeemable miles — 4,512 to be actual.

Now, if Nick’s MQD stability was simply 14,283, changing these rollover MQMs to MQDs would’ve been an awesome choice since it might’ve put him above 15,000 MQDs and thus certified him for Platinum Medallion. Sadly, that wasn’t an possibility.

In my case, I used to be sitting on 108,671 rollover MQMs, so I elected to increase my standing by a yr. I’ll now have top-tier Diamond Medallion standing via Jan. 31, 2026.

That left me with simply 8,671 rollover MQMs. Since I’ll have already got standing, I selected to earn the additional miles. I did not love the two:1 conversion price, however I will take what I can get.

Delta signifies that it will possibly take as much as 48 hours to your selection(s) to be mirrored, however our expertise reveals it is a lot faster.

Associated: Delta Diamond and Hyatt Globalist: My standing targets for 2025

I have been fortunately not paying a lot consideration to requalifying for Diamond standing as a result of I used to be in a position to lengthen my standing. If I wished to re-earn standing for 2026, I might have to spend a whopping $28,000 on Delta subsequent yr. Proper now, I will take my free Diamond standing and work out a sport plan for 2026. It might be time to get off the Delta standing hamster wheel, however I haven’t got to resolve now.

Backside line

It is your final likelihood to transform your MQMs that can quickly be gone for good. It is a good perk that these with greater than 100,000 MQMs can lengthen their standing for a yr, and it positive beats the unique announcement that MQMs would solely be out there for conversion.

If you’re one of many fortunate Delta flyers with a number of MQMs, you may as well convert them to MQDs or flip them into redeemable SkyMiles.

I am unhappy to see MQMs go away, however I am thrilled that Delta did not simply abandon these of us who’d collected additional MQMs through the years. It allowed me to increase my standing till 2026 and can hold me roped into the SkyMiles universe after I might strongly thought of abandoning this system altogether. Along with this rollover profit and the enhancements Delta made to its American Specific cobranded bank cards, I’ll persist with Delta for the subsequent few years, on the very least.