Delta SkyMiles vs MQDs: What’s the Difference?

If you’re a regular Delta flyer, you likely know and love (or maybe loathe) SkyMiles. But there’s another thing you’re earning on nearly every Delta flight: Medallion Qualifying Dollars, or MQDs.

What’s more, if you’re one of the millions of travelers with a Delta co-branded American Express card in your wallet, you’re earning SkyMiles – and maybe even MQDs – every time you pull it out for a purchase. Unless you book a Delta basic economy fare, you’re earning both on every flight, too. So what’s the difference? 

It’s a common question, and it’s easy to get confused by these somewhat similar terms. And Delta didn’t do flyers any favors when it overhauled its entire SkyMiles program last fall. Airlines make these things difficult to understand on purpose.

Here’s what it boils down to: You use Delta SkyMiles to redeem for free flights, while MQDs are the backbone to earning Delta Medallion Status. Read on for our full breakdown of the differences between Delta SkyMiles and MQDs.

Earning Delta SkyMiles

In general, you earn Delta SkyMiles every time you spend money with Delta … or one of its partners.

While you might think that flying with Delta – or their SkyTeam partners like Air France or KLM – is the best way to earn SkyMiles, that’s hardly the case anymore. With so many great ways to earn SkyMiles, flying no longer tops the list.

Still, you will earn some SkyMiles almost every time you step onto a Delta flight. Exactly how many miles you earn now depends on the cash price of your ticket. Everyday SkyMiles members earn 5x SkyMiles per dollar spent on Delta flights, while that rate increases as you climb the ladder of Delta Medallion status.

The one exception? Delta’s lowest priced basic economy fares no longer earn SkyMiles, period. So in addition to not being able to pick your seat or make any changes without a hefty fee, you also won’t earn any SkyMiles when you fly – just another reason to steer clear of these tickets in most situations.

You can pile up even more SkyMiles on flights if you use a Delta co-branded American Express card to buy your flight, as every card earns at least 2x SkyMiles per dollar spent with Delta. This tacks on top of the miles you normally earn by booking your flight, so an everyday SkyMiles member who buys a flight with their *delta skymiles gold card* would effectively earn 7x SkyMiles per dollar. Again, that number increases if you have elite status.

Nowadays, it’s far more common to build up a big pool of SkyMiles with a big welcome offer bonus and everyday spending on a Delta co-branded American Express credit card. While we caution against making an airline card your go-to, you’ll earn at least 1 SkyMile per dollar you spend. Some SkyMiles cards even earn a bonus when you make a purchase in a certain spending category like dining or at U.S. supermarkets.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Rather than swiping a Delta card, you’d be far better off earning Amex Membership Rewards points on cards like the *amex gold* or *amex platinum*. You can transfer those points straight to Delta … or send them to one of the 20-plus other Amex transfer partners instead.

You can also earn SkyMiles through online shopping, booking an Airbnb, and even your daily coffee run to Starbucks. And the full list of ways you can earn SkyMiles is even bigger than this – these are just some of our favorites.

Redeeming Delta SkyMiles

When it comes time to redeem your SkyMiles, you can use them to book flights, of course. But you can also use them for seat upgrades, seat assignment fees, and even champagne in the Delta Sky Clubs.

The problem is that understanding SkyMiles can be a chore. Delta stopped publishing an award chart years ago in favor of a dynamic pricing model, with SkyMiles rates that typically track with the cash cost of a ticket. So without that cheat sheet that tells you how many miles you should spend to fly from point A to point B, prices change constantly.

That leads to uncertain and sometimes sky-high pricing – especially if you want to book a business class seat. But there’s a tremendous upside: Delta SkyMiles Flash sales.

Untethered from an award chart, Delta is free to slash SkyMiles award rates as it pleases. The result is some screaming hot deals that are easily the best way to use your Delta SkyMiles. They sometimes publish available sales on their site, but many of the best deals are never advertised.

These amazing deals disappeared for a while … but they’ve made a comeback over the last year or so. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Want more award alerts like this one? Sign up for our flight deal alert service Thrifty Traveler Premium!

SkyMiles can be frustrating, but this is where they shine. Earlier this year, Delta briefly slashed award rates to Europe from airports big and small all across the U.S. With the 15% discount on SkyMiles award tickets you get with the Delta Platinum card, you could book these flights for as few as 26,000 SkyMiles roundtrip! 

We typically warn travelers against using their miles for short domestic flights, but it’s actually a sweet spot with Delta. With these shorter routes, it’s fairly easy to find round trips for 10,000 SkyMiles or less. Flights shorter than 750 miles seem to be easiest to snag at this price, but even some longer flights make the cut. Be sure to book well ahead of your flight to ensure the lowest-priced SkyMiles award space is available.

For all the faults of Delta SkyMiles, you’ll rarely find roundtrip domestic flights this cheap through other airline programs. Booking a cheap domestic flight like this one from Nashville (BNA) to New York (JFK) for just a few thousand miles is one of the best moves you can make with SkyMiles.

Check out our roundup of the cheapest domestic SkyMiles deals we’ve found lately!

Finally, Delta’s “Pay with Miles” feature sets a floor value for how much your SkyMiles are worth. This perk is only available to Delta Cardholders and bases the miles you need on the cash fare – making every SkyMile worth a cent toward your flight. So long as you’ve got at least 5,000 SkyMiles in your account, you can use them to pay for all or a portion of your flight.

Related reading: How to Find & Book the Best Delta SkyMiles Deals

Earning Delta Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs)

Delta Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs) have zero value for booking flights. Instead, they’re all about showing Delta that you’re loyal enough to the airline to be considered “elite.” And after some unpopular changes last fall, you’ll need an awful lot of them to prove your worth.

In 2024, annual flying requirements and the Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) previously used to track them are officially gone. Now, earning status is all about spending with Delta – and Delta measures that using Medallion Qualifying Dollars, or MQDs.

Here’s how many MQDs you’ll need to earn for each level of status.

That’s right: You need to spend $5,000 a year with Delta just to earn the lowest-level Silver status … and a whopping $28,000 annually for the top-tier Diamond Medallion status. That’s up considerably from just a year ago. 

That said, it’s not quite as bad it seems thanks to all the new ways Delta has rolled out to earn these all-important MQDs:

Add it all up, and there are now more ways than ever to earn MQDs. That alone makes these higher spending requirements sting a little less.

Finally, there’s one other way to get a big chunk of MQDs … and it’s perhaps the easiest of all. Delta calls this benefit MQD Headstart, and it’s available to anyone with a *delta skymiles platinum card* or top-tier *delta reserve card* (or either of their small business counterparts). If you hold either card, you’ll automatically be awarded 2,500 MQDs for each year. And if you’ve got multiple of these cards, you’ll get a MQD Headstart for each and every one of them.

That automatically makes the current MQD requirements far more tolerable. In some cases, it could help you automatically unlock elite status – albeit one of the lower tiers – before ever stepping foot on a Delta flight.

Related reading: Did Delta Actually Make Earning Medallion Status … Easier?

What Does Delta Medallion Status Get You?

Now that we’ve covered the ins and outs of earning MQDs, let’s take a look at what they get you and whether or not it’s worth all the hassle.

Delta offers four different Medallions status levels: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and top-tier Diamond. There’s also an invite-only Delta 360° Medallion status level – but it’s available only to Delta’s most loyal (profitable) customers and there’s no defined formula for what it takes to earn.

At the lower status levels, you shouldn’t expect much in the way of benefits. While having any level of elite status will technically put you in the queue for complimentary upgrades to Delta Comfort Plus or first class, these have gotten fewer and farther between – even for top-tier elites.

With Silver or Gold status, you’ll earn more redeemable SkyMiles on paid flights and get access to priority check-in and boarding, as well as free checked baggage.

Perhaps the biggest benefit to these lower status levels, though, is access to preferred seating at booking – including exit rows. You’ll also be able to move to Comfort Plus if there are any open seats within 24 hours of departure and of course, have a shot at a last-minute upgrade to first class.

When you reach Platinum and Diamond Medallion status, things start to change in a big way. At these status levels, you’ll get an annual choice benefit (or several of them) which includes upgrade certificates. Platinum Medallion members can choose four regional upgrade certificates, while Diamond Medallions can pick those upon reaching Platinum status and then get even more regional or global upgrade certificates (among other options) at the Diamond Medallion level.

These higher-tiers of Medallion status also get the same perks as Silver and Gold members like priority check-in and boarding, free checked baggage, and earning more SkyMiles – but their seats choices and chances at an upgrade are far better. Complimentary upgrades to first class begin five whole days before departure and you can pick a Comfort Plus seat shortly after ticketing.

This means that you’ll almost always have a little extra wiggle room on your Delta flights, even if you’re not at the very front.

While all this sounds great and every traveler loves the idea of earning status and getting free upgrades, that loyalty can be expensive. Unless you’re flying on your employer’s dime, chasing status makes little sense for the average traveler. And in our experience, you won’t start seeing frequent upgrades until you reach Platinum or Medallion status.

Read more: Is Delta Status Really Worth It? All About Delta Medallion Status

Bottom Line

Nearly any time you spend money with Delta, you’re earning both SkyMiles and Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs). The same goes for swiping a handful of Delta SkyMiles American Express credit cards. But exactly what each of those are good for is vastly different.

You can redeem SkyMiles for Delta flights (among other things), while MQDs are the building block for elite status – the more you earn, the higher you climb. Delta loyalists are happy to collect both … but wise to understand the difference and focus on what matters most.