Check Your Inbox: Delta is Gifting Free Status to Some Flyers!

Check your email, Delta flyers – or your Delta app: The Atlanta-based airline has been giving some lucky SkyMiles members six months of complimentary status … and making it easier to extend that status for a full year, through May 2025.

Eagle-eyed travelers who’ve never earned Delta Medallion Status (myself included) may have recently noticed their account was quietly upgraded to Silver Medallion status sometime in the last few days. As its lowest tier of status, Delta Silver Medallion may not be much … but hey, it’s free! 

On Wednesday, it appears Delta finally began emailing SkyMiles members about their new temporary status. If you’re one of the lucky ones, this complimentary status is good for six months: through Nov. 30, 2024. But if you earn $2,500 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs) – by spending $2,500 or so with Delta – by that deadline, you’ll extend that status through May 30, 2025. 

After Delta’s status overhaul last year, that’s half of what it typically costs to earn Silver Medallion Status … though you’ll also only get that status for about half as long. Earning the full $5,000 MQDs it typically takes to climb to silver, you’d have that status all the way into early 2026.

The airline has gifted complimentary status to flyers randomly over the years, but this appears to be a concerted push. And it seems bigger than any previous effort. 

While Silver Medallion might be Delta’s lowest rung of status, it still comes with valuable perks, including: 

• One free checked bag on Delta flights – and flights on partner airlines like Air France, KLM, and more
• Priority boarding 
• Free upgrades on the day of the departure … but don’t count on it
• Complimentary preferred seat selection like extra legroom, exit row, or seats toward the front of the plane
• Earn 7x SkyMiles for every $1 spent on Delta flights 

It’s unclear how Delta is selecting SkyMiles members for temporary status – or how many are benefitting this time around. Are they only gifting status-less flyers a free bump up to Silver? Or are they also upgrading some lucky current elites up to another tier? A Delta representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment about this promo. 

But we’re betting the airline is targeting flyers who haven’t earned Delta status in the past and don’t have a co-branded Delta SkyMiles American Express credit card, either. By giving travelers a taste of status, the airline is probably hoping to convince free agent flyers to keep flying (and spending) with Delta for the next few months. 

Bottom Line

Yet again, Delta is doling out complimentary status to select flyers.

Silver Medallion Status might not come with the world’s most valuable travel perks – and you’re only getting it for six months. But this is still a clever way for Delta to surprise and delight some lucky travelers, giving them a taste of the status life … in hopes they keep coming back to Delta.