Is Delta Diamond Medallion Status Worth It? And How To Get It

• Written by Andrew Kunesh
  

  Andrew Kunesh

  Award travel and travel credit cards

  Andrew Kunesh has written about award travel and credit cards for nearly 10 years. He was previously a Senior Editor at The Points Guy and CNN Underscored, and is now a freelance writer and editor who contributes to top travel publications. His work has appeared on The Points Guy, CNN, Upgraded Points, CreditKarma, Travel + Leisure, and various other publications. Andrew grew up in the Chicago suburbs and moved to New York City in 2018 after graduating from DePaul University's College of Computing and Digital Media. His credit card portfolio spans most major transferable points currencies, but his favorite currencies to earn and redeem are American Express Membership Rewards and Bilt Rewards points. This is thanks to many ways to redeem these points for high-end travel. He estimates he's redeemed over 2 million points and miles since he got his first travel credit card in 2014. He travels over 100,000 miles annually, primarily funded with credit card, airline, and hotel rewards. His favorite places to travel are Prague, Hong Kong, London, Penang, and Tokyo, but he's always searching for the next hot destination. When he's not traveling (or writing about it), you'll find Andrew in New York City searching for the best new restaurant.

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• Edited by Jasmin Baron, CCC™
  

  Jasmin Baron, CCC™

  Credit Cards, Travel Rewards, Loyalty Programs, Family Travel, Credit Building, Credit Scores

  Jasmin Baron is a NACCC Certified Credit Counselor™ and CardCritics’ senior editor, responsible for editing and writing credit cards, travel rewards, loyalty program, and other credit-related content. She is passionate about personal finance education and enjoys sharing tips and tricks for making the most of credit card points and miles with her readers. Her expertise in maximizing credit card travel rewards originated from over two decades of aviation industry experience, including 18 years working as a pilot and college professor/flight instructor in her native Canada. Her work has appeared on sites such as CNN Underscored Money, Business Insider, The Points Guy, and point.me. When she’s not planning her next trip with credit card rewards, you’ll probably find her tinkering around in the kitchen, hanging out with her three kids, or playing with her dog, Benji.

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• Last Updated Feb 27, 2026

Delta Medallion elite status is awarded to Delta and SkyTeam frequent flyers. Its top publicly available tier, Diamond Medallion, is awarded to the airline’s most frequent flyers who earn 28,000 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs) with the Delta SkyMiles program in a single calendar year — and that’s no small feat.

Doing this requires flying Delta and its partner airlines regularly, buying expensive tickets, or spending on a co-branded American Express Delta credit card. Whether you do one of these or a mixture of the three, you’ll still have to dedicate time and money to earning status, and you could lose out on earning valuable points and miles elsewhere.

So that begs the question — is it worth earning Delta Diamond Medallion status? Let’s take a closer look at what’s included with the status, how to earn it and who should (and shouldn’t) put it on their radar.

What Is Delta Diamond Medallion Status?

Delta Diamond Medallion status is the highest published Delta elite tier. It includes a slew of benefits that can make travel with Delta and its SkyTeam partners more seamless. Some standout features include:

• Earn 11 SkyMiles per dollar on Delta flights
• Complimentary space-available domestic first class upgrades
• Complimentary Delta Comfort+ shortly after booking
• Sky Priority check-in, security, boarding and baggage handling
• Free first checked bag
• Waived same-day confirmed and standby fees
• Dedicated Diamond Medallion VIP phone line
• SkyTeam Elite Plus status, which includes partner lounge access

You’ll also receive three Choice Benefits (in addition to one when you reach Platinum Medallion), which range from Delta Sky Club memberships to Global Upgrade Certificates and bonus SkyMiles. These benefits can be worth thousands of dollars depending on how you use them.

How Do You Earn Diamond Status With Delta?

Delta has moved to using a single metric for awarding elite status — Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQD). You’ll earn Diamond Medallion elite status after you earn 28,000 MQDs in a single calendar year.

In short, Medallion Qualifying Dollars are earned based on the cost of a Delta ticket before taxes, whether operated by Delta or its partners. If you book and fly a $250 ticket, you’ll earn 250 MQDs towards elite status. In turn, it’s easier to earn Diamond Medallion elite status if you book expensive Delta tickets. 

Delta Main Basic tickets do not earn MQDs or SkyMiles. Delta award tickets also earn MQDs: 1 MQD per 100 SkyMiles redeemed for an award ticket, so a ticket that costs 10,000 SkyMiles earns 100 MQD towards elite status.

Further, you can also earn MQDs on Delta Vacations packages. These MQDs are earned in the same way — you’ll earn 1 MQD per dollar spent on your vacation package before taxes. Packages can include Delta flights, hotels and rental cars.

You can also earn when you book SkyTeam partner tickets directly (not through Delta.com). These tickets earn MQD based on a percentage of the physical miles flown. The percentage you’ll earn depends on the airline you fly and your ticket’s fare class. You can view these numbers on Delta’s airline partner page.

Here’s an example of how this works. Say you’re flying round-trip from New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG) with Air France. The ticket you booked is ticketed as a D-fare business-class ticket, which earns 30% MQD. Since this round-trip ticket clocks in at 7,270 miles round-trip, you’d earn 2,181 MQDs regardless of how much your ticket costs.

Finally, you can earn MQDs with select Delta co-branded American Express credit cards. Our advertising partners, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card — and their business equivalents — earn 2,500 MQD per year. In addition, they earn at the following rates on everyday purchases:

• Amex Delta Platinum and Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business Card: 1 MQD per $20 spent
• Amex Delta Reserve and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: 1 MQD per $10 spent

You can use any mixture of Delta tickets, vacation packages, partner tickets and Delta credit card spending to earn Medallion elite status.

How Much Are Delta Miles Worth?

Delta SkyMiles don’t have a set value, but award prices are dynamic. This means the cost of an award ticket fluctuates by day, route and when you book. In turn, the value you get from your SkyMiles also fluctuates daily. In my experience, the best award rates are found on domestic Delta flights.

For example, you can often find short-haul flights for under 10,000 SkyMiles when you book in advance. Meanwhile, it’s difficult to find good deals on long-haul flights, especially if you’re hoping to book a business-class flight.

Keep this in mind when you decide whether or not to work towards Diamond Medallion elite status. You’ll earn lots of SkyMiles as you work towards status, so make sure you can use them. Otherwise, you might be better off earning miles with another airline or using another travel credit card.

Who Should Go After Delta Diamond Medallion Status?

It takes a lot of effort to earn Diamond Medallion elite status — so you should be sure that you can actually use the benefits before you spend the time and money. These are the travelers who will be best served with Diamond Medallion status:

• You live near a Delta hub and fly the airline frequently enough to take advantage of the benefits included with Diamond Medallion status.
• You fly for work and can book expensive business-class or last-minute fares. This makes it easy to book Diamond Medallion status without spending lots of your own money on travel.
• You own a business with high credit card spending and like redeeming Delta SkyMiles. This way, you can use your business Delta credit card for your business spending to earn status.
• You fly enough to earn status organically and like Delta’s in-flight and on the ground product. In this case, it might make sense to spend more to earn Diamond Medallion status.

Even if you don’t fall into one of these categories, it could still make sense to earn Diamond Medallion elite status. You should look at the benefits and compare them to the extra cost of flying exclusively with Delta, and to the opportunity cost of using Delta American Express credit cards instead of a transferable points card.

Who Shouldn’t Go After Delta Diamond Medallion Status?

Meanwhile, you’re better served by either another airline’s status or by staying airline-agnostic and simply booking the cheapest fare when it’s time to travel if you fall into the following categories:

• You don’t already fly Delta enough to use the benefits included with Diamond Medallion elite status.
• You don’t live near an airport with Delta service to the destinations you need to travel to for work, family or pleasure.
• You prefer booking the lowest fares possible, regardless of the airline you fly with.
• You don’t like Delta SkyMiles and prefer earning different types of airline miles when you fly and transferable credit card points on your everyday spending.

If you fall into any of these categories, you may be better served by forgoing elite status and earning transferable points, such as American Express Membership Rewards®, Bilt Rewards, or Chase Ultimate Rewards®, and flying the cheapest tickets possible when you travel. This gives you more flexibility and may save you money by booking the cheapest ticket available.

The information related to the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business Card and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card was collected by CardCritics™ and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. CardCritics™ does not receive a commission for this product.