Time is running out: do a Delta MQD run without leaving your bed (or your couch, your office, your beach…).

There are less than two weeks left in 2024 (how did it happen). The already happened?!). Your time to earn Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD) for 2025 status is expiring.
(Terms and conditions apply to American Express benefits and offers. Select American Express benefits and offers may require registration. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.)

Get a late lead

Perhaps the easiest and fastest way to earn MQD is to take advantage of the “MQD Headstart” benefit available on four Delta SkyMiles® American Express cards.

Each eligible card product earns cardholders 2,500 MQD toward Medallion status each year.

These cards are:

Let’s say you own two of the cards mentioned above. That gets you $5,000 (enough Silver Medallion status). Three of these will net you $7,500 MQD (which is currently half of the Platinum Medallion). Collect all four and you’ll have $10,000 MQD Every year you have the card. (That’s gold medallion status without setting foot near a plane.)

If you need a specific Medallion status tier in 2025 and don’t have enough MQD to make it, be sure to get at least one of the cards above.

We love MQD runs on Delta partner airlines, which allow you to earn 2 to 3 times the MQD on your flight investment. The MQD Headstart is basically a credit card version of this. And you don’t have to travel anywhere. (This takes the fun out of earning the MQD, but in a pinch it serves the purpose.)

But when does the MQD apply to your account? We wrote about this almost two weeks ago. The MQD may not appear in your account for 6-8 weeks after your membership is approved. But according to Amex’s terms and conditions, the $2,500 MQD should apply retroactively if you are approved in 2024:

According to the Delta Reserve Card’s fine print (mine in bold below):

MQDs are deposited within 6 to 8 weeks of opening an eligible card accountand each subsequent year thereafter within 6 to 8 weeks of February 1, as long as the Eligible Card Account is open; However, if a new eligible card account is opened in November or December of a qualifying year, MQDs will be applied to the qualifying year in which the card is opened. MQDs earned during a qualifying year are used to determine Medallion status qualification for the subsequent Medallion year for the base card member.

Here is an example. One of my family members needed a new card for her side hustle and some MQD for her Delta status. I suggested the Delta Amex Platinum Business Card. She applied and was immediately accepted. That was a few weeks ago and the MQD hasn’t reached her account. If the MQD doesn’t show up, I’ll be banned from family gatherings until the end of time. So confident I am that the MQD will appear in your SkyMiles account retroactively to 2024 (to receive Medallion status in 2025).

(For those wondering about business credit cards, she doesn’t have a corporation LLC for her side business yet. Her social security number worked fine when she applied.)

Revisit each card’s MQD Headstart Terms and Conditions. In fact, it doesn’t hurt to save it as a PDF file, print it out, or take a screenshot just to be safe.

If you have downgraded a Delta Amex card (i.e. from a Reserve card to a Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express card or a Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express card), you can upgrade to a Platinum in the terms and conditions – or reserve card and still receive the MQD.

You will then receive 2,500 MQD (per card) in February or March 2025 for Medallion status in 2026. It is practically an embarrassment to MQD wealth. 🙂

When should you apply?

That’s literally the $2,500 question.

When you apply for a credit card, you are generally entitled to everything Welcome offer is available on this day. Let’s say a welcome promotion expires on January 31st. You apply on January 31st after seeing on the card issuer’s website that the promotional language is still active. You should qualify for this offer even if you don’t receive immediate approval that day.

However, MQD Headstart language states: “MQDs will be deposited within 6 to 8 weeks of opening an Eligible Card Account…” and “If a new Eligible Card Account is opened in November or December of a Qualifying Year, MQDs will be applied to that.” Qualifying year in which the card opens.”

“Opening a Card Account” and similar expressions generally refer to the day you open an Account actually approved. That’s how we read it in this case. In other words, just because you apply in December does not necessarily mean you are automatically eligible for the MQD Headstart.

Since you sometimes don’t find out your approval status until 7-10 days after you apply, I wouldn’t wait much longer than maybe December 21st. If you apply after this, you may risk not receiving the MQD.

However, since the offer is available during 2024, there is a chance you may still be eligible.

Bottom line: When you apply, don’t sit around.

Welcome offers

Below you will find the current welcome offers for each of the MQD Headstart cards. Remember that Private/Consumer Delta Amex has this “Family Rule,” which means you won’t be eligible for the “lower card” welcome offer if you had a premium Delta Amex card. For example, you will not receive the welcome offer for a Delta Platinum Amex or Delta Gold Amex if you already have a Reserve Card. Again, this only applies to private/consumer cards. Not the business cards.

Final approach

If you need MQD for your 2025 status, the Delta Amex MQD Headstart is a relatively quick, easy, and affordable way to add MQD to your balance.