Incomes airline elite standing is a bit like an obsession. You are taking deliberate actions to take care of it, and whenever you lose it, you might have severe withdrawals when you do not get that first-class improve or see a relatively low variety of miles in your account after a flight.
Nevertheless, there are occasions when a serious life occasion causes you to journey much less and find yourself wanting your elite standing qualification necessities. Fortunately, Delta Air Strains is implementing a safeguard to assist elite standing members “reclaim” their standing. Delta is bringing again a program for its loyal members that may permit them to take care of — and simply earn again — Medallion elite standing after a life occasion takes them off the street.
In January, the airline is bringing again its “Reclaim My Standing” profit that each one elite members are eligible to use for if they’ve a qualifying life occasion which forces them to lose standing or drop to a decrease Medallion tier.
Associated: Delta Medallion standing: What it’s and methods to earn it
What’s Delta’s Reclaim My Standing?
Here is how this system works. If a Delta Medallion — be it Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond — both loses their standing or drops to a decrease stage due to a serious life occasion like turning into a mother or father, switching a job or having a medical challenge, they will submit a request to reclaim their previous standing at this hyperlink as soon as they’re prepared to begin touring once more. Word that Delta specifies COVID-19 is not going to be accepted as a qualifying life occasion to reclaim standing.
If accepted (which ought to occur inside 5 enterprise days however may take as much as two weeks), Delta will give the client their previous standing again, complimentary, for 3 months with the chance to earn it again by Jan. 31, 2026.
Standing is re-earned by assembly the minimal Medallion Qualification Greenback necessities on qualifying Delta flights in your standing tier in the course of the complimentary three-month interval. The three-month interval begins instantly after a request is accepted by way of electronic mail. You must enroll between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024, and meet the minimal MQD threshold in your standing to be eligible to increase it.
For instance, in case you had been a Delta Gold and are attempting to reclaim that standing by Jan. 31, 2026, you’d have three months to earn 2,500 MQDs. You may earn MQDs towards your standing on Delta-marketed flights operated by Delta or a accomplice airline (excluding fundamental economic system tickets), on purchases with an eligible Delta SkyMiles American Categorical Card, or by reserving a Delta Holidays package deal, per the airline.
Delta specifies that you just can not earn a Medallion standing greater than what you earned within the earlier Medallion 12 months by Reclaim My Standing. For instance, in case you beforehand had Delta Platinum standing and, in the course of the complimentary three months, earned sufficient MQDs to qualify for Diamond, you’ll be able to nonetheless solely lengthen your Platinum standing for that 12 months and the next 12 months. As one other instance, in case you beforehand had Delta Platinum and on the finish of your three months of complimentary Platinum standing have solely met the tier {qualifications} for Gold, you can be given Gold standing for that 12 months and the next 12 months.
Day by day Publication
Reward your inbox with the TPG Day by day e-newsletter
Be a part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants
Associated: Delta standing match problem: How one can earn elite standing till 2026
Who qualifies for Delta’s Reclaim My Standing?
The airline listed the next causes that may make one eligible for this system. Nevertheless, Delta informed TPG when this system was first launched in 2019 that it could evaluation conditions on a case-by-case foundation and that you just should not be afraid of making use of in case your actual scenario is not listed beneath:
- Turning into a mother or father
- Altering jobs
- Going again to high school
- Experiencing a medical challenge (excluding COVID-19)
- Needing to handle a buddy or member of the family
Delta consists of that you’re going to want to offer documentation to show {that a} life occasion affected your capacity to journey when your standing was misplaced or downgraded. In an instance the airline gives, in case you left your job to return to high school and count on to journey extra in a post-graduation job, paperwork verifying that you just had been lately at school and are actually employed may very well be submitted as documentation. Delta clarifies that you just should not ship protected well being info as documentation.
The airline says you’ll be able to take part in Reclaim My Standing as soon as each three years, though it notes that it is prepared to make exceptions for sure conditions. So each time you might have a toddler, or in case you’ve switched jobs a number of instances, you could possibly reclaim your standing. (So long as Delta approves your case, that’s.) Whereas it is designed for members who misplaced standing within the earlier 12 months, the FAQ part of the Reclaim My Standing web page signifies that the service “will make exceptions on a case-by-case foundation” for longer absences as a result of particular life occasions; it’s best to embody your particular circumstances within the free response part of the request type.
Delta additionally stated to use solely when you’re able to journey at your previous tempo once more, because the clock will begin ticking as soon as it approves your case.
“It’s totally beneficiant, it is very versatile in protecting the form of life occasions it covers, and to me, it is nothing however clearly industry-leading,” Sandeep Dube, senior vp of buyer engagement and loyalty for Delta, informed TPG in 2019 when the profit was first introduced. “We needed to make sure that the life occasions we cowl, cowl the wants of all Medallion members and never just a few.”
This system was carried out after vital buyer requests, Dube famous. He acknowledged the stress of touring, and people stressors can grow to be exacerbated after a severe life occasion.
In a video for this system’s 2019 introduction, Delta highlighted two tales of Medallion members who requested standing extensions after having to pause journey: one after turning into hospitalized and one other after having a toddler.
Backside line
Nevertheless, there are a number of methods to earn MQDs — together with on flights with Delta and its companions, spending on eligible Delta cobranded bank cards and reserving a Delta Holidays package deal — although the thresholds wanted to attain Medallion standing with MQDs have additionally been raised.
Nonetheless, bringing again the Reclaim My Standing program for 2024 may give Delta SkyMiles loyalists an opportunity to regain their standing after sure life occasions with a decrease threshold to achieve than having to re-earn standing from scratch.
