On Monday, Delta announced a new promotion that gives SkyMiles members another path to earn Medallion Qualifying Dollars toward elite status.
Specifically, you’ll earn 1 MQD per base dollar spent on hotel and car rental reservations booked through the Travel Extras portal by March 31 for travel completed before Sept. 4.
Here’s what you need to know.
Earn MQDs on hotels
During this promotion, you’ll earn 1 MQD per dollar on hotel stays booked on Delta’s travel portal. This is in addition to the 2 redeemable SkyMiles per dollar you ordinarily earn at most hotels.
The terms of the promotion state you can only earn on the base cost of the hotel room, before taxes and fees, charged at the time of booking.
Here’s what you can earn for a spring getaway weekend at the InterContinental New York Barclay in New York.
- MQDs: $1,021.78; 1,022 MQDs.
- SkyMiles: 2,044 miles (worth $28.82 at TPG’s valuations).
Even though this is an IHG property, don’t expect to earn IHG points or receive IHG elite status benefits by booking this way. If you want to receive your IHG points and elite status accruals/benefits, you should book directly with IHG.
Related: Battle of the Airlines: Why I think Delta Air Lines is the best
Earn MQDs on rental cars
As you might expect, you’ll earn 1 MQD per dollar spent on the base car rental rate for every completed rental booking here.
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That means you won’t earn MQDs on charges like taxes, one-way rental fees, fuel services or tolls.
Here’s what you’d earn on a weeklong rental in July at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
- MQDs: $757.15; 757 MQDs.
- SkyMiles: 3,028 miles (worth $42.69 at TPG’s valuations).
Note that elite members earn more miles with Hertz, though this won’t affect how many MQDs you earn.
- SkyMiles members: 4 miles per dollar.
- Silver Medallion members: 5 miles per dollar.
- Gold Medallion members: 6 miles per dollar.
- Platinum Medallion members: 7 miles per dollar.
- Diamond Medallion members: 8 miles per dollar.
Related: How to never pay full price for a rental car
Important terms
You can read the full terms and conditions of this promotion here. One of the most important things to note, however, is that you can only earn MQDs if your name appears on the credit card you pay with. Delta will not credit MQDs if the first and last name on the credit card differs from the SkyMiles account.
After you complete your travel, it will take up to eight weeks to receive the MQDs.
Related: How to earn Medallion Qualification Dollars inexpensively by booking Delta partner tickets
Bottom line
We’re pleased to see another way to earn Delta status without flying. Delta appears to be sending emails to SkyMiles members in batches with this promotion.
By earning MQDs through non-flight activities and outside one of the airline’s cobranded credit cards, this promotion sets a new precedent for Medallion status, and we hope to see more ways to earn MQDs in the future.
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