How I earned basic Delta status for the first time in 2024, without really trying

For 2024, Delta set new requirements of 5,000 MQDs for Silver Medallion, 10,000 for Gold, 15,000 for Platinum and 28,000 for the enhanced nirvana state known as Diamond Medallion.

You might be able to earn all those MQDs the old-fashioned way: solely by flying Delta. But leisure travelers may need an assist from one of the higher-tier SkyMiles Amex cards — the Platinum or the Reserve.

The cards are not the most versatile and are not for everyone. My SkyMiles Platinum American Express has a hefty $350 annual fee, but its annual companion pass has saved me $400 to $500 a year. The SkyMiles Reserve Amex ($650 annual fee) has fancier benefits, including 15 airport Sky Club visits a year.

Delta now throws in an automatic annual 2,500-MQD bonus, called the “MQD Headstart,” for both Platinum and Reserve users only. So while Delta had increased the MQDs for Silver from 3,000 to 5,000, after the Headstart, the 2,500-MQD remainder is actually 500 less than the old requirement.

Without doing anything, by February I was automatically halfway to Silver.

(Sorry, the popular SkyMiles Gold Amex — $150 fee, $0 the first year — doesn’t earn MQDs or provide a “Headstart” at all, though it does earn miles and get you a free checked bag.)