Delta Air Lines realizes that many people are not flying but are concerned about their elite status. Road warriors put in a lot of hours on planes and enjoy being rewarded for loyalty. There has been many questions around how airlines will handle elite status, as many people are grounded for work and are under sheltering in place orders. To counteract the lack of flying, Delta will extend all elites status. In fact, Delta extends elite status for all!
Instead of running a promotion and trying to encourage people to fly, Delta is extending Medallion status to Dec 31, 2021 for all flyers. This means that if you have status today, you will enjoy status for two full years! This by far is the most generous offer from any US domestic airline. In addition, Delta is providing free extensions on vouchers, credits, Sky club membership and more.
Delta Elite Extension
SkyMiles Medallion Members will enjoy the same loyalty benefits throughout 2021 as they have in 2020. The 12-month Status extension is part of Delta’s work to offer greater flexibility in 2020 and 2021. In addition to extending elite status, Delta flyers will see vouchers and Sky club membership extended.
Medallion Members
- All Medallion Status for 2020 will be automatically extended for the 2021 Medallion Year.
- All Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) from 2020 are being rolled over to 2021 to qualify for 2022 Medallion Status.
- Delta Sky Club Individual and Executive memberships with an expiration of March 1, 2020, or later will receive six additional months of Delta Sky Club access.
Delta SkyMiles American Express Card Members:
If you have one of the following in your SkyMiles profile “My Wallet” that is valid now or has expired since March 1, 2020, we are extending the expiration dates to give you additional time to enjoy your benefits:
- Delta SkyMiles Gold Card Members with a $100 Delta flight credit will get a six-month extension beyond their current expiration date.
- Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card Members with Companion Certificates with an original expiration date between March 1 and June 30, 2020, can use them when they book and fly by Dec. 31, 2020. Those that expire between July 1, 2020, and April 1, 2021, will receive an additional six months beyond the current expiration date.
- Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card Members with Companion Certificates with an original expiration date between March 1 and June 30, 2020, can use them when they book and fly by Dec. 31, 2020. Those that expire between July 1, 2020, and April 1, 2021, will receive an additional six months beyond the current expiration date.
- Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card Members will also get a six-month extension to use their Delta Sky Club One-Time Guest Passes beyond their current expiration date.
- SkyMiles Members:
If you have one of the following in your SkyMiles profile “My Wallet” that is valid now or has expired since March 1, 2020, we are extending the expiration dates to give you additional time to enjoy your benefits:
- Upgrade Certificates or $200 Travel Vouchers with an original expiration date between March 1 and June 30, 2020, are extended. Now, they can be booked and flown by Dec. 31, 2020. SkyMiles Members with Upgrade Certificates or $200 Travel Vouchers that expire after June 30, 2020, will receive an additional six months beyond the current expiration date.
- SkyMiles Select members will receive a six-month extension to the Priority Boarding benefit and any unused drink vouchers.
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Sky Miles Challenges
SkyMiles Members enrolled in a challenge or promotion to earn Medallion Status, such as the Status Match Challenge, Reclaim My Status or a promotion offered through their employer, can restart that promotion when they are ready to travel again. Those Members will receive next steps from Delta in the coming weeks.
Delta’s Generous Offer
Delta Air Lines 2021 extension is extremely generous. Many flyers will enter 2021 with status without flying much in 2020. In addition, they will be able to roll over elite status to start 2021 with elite qualifying miles. This will give many flyers a jump start on 2022 status. If you fly just 40,000 miles in 2020 but have status already, not only will you enjoy your current status in 2021, but those 40,000 miles will roll over. This means in 2021 you’ll already enjoy a 40,000 mile jump start on status! The only down side, at this time, Delta is not rolling forward Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs). This means Delta still expects elites to spend a lot of money in 2021 to keep their status. As a reminder, MQD requirement ranges from $15,000 for Diamonds to $3,000 for Silvers Elites.
Delta’s Elite status plan is by far the most generous I have seen thus far. Alaska Airlines has a 50% promotion going on now towards elite miles, but has yet to announce any drastic extension like this. I also have yet to see a plan from United or American Airlines. I would expect a plan to be in the works at all major airlines. Many hotels such as Hyatt have announced elite extension. Expect to hear from more air lines, hotel chains, and car rental groups in the coming days. As the tourism industry wraps their head around the current state of the world, they will respond to their most loyal customers. No company wants to lose additional business right now. Everyone knows that companies will be judged based on what they do, or don’t do.
