Triangle Trip

True to its words, Delta has deposited the Rollover MQM (Medallion Qualification Miles) to my SkyMiles account (see previous post regarding Delta adding Rollover MQM).

As you can see below, I flew 56,187 air miles on Delta in 2009; and I’ve received 6,187 MQM for 2010. I have not been on a Delta flight in 2010. Getting the 6,000+ MQM is a great start to my chase to retain at least Gold Medallion status on Delta in 2010.

Kudos to the Delta SkyTeam for delivering the rollover miles; Starwood still hasn’t delivered their promised SPG’s Rollover Nights yet.

I’ve been flying coast to coast on Delta and United this year. I made Delta Gold Medallion without Double Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM) because I was flying Delta from January to March for their free upgrades as a Gold member from 2008. I was able to reach Premiere Executive status with United in just nine weeks, thanks to their generous Double Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) promotion.

With all the Double Elite Qualifying Miles programs going on at the moment, I wanted to help explain which program to choose. Here’s a summary of current promotions:

*  American Airlines is offering Double EQM (previous post)
*  Delta is offering Double MQM AND Rollover miles (previous post)
*  United is offering Double EQM and Elite Qualifying Segments (previous post)
*  USAir is offering 7,500 flight miles for Silver status (previous post)

So if you’re not loyal to any particular airline, like me, nor do you live in a hub city, which one should you pick?

Here’s what I am going to do; I recommend that those in a similar boat to do the same:

1.  USAir isn’t really offering anything for its customers with status. If you don’t have status with any airline, I suggest you give them a shot. Seventy five hundred (7,500)miles is two round trips from New York to Vegas!

2.  With status on both Delta and United, I will pass on American this year; I’ll show some love next year. If you have status on one of the above airlines, I strongly suggest you stay with them (see Statusmonger – he can’t quit United).

3.  As for me, I will evaluate the rest of my 2009 travel schedule to see if I can make 1K on United. Holding 1K status is the only way to get decent service on United. I have decided to register for double EQM instead of EQS since I am typically on coast to coast flights. The segments would not help me to 1k – I probably have 15 to date.

4.  For those dealing with the dilemma of having to choose between doubling EQM or EQS, the simple guideline is:  take Double Qualifying Segments if you fly weekly, and you’re earning less than 1,000 airline miles each way. It will take you either 30 one way trip segments or 25,000 airline miles to get entry level status (Premiere on United, Gold on American, or Silver on Delta). Based on the requirements to qualify for airline status, 1,000 airline miles per flight should be the deciding factor when choosing between EQM or EQS. The precise number is actually 834 miles (30 segments times 834 miles = 25,020).

5.  Since I have 55,000 MQM on Delta, and they are allowing me to rollover extra airline miles earned in 2009 to 2010 (in this case, 5,000 miles if I don’t fly any more this year), I will most likely book my next trip on Delta. I will stick with Delta unless I know I can get 25,000 flight miles on United for the rest of the year, as double EQM will give me 50,000 miles, making me a 1K on United.

Delta introduced two major changes to the 2010 SkyMiles program: 1) Rollover Medallion Qualifying Miles (Rollover MQM) which lets you build status toward the following year; and 2) a new Medallion class: Diamond which requires you to have 125,000 MQM. We are extremely pleased to see this change as it is definitely ground breaking for the airline industry.

I have been traveling coast to coast on United and Delta for the past six months. The Rollover MQM along with the free/complementary upgrades clearly made Delta my carrier of choice for the rest of the year (see previous post regarding Delta as the best for coast to coast travel). I would be surprised if United or American follows this promotion as they have most of the corporate customers locked into corporate travel plans/accounts such as 25 to 30% discount plan.

Marriott launched their Elite Rollover Nights program in late spring and none of the major hotel chains followed. Marriott’s move to offer Elite Rollover Nights doesn’t surprise me since they require 75 actual nights to obtain Platinum status which means Elite rollover doesn’t begin until your 76th night. With 50 to 60 nights at other hotels like SPG, Hilton respectively, you’d be at their highest level.

Delta is extremely generous with its rollover plan. You can practically begin rolling over miles after making silver – or your 25,001st medallion mile. For example, if you earned 45 MQMs this year – 20,000 MQM more than the Silver Medallion requirement – the 20,000 MQMs will automatically roll over to next year’s balance. This means for 2010, you will only need to get 5,000 MQM to get Silver Medallion. This is actually a great perk as Delta didn’t devalue its mileage program with the Double/Triple MQM scam (see previous post) – I only earned 1 double MQM from all my trips.

Captain G will go on record to endorse Delta despite the fact that Delta JFK’s customer service should all be overhauled (see previous post).