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Delta Air Lines is permanently making a change to its SkyMiles loyalty program that’s ultimately good news for flyers. As of Thursday, March 31, the airline is permanently allowing flyers to earn elite status-qualifying credits when they redeem miles for award travel — a privilege that, until the pandemic, was previously only available for flights paid for using cash.
Before breaking down this customer-friendly change, let’s revisit the basics of the Delta SkyMiles frequent flyer program. Delta SkyMiles members can earn two different kinds of miles: redeemable miles that you can use toward free flights (which are also called SkyMiles) and Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs), which can’t be redeemed but are accumulated to achieve elite status.
In other words, SkyMiles will get you nearly free travel, while Medallion Qualification Miles — alongside other metrics such as Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) and Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs) — can earn you elite status on Delta.
Traditionally, when you got an award flight by redeeming SkyMiles, that flight wasn’t eligible to earn MQMs, MQDs or MQSs toward elite status. You could only earn those elite-qualifying credits for flights paid for using cash. However, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and downturn in travel, Delta temporarily waived that restriction and allowed members to earn elite-qualifying MQMs, MQSs and MQDs on award travel. Now the…