Last day: Make your Delta MQM rollover decisions before it's too late

It's your last chance, Delta elite travelers. Time is running out to make your decision on how to convert any rollover Medalion Qualification Miles (MQMs) in your SkyMiles account from last year. The deadline is today, Dec. 31 — at which point they'll automatically be converted to Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs).

As a reminder, Delta Air Lines announced a slew of changes late last year — affecting Medallion status, its cobranded credit card portfolio and access to the Delta Sky Club. In short, Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) — how much you spend with the airline — became the only way to qualify in 2024.

Prior to this change, Delta allowed you to roll over excess MQMs to the next elite status qualification year. However, that ended this year since MQDs are now the sole qualification metric.

Related: You asked, Delta answered: Here's what we know about MQMs

And for anyone with rollover MQMs from the 2023 calendar year, you can choose how to convert those.

Rollover MQM conversion options

Very frequent travelers — namely, those with at least 100,000 rollover MQMs from 2023 — can extend their 2024 status. For every 100,000 rollover MQMs you had sitting in your account after the end of 2023, you can choose to extend your status by a year.

Alternatively, you can choose to convert your MQMs to MQDs, redeemable miles or a combination of both. Here are those choices:

• 100% redeemable miles, 0% MQDs
• 75% redeemable miles, 25% MQDs
• 50% redeemable miles, 50% MQDs
• 25% redeemable miles, 75% MQDs
• 0% redeemable miles, 100% MQDs

The last of those ratios — 100% MQDs — is the default if you don't make a selection by today, Dec. 31.

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So, how do you decide which option is best for you?

Start by looking at your current qualification progress. How many additional MQDs do you need to reach the next tier? And is that within reach with one of the conversion options?

If so, select the combination that will get you just over that threshold. Remember that additional MQDs beyond the given thresholds will not roll over this year. As a result, there's no point in "wasting" your pick on MQDs that won't do anything for your 2025 status.

Here's how TPG's senior editorial director, Nick Ewen, crunched the numbers on his account:

I've qualified for Gold Medallion status next year, and my MQD tracker is currently at 10,283. I only had 9,024 rollover MQMs from last year, so converting those to 903 MQDs would do nothing — I'd still be well short of Platinum Medallion status. As a result, I opted for 100% redeemable miles — 4,512 to be exact.

Now, if Nick's MQD balance was just 14,283, converting those rollover MQMs to MQDs would've been a great decision since it would've put him above 15,000 MQDs and thus qualified him for Platinum Medallion. Sadly, that wasn't an option.

In my case, I was sitting on 108,671 rollover MQMs, so I elected to extend my status by a year. I will now have top-tier Diamond Medallion status through Jan. 31, 2026.

That left me with just 8,671 rollover MQMs. Since I will already have status, I chose to earn the extra miles. I didn't love the 2:1 conversion rate, but I'll take what I can get.

Delta indicates that it can take up to 48 hours for your choice(s) to be reflected, but our experience shows it's much quicker.

Related: Delta Diamond and Hyatt Globalist: My status goals for 2025

I've been happily not paying much attention to requalifying for Diamond status because I was able to extend my status. If I wanted to re-earn status for 2026, I'd need to spend a whopping $28,000 on Delta next year. Right now, I'll take my free Diamond status and figure out a game plan for 2026. It may be time to get off the Delta status hamster wheel, but I don't have to decide now.

Bottom line

It's your last chance to convert your MQMs that will soon be gone for good. It's a nice perk that those with more than 100,000 MQMs can extend their status for a year, and it sure beats the original announcement that MQMs would only be available for conversion.

If you are one of the lucky Delta flyers with lots of MQMs, you can also convert them to MQDs or turn them into redeemable SkyMiles.

I'm sad to see MQMs go away, but I'm thrilled that Delta didn't just abandon those of us who'd accumulated extra MQMs over the years. It allowed me to extend my status until 2026 and will keep me roped into the SkyMiles universe after I'd strongly considered abandoning the program altogether. In addition to this rollover benefit and the enhancements Delta made to its American Express cobranded credit cards, I will stick with Delta for the next few years, at the very least.

Related reading:

• What is Delta Air Lines elite status worth?
• Maximize your airfare: The best credit cards for booking flights
• The best credit cards to reach elite status
• How to survive basic economy on Delta Air Lines
• The ultimate guide to getting Delta Sky Club access
• The8 do's and don'ts in an airport lounge
• 9 domestic lounges that are worth going out of your way for