What to Know About Delta 360 Medallion Status

Delta’s frequent flier program has four published status tiers, offering benefits from priority check-in and waived bag fees to Porsche transfers from gate to gate, depending on your status level. For the most loyal Delta fliers, there’s a separate invite-only program that is very hush-hush. Delta won’t officially reveal what it takes to be invited to Delta 360 or what benefits you’ll receive once you’re in. However, you can expect top-tier treatment for Delta’s top-tier travelers.

Here’s everything to know about Delta 360.

Delta Medallion Tier Levels

Delta has four tiers of Medallion status: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. Last year, they simplified the qualifications for each tier. Previously, you needed a combination of dollars spent and miles flown to reach status. Now, you simply need to meet a minimum threshold of Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) to reach each tier. Here’s how many MQDs you’ll need to achieve status:

• Silver Medallion: $5,000 MQDs
• Gold Medallion: $10,000 MQDs
• Platinum Medallion: $15,000 MQDs
• Diamond Medallion: $28,000 MQDs

You earn $1 MQD per $1 spent on all plane tickets, apart from basic economy fares. If you’re a Delta SkyMiles Platinum or Delta SkyMiles Reserve card holder, you’ll earn MQDs on your card spending and receive a bonus at the beginning of each Medallion qualifying year.

With each tier, you get new benefits. I fly Delta frequently enough to reach Silver Medallion status and enjoy benefits like complimentary upgrades and waived baggage fees. The higher your status, the more benefits you will receive, like Delta One upgrades, statement credits, bonus miles, a complimentary Clear membership, and more.

How to Reach Delta 360 Status

Delta 360 is the most exclusive program for upper-echelon Delta frequent fliers. According to Delta, “Delta 360 is an annual, invitation-only membership for our most loyal SkyMiles members.”

There isn’t a simple way to reach Delta 360. However, you’ll likely need to spend a lot on flights and their co-branded American Express card to be considered. According to the Delta website, “entry into Delta 360 will be extended to a very small percentage of Diamond Medallion members. Considerations include, but are not limited to: overall Delta flight activity, premium product purchases (Delta One, Delta Premium Select, first class), and spending on Delta SkyMiles American Express Cards.”

If this seems vague, it’s meant to be. Luckily, Delta loyalists on FlyerTalk and Reddit regularly share updated information on the program, especially at the beginning of the year when Delta 360 invitations typically go out. One user reported being a member for eight years and said they take anywhere from 100 to 120 flights per year, many of which are long-haul. Their flight spending would range between $60,000 and $120,000 per year, on top of robust spending with the SkyMiles Reserve card.

They hypothesized that likely determining factors of whether you’ll receive an invite include Delta ticket spending, spending on premium cabin tickets, spending on co-branded American Express credit cards, control over corporate accounts, and the city in which you are based. Higher priority could go to folks whose home airport has a lot of competition, while the thresholds for Delta hubs, like Atlanta, may be higher. For instance, one person reported that they were Diamond Medallion for six years before moving into an American Airlines market. They received a Delta 360 invitation within a year.

Another user reported receiving a Delta 360 invite at the beginning of this year based on 2023 numbers, when Delta was still using both Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) and MQDs. Now, Delta only uses MQDs, but the information is still interesting: This user earned 343,000 MQMs and $133,000 MQDs in 2023, flying 188 segments throughout the year, and they said they didn’t have any Delta credit card spending.

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to receive the invitation, and even if you’ve been a member for years, you aren’t guaranteed another spot. Some users reported spending around $70,000 and having Delta 360 status for years and not getting a renewal for 2023 or 2024. That said, another user reported that they received an invite after earning $80,000 MQDs in a non-hub market. The determination is exceptionally individualized, so there isn’t any way to “hack” into the program that we know of.

The only published way to receive lifetime Delta 360 status is by flying five million miles with the airline, excluding basic economy fares. This might take your whole lifetime to reach, so you would likely be better off spending heavily on Delta flights if you’re focused on achieving this exclusive status.

Benefits

It isn’t clear how to reach Delta 360 status, and it’s equally unclear what you’ll receive when you get there. On its website, Delta only mentions that “a Delta 360 membership offers Delta’s most premium suite of benefits and services exclusive to our top SkyMiles Members.”

It’s likely that nearly all Delta 360 members have already reached Diamond Medallion status, so they can take advantage of those benefits, plus some exclusive perks, which could include:

• Delta Sky Club Executive membership, which allows you to bring two guests and enter more than three hours before departure
• Priority Porsche gate-to-gate transfers
• Annual gift
• Upgrade priority
• Access to a dedicated phone line with top agents
• Priority boarding

The annual gift varies, but users reported high-end leather totes from Barrington, complete with Delta 360 monogramming, as the gift earlier this year. The annual gift typically comes a few months after the invitation. Arguably, the most valuable benefit is the Delta Sky Club Executive membership, valued at $1,495 per year.  In past years, users reported a Delta power bank and Tiffany’s glasses as their annual gift.

Since you’ll likely already be a Diamond Medallion member before receiving your invitation, you’ll also receive those benefits:

• Three choice benefits, which include options like upgrade certificates, statement credits, and bonus miles
• Bonus miles on flights
• Complimentary Clear Plus membership
• Sky Priority suite of services
• Complimentary upgrades for yourself and a companion
• Waived fees for baggage and ticket changes
• VIP phone line
• Priority waitlist
• SkyTeam Elite Plus status with partner airlines
• Hertz President’s Circle status

It certainly pays to be loyal.