Want free Delta status?

Good morning, and welcome back to Daily Drop, the cure to all of your Monday ills. It’s been a busy weekend in the travel world, so let’s kick off the week with a bang:

• ✈️ Want free Delta status?

• 💳 20% transfer bonus to Aeromexico

• 🎥 Daily Drop YouTube Video

✈️ Want free Delta status?

Remember when American Airlines offered a status match to salty Southwest elites who were pissed about all of Southwest’s negative changes?

Well, they aren’t the only ones taking this approach…

Delta has also dropped a limited-time status match for Southwest elite members, and there’s a super cool loophole you can take advantage of.

Here’s the deal:

Delta has an evergreen status match program that flyers of United, American, Air Canada, and tons of other programs can take advantage of.

But right now, even lowly Southwest A-List members can match to Delta Gold, which is a disproportionately high level of status.

As you can see, A-List Preferred members can even match to Delta Platinum, which is also great.

Once you complete the status match form, you’ll have the corresponding level of Delta status for 90 days.

But…

If you earn enough MQDs in those 90 days, you can extend your status through January 31, 2027.

Here are the 90-day earning requirements to extend your status:

While Delta Gold normally requires 10,000 MQDs per year, you can effectively get a year and a half of the same status for just a quarter of the MQDs.

But here’s the best part…

MQD earnings from Delta credit cards count toward this requirement. And since certain cards offer a 2,500 MQD “headstart,” you could time things to get a year and a half of Delta status without really doing anything.

All you need to do is apply for a Delta card (that offers the MQD head start) right after being approved for the status match.

When your first credit card statement closes, 2,500 MQDs will hit your account, and your Gold status will be in effect until January 2027.

So if you have Southwest A-List or A-List Preferred (or will have it soon), this is one of the best ways to multiply your status.

If you have status with another airline and want to give Delta a try, check out the full list of eligible programs here.

💳 20% transfer bonus to Aeromexico

Aeromexico is one of the best airlines in North America — there’s no doubt about it.

In fact, the Daily Drop writers team has all flown Aeromexico down to Mexico City in the last couple of weeks, and we have all been super impressed…

And right now, you can transfer Membership Rewards points to Aeromexico with a 20% bonus.

The normal transfer ratio between these programs is 1:1.6, meaning you’ll get 1,600 Aeromexico miles when you transfer 1,000 Membership Rewards points.

With a 20% bonus, that rate becomes 1:1.92, which is weird. But you can basically think of it as almost doubling your points.

So… how far can Aeromexico miles take you?

Generally, it’s best to redeem Aeromexico miles on Aeromexico itself rather than with partner airlines.

Here is a little snapshot of Aeromexico’s award chart for North America:

As you can see, you can fly in business class from New York (JFK) to Mexico City (MEX) for 52,000 miles in business class.

With this transfer bonus, you could book that flight for just 27,000 Membership Rewards points.

Aeromexico even flies their 787 Dreamliners on this route — so you could fly in a lie-flat seat for five hours for just 27,000 Membership Rewards points, which I think is a great deal.

As for the economy-class awards, you’re better off using Delta SkyMiles.

For example, the same New York flight would cost 30,000 Aeromexico miles (or a little over 15,000 MR points).

Instead, you could book the same flight by transferring 10,000 Membership Rewards points over to Delta.

So here’s the bottom line:

For the right seat on the right flight, this transfer bonus could be a pretty sweet deal.

But before you transfer points, make sure to compare rates between other SkyTeam programs to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

As you know, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card just increased its offer to a mind-blowing 100,000 UR points, which is… insane.

But what exactly does that mean? How much are 100,000 points worth? What kinds of hotels and flights can you book with it?

In this week’s quick Daily Drop YouTube video, Brendan covers this new offer and some cool examples of ways to redeem the points.

Check it out:

That’s all for today, folks! I hope you enjoyed this quick peek at two awesome travel opportunities.

But make sure to tune in tomorrow for another day of travel tips and fun.

Cheers,

19.4326° N, 99.1332° W