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You have just one week left to decide what to do with your Delta SkyMiles rollover miles that will soon be gone forever. Time is running out to decide whether to convert Medallion Qualification Miles to Medallion Qualification Dollars, SkyMiles, or a combination of the two.

Delta Air Lines announced several changes late last year… not only to the Delta SkyMiles medallion loyalty program but also to its cobranded credit card portfolio. As part of the changes, Delta is making it more difficult to earn top-tier Delta Diamond status, and is moving to an all-MQD metric for that status. MQD is essentially a measure of how much you spend with Delta over its many iterations.

Until now, Delta offered one of the few programs that allowed you to roll over additional MQMs accumulated during a status year into the next Elite status qualification year. Some people (including me) have accumulated thousands of extra MQMs over the years. Now that Delta is moving to an all-MQD world, there will be no more MQMs.

Related: You asked, Delta answered: Here’s what we know about MQM

But Delta offers a unique opportunity for some high-level elite members, so those extra MQMs don’t go to waste. Some one-time conversion options are live in your Delta SkyMiles account, but you’ll need to decide what to do with them by December 31.

Elite members can use their rollover MQMs from last year to extend their 2024 status. For every 100,000 rollover MQMs you have sitting in your account after the end of 2023, you can choose to extend your status by one year.

But we need to reiterate: you only have until December 31 to decide how you want to convert your rollover MQMs.

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

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

Members with MQM rollover balance above 100,000 can also choose to extend their 2024 Medallion status by one year for every 100,000 rollover MQM.

I was sitting on 108,671 rollover MQM. One lakh MQMs out of that can be used to upgrade my Diamond status for one year. That means I will be a Delta Diamond through MQM until 2025 (and part of 2026). It’s very rewarding — and it’s what I chose.

As you can see in the screenshot below, I chose to extend my status by one year. I will now have high-level Diamond Medallion status through January 31, 2026.

That leaves me with only 8,671 rollover MQMs. I would already have status, so I chose to earn extra miles. I didn’t like the 2:1 conversion rate, but I’ll take what I can get.

Once you have made your selections, you must confirm the selections on the second page.

That’s it. Delta then warns that it will take up to 48 hours for the conversion to be applied to your SkyMiles account.

I am now sitting on top-tier status until 2026. As you can see in the screenshot below, I have Diamond status for 2025, even though I’ve only earned $9,457 in MQD so far in 2024.

Related: Delta Diamond and Hyatt Globalist: My Status Goals for 2025

I am happily not paying much attention to qualifying for Diamond status because I was able to extend my status. If I wanted to get status again for 2026, I would have to spend a whopping $28,000 on Delta next year. Right now, I’ll take my free diamond status and make a game plan for 2026. It may be time to get off the Delta Status hamster wheel, but I don’t need to decide right now.

The bottom line

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

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

I’m sad to see MQM go, but I’m thrilled that Delta didn’t just let go of those of us who accumulated extra MQMs over the years. It allowed me to extend my status until 2026 and will keep me firmly connected to the SkyMiles universe thereafter. The program is considered to be abandoned altogether. Aside from this rollover benefit and the enhancements Delta has made to its American Express cobranded credit cards, I’ll be sticking with Delta for at least a few more years.

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