A great way to earn Delta Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM’s) and Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD’s) is to fly on a SkyTeam partner. Just ask Neela, the 8-year old who got Diamond Medallion elite status in just one, long trip.
Here’s a sweet deal to get you lots of MQD’s on the cheap with Virgin Atlantic. On this itinerary, you can earn 23,066 MQM’s and $4,613 MQD’s for less than $1,274. Virgin features a great Premium Economy product.
P.S. If you need help booking something like this, you can also turn to the professional mileage run booking team at Juicy Miles.
The Deal
- Where: Los Angeles (LAX) to Tel Aviv, Israel (TLV)
- When: November 2019 through June 2020
- How Much: From $1,273 Roundtrip Virgin Atlantic (Premium Economy)
- Why: A great fare for travel to Israel for Premium Economy travel. Plus a great way to earn Delta Medallion MQM’s & MQD’s.
- How To Book: Book through directly on Virgin Atlantic’s website or use on OTA like CheapOAir
Tel Aviv Fare Deal Example:
Sample Dates: November 29th – December 6th
Useful Reading: Ben Gurion Airport (TLV): How To Navigate The World’s Most Intense Airport Security
Looking for Things To Do In Tel Aviv?
Visiting Tel Aviv for the first time? Tel Aviv is compact but packed with culture, history and vibrant nightlife. Whether it’s history, art, architecture or the beach that you’re looking for, Tel Aviv has got it.
The Beach Promenade
Recently renovated, the beach promenade runs along Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean Sea coastline. Offering easy access to the beach or any of endless cafés interlaced along the shore, it is also the best best place to take in the sunset.
White City Walking Tour
Tel Aviv is world famous for its unique collection of Bauhaus architecture. Brought to Israel by German Jews and embraced by local designers, most of the UNESCO-recognized “White City” homes are in central Tel Aviv. You can book a walking tour through Viator (be sure to look at reviews).
Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip
Definitely opt for the cable car ride to the mountaintop for a guided tour of the 2,000-year-old ruins. When visiting the Dead Sea you can ‘swim’ in its salt-rich waters and, if you wish, take a therapeutic mud bath. Day trips normally pass through the site of the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan, and ancient city of Jericho. Viator has options for day trips from Tel Aviv.
Related: American Airlines Announces New Routes Including To Tel Aviv
Best Ways to Maximize Your Purchase
Besides the miles you would earn with Delta (make sure you provide your SkyMiles number in your reservation) for actually flying, you can also earn points for spending on credit cards. These are some of the cards that offer bonuses for purchasing airfare.
- The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – 2x Ultimate Rewards points on travel (directly with airline or OTA)
- The Platinum Card® from American Express – 5x Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with the airline
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve – 3x Ultimate Rewards points on travel (directly with airline or OTA)
The Upshot
This Virgin Atlantic fare deal from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv in Premium Economy is a fantastic deal. Of course, the bonus is it helps you earn a lot of MQM’s and MQD’s with Delta’s Medallion program.
There’s a lot of availability from right now through the spring of next year, so you want to check out those fares as shown above. April has very few dates (Easter travel season).
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2 comments
How does buying this ticket help with getting status on delta? What else do you need to do after flying on this flight to get delta status?
Hello Alyssa Kaplan –
Flying on Virgin Atlantic will get you earnings on your Delta SkyMiles account when you provide your SkyMiles number with the reservation. Delta has agreements with its SkyTeam partners that allow SkyMiles members to earn miles, MQM’s and MQD’s on a pre-determined basis. The earnings are different for each carrier and are based on fare class and distance (not ticket cost, as Delta does for its members.)
So, in the example of a LAX-LHR-TLV roundtrip, a passenger is flying in Premium Economy (W fare class) a distance 15,377. That earns 1.5X MQM’s so 23,066 MQM’s and 30 cents per mile for MQD’s. In this example that means $4,613 MQD’s for the Medallion Qualification Dollars credited to the member’s account.
The earnings are posted automatically as long as your SkyMiles account number is on the reservation.
Hopefully that helps.
You can really take the effort out by contacting Juicy Miles directly who does this with all airline alliances (not just SkyTeam) and can save you thousands of dollars in elite status qualification.
Thanks for your question and reading.