Delta Cars & Stays: Earn 1 MQD Per $1 on Cars and Hotels, Book by October 20

Book a car, a hotel or a vacation rental on Delta's Cars & Stays site and every $1 of the base rate earns 1 Medallion Qualification Dollar (MQD), the spending Delta counts toward Medallion status. Taxes and fees are not part of that base rate.

Book between September 21 and October 20, 2026.

Travel must be completed by December 20, 2026.

Put your SkyMiles number on the reservation, and make the booking at carsandstays.delta.com. Miles ride along too: 2 miles per $1 on hotels, and on cars 2 miles at Alamo, Enterprise, National, Avis, Budget, Payless and SIXT, 4 miles at Dollar and Thrifty, and 4 to 8 miles at Hertz depending on your Medallion level.

This is where it gets picky. These do not earn MQDs:

• Any booking paid or reduced by miles, even in part, or by a discount code or redemption voucher
• Taxes, fees and gratuities
• Corporate, government, group and wholesale rates, and cancelled or no show bookings
• Stays and cars booked through Delta Vacations, and cruises through Delta Cruises

Allow up to eight weeks after your trip for the MQDs to post. Delta's terms also note that hotel points and status benefits may not apply to stays booked on its site, so if you chase those, weigh that first.

This suits a car or hotel you were already planning in this window. Compare Delta's rate with where you would normally book before you switch, because the MQDs only count when you book here.