Take on the New Delta Medallion Qualification

I'm a platinum medallion member on Delta earning somewhere between 75,000 and 110,000 miles over each of the last five years.    That means you spend a lot of time in airports, lot of time on planes and a lots of money.   The entire Frequent Flyer concept works out great for airlines because people like will almost naturally go to my preferred airline so that you rack up as many miles as possible and will on occasion pay a higher price to do so.   In return I get a couple of upgrades and get to board the planes first which are nice perks but it's very obvious who really benefits more from our 'relationship'.

Well today I got a pretty obnoxious email about the new improved medallion qualifications which they tell me will improve my experience

Better At Giving You The Best. To create an even more exclusive Medallion program and make it easier for Medallion members to enjoy the top-tier benefits their loyalty deserves, we are introducing a change to status qualification. Beginning January 1, 2014, you will earn Medallion status through a combination of miles or segments flown and your annual spending on Delta flights, which will be measured by Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs).

I get the concept of trying to make it more inclusive but I don't exactly know how this lack of exclusivity affects me today..  Like I said I already get upgrades, free beer on planes, waived baggage fees, a special phone number to book through and early boarding so unless they start giving out BJ's on board I'm not sure what this will do...except force me to spend more money

Platinum Medallion qualification always called for 75,000 miles but now I must also spend $7500 on Medallion Qualification Dollars.   The good news is they will wave this if you spend $25,000 on your Delta Airlines American Express card which is yet another way to rope you into their little stratosphere but at least they show a chick in a canoe when telling you that you'll be taking it up the five hole because rowing in a lake has so much to do with flying out of LaGuardia