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This year, my personal and business travel had me in the air enough to hit United Premier 1K®, American Executive Platinum, and as of today, Delta Diamond Medallion. I’m thinking my travel will be similar in 2026 and holding top-tier (published) status with all three airlines means that what flight I’m on really comes down to routing, schedule, and cost. With Delta’s top-tier status, Diamond Medallion, members are allowed to select three Choice Benefits. Here is what I picked this year.
These are the Choice Benefit options:
- 4 Global Upgrade Certificates or 8 Regional Upgrade Certificates, or a combination of 2 Global and 4 Regional Upgrade Certificates*, which can be used on tickets booked as a part of a Delta Vacations® package.
- $700 American Express Statement Credit on Delta SkyMiles® Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve or Reserve Business American Express Cards.
- 6,000 Starbucks® Rewards Stars.
- Delta Sky Club® Executive (3 Choice Benefit selections) or Individual (2 Choice Benefit selections) Membership.
- $2,000 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD) Accelerator towards the next Medallion Qualification Year.
- Gift Gold Medallion Status to 2 Members.
- 35,000 bonus miles for yourself, someone else, or a SkyWish charity of your choice.
- $500 Delta Vacations Experience (flight + hotel)
- $250 Sustainable Aviation Fuel Contribution.
- A $350 Delta travel voucher, also applicable toward a Delta Vacations package.
- $2,000 Wheels Up Private Flight Credit.
Some of these choices are changing in February 2026 for 2027 choices.
I wanted to take advantage of the $700 American Express Statement Credit before it drops to $500 next year, so that was choice number one. I usually buy First/Business Class but if I can buy Premium Select and upgrade to Delta One®, that’s a win. Four Global Upgrade Certificates was my second choice. Finally, a $350 Delta travel voucher is solid, so that took the third spot. All benefits can only be chosen through the app.
Anthony’s Take: I’m quite happy with the choices made here. If you qualified for Diamond Medallion, what did you choose?
(Image Credits: Delta Air Lines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
