Maximize Your Delta Experience: Unlocking the Potential of Amex Miles Headstart Program (Updated October 2025)

Overview

Similar to the recently discontinued Marriott Points Advance, Delta offers its own program that allows booking an award flight without having all the necessary miles available. The program is called Amex Miles Headstart. In essence, if you find a Delta flight with a low award price and you don’t have enough miles to book it, fearing the deal won’t last, all is not lost: you can advance Delta miles.

How it Works

When you’re ready to book an award ticket and need an advance on Delta miles, follow these general steps:

• Check how many miles you are eligible to receive in advance by requesting Miles Headstart.
• Choose the number of miles you’d like to receive, and they will be deposited into your Delta SkyMiles account.
• You have six (6) billing periods (about six months) to earn this amount back using the same Delta SkyMiles American Express Card you selected for Headstart.

There is no fee for this feature.

Additionally, if you have a Delta Amex, you also get:

• TakeOff 15: Eligible Delta SkyMiles Gold, Platinum, and Reserve (consumer & business) cardmembers save at least 15% on the mileage price of Delta-operated award tickets booked on delta.com or in the Fly Delta app (Delta Blue is not eligible; discount excludes partner-operated flights and taxes/fees). 
• $200 Delta Flight Credit after you spend $10,000 in purchases in a calendar year (Delta SkyMiles Gold). 

What’s the Catch?

While there isn’t a catch per se, there are a few things to be aware of:

• Although there is no fee for this feature, if you do not earn the advanced amount of miles back in 6 months, you’ll be charged 2.5 cents per unearned mile.
• Miles earned from flying do not count toward the Headstart balance.
• Only miles earned from the same card associated with the Headstart balance are counted toward the balance.
• The exact Headstart amount Amex offers varies by cardmember (offers up to 60,000 miles are common, but not guaranteed). Separately, Delta’s Buy Miles program typically caps purchased miles at 60,000 per calendar year (and may allow an additional 60,000 during specific promotions). These Buy/Gift/Transfer limits are separate from Miles Headstart; neither Amex nor Delta states that Headstart advances count toward those purchase/transfer caps.

To summarize, you have six (6) months to earn miles by paying with your Delta American Express card (only miles earned, awarded, or received on the specific Delta Amex you selected for Headstart apply; miles earned from flying do not). If you don’t meet the required spending, you’ll be charged 2.5 cents per mile.

This is beneficial if you’re confident in your ability to meet the spending requirement, allowing you to earn rewards at no additional cost. 

However, it is important to note that the required monthly spending amount is quite high. For example, to “borrow” 5,000 miles, you need to spend more than $5,000 in six months to avoid additional costs. 

Here are some strategies to help you get your Headstart Miles back faster.

The Best Strategy to Earn Back Headstart Miles

Although only miles earned with your card count toward your Headstart balance, there are still creative and efficient ways to earn back the miles. Here are a few suggestions:

• Use your card for everything: This is the most obvious and straightforward approach.
• Use your card for bonus categories, where you earn 2x or 3x (e.g., dining, groceries, Delta purchases, etc.)
• Take advantage of Miles Boost promotions.
• If you prefer cash tickets, “Pay with Miles” is available to Delta Amex Blue/Gold/Platinum/Reserve cardmembers and lets you apply miles at a fixed 1¢ value to reduce the fare on Delta-operated flights — useful if you’re prioritizing MQD earning on paid tickets.

Eligibility Requirements

Approval for this feature is determined on a case-by-case basis. Factors affecting eligibility include:

• The length of time you’ve been a Delta SkyMiles American Express Card member
• Your card activity
• The restriction of having only one Headstart balance at a time

Practical Scenario

Let’s consider a practical scenario where you apply for and receive miles in advance but do not earn any of those miles back. For example, let’s say we plan to go to Calgary. One non-stop round-trip economy flight from Los Angeles to Calgary would require 25,000 miles and $60.

If we were to advance all 25k miles and not earn them back, we would end up paying an equivalent amount of $685 (25,000 miles x 2.5 cents per mile + $60).

Alternatively, we could book the same flight with cash. The cash price appears significantly lower at $448.

A few things to note here:

• Amex charges 2.5 cents per unearned mile remaining on your Headstart balance, which is substantially lower than the 3.5 cents per mile (plus applicable taxes/fees) when buying miles directly from Delta.
• The comparison was made for the same flight with the lowest award price and then compared to the cash ticket price for the same flight, dates, and times. This might not be fair since award prices are not bound to cash prices; therefore, there might be lower cash prices for slightly different dates/times.
• When we tried to get an advance, we discovered that the available amount was only 6,000 miles, even though we use our Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card pretty actively. This makes the example above somewhat theoretical since we wouldn’t be able to get the full amount needed for the award.

This reinforces the general consensus that “buying” miles doesn’t make financial sense and only makes sense when you are short a small amount for a meaningful redemption. So, if you do try Miles Headstart, make sure you take advantage of it and not the other way around.

Earn status faster with MQD Headstart & MQD Boost with SkyMiles Program update in 2024

Delta SkyMiles® and American Express are enhancing their loyalty program with exciting updates starting in 2024. Let’s delve into these changes:

1. MQD Headstart for Various Card Members:
   • Starting February 2024, Delta SkyMiles® Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve, and Reserve Business American Express Card Members will enjoy an MQD Headstart. Each card type will receive $2,500 in Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) for the current Medallion Qualification Year.
   • This benefit is especially for Basic Card Members. However, it’s not applicable to Additional Card Members.
2. Introduction of MQD Boost:
   • In addition to the MQD Headstart, from January 1, 2024, Card Members can also benefit from the MQD Boost. This feature enables earning MQDs through everyday purchases made on eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express Cards.
3. Details on MQD Deposits:
   • For existing Card Members, MQDs will be deposited within 6 to 8 weeks after February 1 each year.
   • New Card Members or those upgrading from a non-eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express Card will also receive the MQD Headstart, with MQDs deposited within 6 to 8 weeks of opening the account. Subsequently, these deposits will occur annually within the same timeframe.
   • However, if a new account is opened in November or December, MQDs will count towards the Medallion Qualification Year in which the card is opened.
4. Usage and Restrictions of MQDs:
   • MQDs contribute to qualifying for Medallion Status in the subsequent year but have no cash value and are not redeemable for awards or other redemptions.
   • They are non-transferable and exclusively for the Basic Card Member.
   • MQDs don’t roll over year-to-year and reset to zero on January 1 each year.
5. Limitations on MQD Deposits:
   • Each SkyMiles Member can receive only one $2,500 MQD deposit per Eligible Card type each year, with a maximum of four deposits across all Eligible Cards (totaling $10,000 MQDs).
   • Upgrading or downgrading between eligible card types does not entitle the member to additional MQD deposits.

Alternative Ways to Get Miles You Don’t Have

If reaching this spending target within six months doesn’t seem realistic, a better choice may be:

• Buying SkyMiles directly from Delta.
• If you hold an Amex card that earns Membership Rewards, you can transfer MR points to Delta SkyMiles at a 1:1 ratio. Note: Amex charges a U.S. federal excise tax offset fee of $0.0006 per point (i.e., $0.60 per 1,000 points) up to $99 when transferring to U.S. airlines like Delta. 

Conclusion

Amex Miles Headstart feature seems pretty good when you’re short on miles and need to book an award ticket immediately, especially considering it is free of charge. Just make sure you don’t end up buying those miles, as even with a discounted price of 2.5 cents per mile, you’ll overpay significantly compared to the cash price. If you have tried Miles Headstart, feel free to share your experience.

Remember, it’s easy to track your progress toward MQD status using the SkyMiles app on Delta’s website or the Fly Delta app.

Can’t find Miles Headstart? Log in at americanexpress.com and check your Delta SkyMiles Amex benefits; eligible cardmembers see “Miles Headstart” with their available advance amount and terms. If it doesn’t appear, you may be temporarily ineligible or the offer may not be extended to your account at this time.