Changing to an International Address with Delta Skymiles

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So, recently I moved to Hong Kong and I’ve slowly been getting everything in order as far as setting up new accounts, getting my finances in order, and changing addresses in all the right places.

My boyfriend and I fly quiet often around Asia, and in the United States as well. After our trip to Bali using Garuda Airlines, which we were VERY pleasantly surprised about, I noticed his Delta App was missing one HUGE thing when looking at his sky miles account. The MQDs bar was missing! First, I wanted to know why, and second how, third, I was secretly jealous 🙁 . So, I did some digging and I found out that international customers in the Delta Skymiles program are exempt from accumulating MQDs when achieving status, and only their MQMs are counted. This blew my mind.

Changing of Address

My next order of business was to change my address on my Delta Skymiles account, however, from what little I read, this process wasn’t easy and it would take weeks. I also didn’t read anywhere about what would happen to existing MQMs you might have had prior to the address change. And furthermore, they could deny you. But it was all risks that I was willing to take, and after all I do live in Hong Kong.

I read over the list of items you had to send them to verify that you ACTUALLY lived outside the US. NOTE: If anyone tries to falsify this, you could be kicked out of the program entirely, and I think it’s totally illegal. So don’t try this unless you ACTUALLY live outside the US. The list included things like;

  • Passport
  • ID Card
  • Phone Bill
  • Utility Bill
  • Bank Statements
  • The list went on

The Process

I thought okay, well I don’t have an international passport, or an interactional ID card since I’m still an American citizen. I cannot obtain a Hong Kong ID card, nor can I have rent in my name, or utility bills, or phone bills. The only thing that I could do was change my US bank account address to Hong Kong, and wait until the next billing months statement to post to give proof. So that’s exactly what I did.

Before you had to scan and email, or fax these papers to Delta’s Skymiles department, but I think just within the last month they changed that. Now they have an easy upload process online. I submitted my new international address, showed proof of my bank statement, and in the comments section I said something to the tune of “the actual proof of change of address was my prior itineraries with delta, all of which are to and from Hong Kong”. Since they can see this in my account, I thought it was best to actually say that.

The Wait

Documents submitted, now it’s the waiting game. At this point I’m a bit excited, and nervous. (Yes, I’m a frequent flier program nerd, and I actually get excited about elevated status, don’t judge! Who doesn’t like the occasional upgrade anyway? Am I right?) My MQMs were at 73,000, but my MQDs were just over 3,000, I had just reached Silver Medallion. However, I had 16,000 rollover MQMs from last year.

Were my 16,000 rollover MQMs going to fall off? If my address was approved were they going to stay, meaning I’m on the cusp of being a Platinum Medallion!? Was I going to have to start all over this year? Or was I flat out going to be denied? Uhggg the suspense!!! How was I suppose to wait weeks for this answer?

Outcome

Well I didn’t! I waited approximately 36 hours for the outcome, or maybe less. I didn’t get an email for the address change, I only noticed by logging on to my delta app that the MQDs bar was not there!! It worked, I was approved!!  Not only that, my 16,000 rollover MQMs stayed! Which, from what I read, is a perk something international customers do not have. I was practically jumping for joy! But I noticed that my status for this year, and next year still said Silver Medallion. That’s okay. Things take time.

I waited 4 more days, and then checked again, still stated Silver Medallion. That’s when I thought okay? So am I being punished? No, just be patient. Checked again two days later, and my 2019 status had changed to Gold Medallion! WooWho! Even better, is that I’m so close to Platinum, I’ve been Gold, but never Platinum. It’s almost as if Diamond Medallion status is so close now (but I still have a lot of miles to go for that)!

So there you have it! For anyone who flies with Delta and is curious about the international address change process, I can assure you that this can only help you if you fly long distances, and still often fly within the US. This is the best way to achieve elevated status quicker.