Air India Maharaja Club: How to earn and redeem points

Air India is rolling out changes to its Maharaja Club loyalty program this month. Most of the changes occurred on April 1, but some will start later this month.

Given these program enhancements, here’s what you should know about the Air India Maharaja Club loyalty program.

What is the Air India Maharaja Club?

Maharaja Club is Air India’s loyalty program. You can earn and redeem reward points within the Maharaja Club program and earn tier points toward elite status.

Air India is a Star Alliance airline, so you may be interested in its loyalty program even if you don’t frequently visit India or fly on Air India.

Related: The best ways to fly to India with points and miles

How to earn Air India Maharaja Club points

Within the Air India Maharaja Club program, there are two types of points: Maharaja points and tier points. You can redeem Maharaja points for award flights and upgrades, while tier points are what you need to earn elite status within the Maharaja Club program.

Maharaja points expire if you don’t credit a paid Air India flight to your account at least once every two years. Award, codeshare, interline and Star Alliance partner flights don’t count toward extending your points’ validity. Meanwhile, only the tier points you’ve earned in the last 365 days matter for earning elite status.

Earn Maharaja and tier points on Air India flights

You can earn Maharaja and tier points on Air India flights. You’ll earn Maharaja points as follows on Air India flights:

• Red members: 6 reward points per 100 Indian rupees (about $1.08)
• Silver elite members: 8 reward points per 100 Indian rupees
• Gold elite members: 9 reward points per 100 Indian rupees
• Platinum elite members: 10 reward points per 100 Indian rupees

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

By signing up, you will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Plus, you’ll earn 2 bonus Maharaja points per 100 Indian rupees when you book using the Air India website or mobile app. You also earn 6 tier points per 100 Indian rupees spent on Air India flights, regardless of your Maharaja status tier.

Related: The best premium credit cards: A side-by-side comparison

Earn Maharaja and tier points on Star Alliance flights

You can earn Maharaja and tier points when you fly in eligible fare classes on Star Alliance airline partners. You’ll earn Maharaja points based on your flight distance and fare class, as shown on the partner airlines page. You’ll also earn 1 tier point per 2 Maharaja points when flying on Star Alliance partner airlines.

Other ways to earn Maharaja points

You can also earn Maharaja points (but not tier points) with select partners. Here’s a quick overview:

• Air India credit cards: Residents of India can apply for an Air India credit card that earns Maharaja points. There aren’t any cobranded Air India credit cards available to U.S. residents at this time.
• Convert transferable points: Many loyalty programs within India allow cardmembers to transfer rewards to Air India. However, the only major U.S. transferable reward currency that allows members to convert rewards to Air India Maharaja points is Rove Miles, which converts at a 1:1 ratio.
• Stays: Several regional hotel brands and properties in India let Maharaja Club members earn 5 to 20 Maharaja points per 100 Indian rupees spent on stays.
• Travel services: Several travel services, ranging from visa services to car rentals, let Maharaja Club members earn 4 to 25 Maharaja points per 100 Indian rupees spent.
• Experience and lifestyle purchases: Several merchants, including Antara River Cruises, let Maharaja Club members earn 4 to 16 Maharaja points per 100 Indian rupees spent. Meanwhile, one merchant offers a much lower 5 Maharaja points per 4 euros (about $4.68) spent.

Unfortunately, most of these other ways to earn Maharaja points won’t help travelers who don’t spend extensive time in India. Some are inaccessible if you aren’t an Indian resident.

Related: My 4 top travel credit cards — and how they elevate my trips

Air India Maharaja Club elite status

The Air India Maharaja Club loyalty program has four status tiers, including an entry-level Red tier with no requirements. To reach the other tiers, you must meet specific requirements for tier points or flights over the last 365 days.

Once you meet the requirements for a new elite status tier, you’ll enjoy its benefits for one year. After that point, you’ll be downgraded based on your activity within the last 365 days.

Here are the qualification requirements for each Maharaja Club status tier:

• Red: No qualification requirements
• Silver: 15,000 tier points (with at least 4,500 tier points on Air India) or 20 flights (with at least four flights on Air India)
• Gold: 30,000 tier points (with at least 9,000 tier points on Air India) or 45 flights (with at least eight flights on Air India)
• Platinum: 45,000 tier points (with at least 13,500 tier points on Air India) or 60 flights (with at least 12 flights on Air India)

The primary benefit of Maharaja Club Red status is the ability to earn and redeem points. Here’s a look at the primary benefits you can expect at each Maharaja Club status tier above what you’d get at the previous tier:

• Silver: Star Alliance Silver status, one upgrade voucher for a domestic Air India flight, priority check-in and boarding, less expensive change fees on domestic Air India flights, the ability to check five kilograms (about 11 pounds) more on Air India flights where the free baggage allowance uses a weight-based system and priority waitlist clearance
• Gold: Star Alliance Gold status, lounge access with one guest, free standard seat selection on Air India flights, two upgrade vouchers for domestic flights, Fly Prior benefit on domestic Air India flights, the ability to check 20 kilograms (about 44 pounds) extra or one piece more on Air India flights and Star Alliance partner flights, one free change per ticket on domestic Air India flights up to 24 hours before departure (and on international Air India flights up to 72 hours before departure) and less expensive cancellation fees for domestic Air India flights
• Platinum: Free seat selection on Air India flights, three upgrade vouchers for domestic flights, two free changes per ticket on Air India flights up to 24 hours before departure and waived cancellation fees on domestic Air India flights up to 24 hours before departure

If you don’t frequently fly on Air India, the primary benefit of status will be the Star Alliance status you can get. However, you must reach Gold for Star Alliance Gold status before seeing any significant benefits.

Related: Why I earn status with foreign airlines — and whether you should, too

How to redeem Maharaja Club points

You can redeem Maharaja points for flights and upgrades on both Air India flights and Star Alliance partner flights. I haven’t found an award chart for flights or upgrades, but you can check the rates for specific one-way or round-trip routes using the Maharaja Club points calculator.

Air India now uses standardized region-based award prices for its flights. Here’s the award flight and upgrade rates I found for several one-way routes — including those operated by Air India and its Star Alliance partners — using the calculator:

Currently, you can only book award flights operated by Air India, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Austrian Airlines online. You must call to book award flights operated by other Star Alliance airlines. Additionally, you can only book one-segment awards on Star Alliance airlines.

1 of 2

AIR INDIA

If the flight you want to book is operated by an airline you can book online, you can check award pricing for a specific date by selecting to pay with points or points + cash when booking. However, you won’t be able to see the taxes and fees for a flight unless you have enough points in your account to book the flight. And, the taxes and fees can be significant on some routes.

If you cancel or change an award flight at least 24 hours before departure, you’ll usually get 75% of your points back. However, Maharaja Club elite members have the following more flexible change and cancellation policies for award flights:

• Platinum: 100% refund as long as you change or cancel at least two hours before departure
• Gold: 100% refund as long as you change or cancel at least seven days before departure, and 75% points refund if you change or cancel more than 24 hours before departure
• Silver: 100% refund as long as you change or cancel at least thirty days before departure, and 75% points refund if you change or cancel more than 24 hours before departure

If you want to redeem points for an upgrade on Air India, you can check availability on the Maharaja Club upgrade page (provided you have enough points in your account). If you want to redeem Maharaja points for an upgrade on a partner airline, note that your current ticket must be booked into specific fare classes (see the eligible fare classes on this page) and can’t be a codeshare flight. If you redeem Maharaja points for an upgrade and then cancel your ticket, the points used for the upgrade will usually be refunded upon the ticket cancellation.

Related: Redeem your points and miles: How to search flight award availability for the major airlines

Bottom line

The Air India Maharaja Club loyalty program won’t be the primary loyalty program of most U.S. residents. After all, Maharaja points expire if you don’t credit an Air India flight at least once every two years and no major U.S. transferable currencies besides Rove Miles transfer to Air India. Plus, no Air India cobranded credit cards are available in the U.S. market, and you must fly on a set number of Air India-operated flights every 365 days to maintain status.

It also doesn’t help that you can’t see the taxes and fees on award flights if you don’t have enough Maharaja points in your account to book the award. But if you frequently travel to or via India on Air India, it may be worth checking whether the Air India Maharaja Club offers more value than your current Star Alliance loyalty program.