Are you tired of overpriced last minute flight tickets? Welcome to the world of Maharaja Club where you can take free flights on the Air India and Star Alliance network with the Maharaja Club loyalty points. The Maharaja Club program lets you book flights on specific routes with a fixed number of loyalty points. What makes your journey even better is that you can get cabin class upgrades also with the loyalty points. So, what is the Maharaja Club, its features and benefits, and how to make the most of it? Let us understand all the details in this guide.
Introduction to Air India Maharaja Club
The Maharaja Club is Air India’s frequent flyer program (FFP). Air India is India’s 2nd largest airline after Indigo Airlines. It has a vast domestic and international network and the facility to book international flights with the Star Alliance partner airlines.
The Air India loyalty program allows members to earn and burn Maharaja points on Air India flights and its Star Alliance partner airlines. The Maharaja Club membership is lifetime free. Members earn Maharaja points for booking flights and transacting with non-airline partners. Some banks allow the transfer of credit card reward points to Maharaja Club in a specified ratio. Members can redeem Maharaja points to book flights on Air India and Star Alliance partner airlines and upgrade cabin class.
The Maharaja Club benefits are spread across various membership tiers, including award flights, cabin class upgrades, dedicated customer support, excess baggage allowance, lounge access, etc. Now that we have the Maharaja Club overview, let us explore the details.
Membership tiers: Eligibility and benefits
When a member signs up, they join as a Red Tier member (base tier). The member can climb the tier ladder by taking the minimum number of flights or earning tier points during the year. Let us look at the various membership tiers and their eligibility criteria.
| Tier | Eligibility criteria |
| Silver Tier | 15,000 Tier Points (including 4,500 earned through Air India flights) OR 30 flights (including a minimum of 4 Air India flights) |
| Gold Tier | 30,000 Tier Points (including 9,000 earned through Air India flights) OR 60 flights (including a minimum of 8 Air India flights) |
| Platinum | 45,000 Tier Points (including 13,500 earned through Air India flights) OR 90 flights (including a minimum of 12 Air India flights) |
Earning Maharaja points
A member earns the following points for every Rs. 100 spent on Air India flights and Star Alliance partner airlines.
| Tier | Maharaja points | Tier points |
| Red Tier | 6 | 6 |
| Silver Tier | 8 | 6 |
| Gold Tier | 9 | 6 |
| Platinum | 10 | 6 |
The member earns 2 bonus Maharaja points per Rs. 100 spent for booking flights directly on the Air India website and App. The Maharaja points can be used for booking flight tickets and cabin class upgrades. The tier points are the qualification criterion for a member’s movement from one tier to the next (for example, movement from Red to Silver Tier).
Now that we understand the tier qualification criteria and earning points, let us now look at the benefits of each tier.
1) Red Tier
The Red Tier benefits include the following:
a) Earn Maharaja points and tier points for every Rs. 100 spent on Air India and Star Alliance Partner Airlines, as mentioned above. Air India is a Star Alliance member. The alliance has 24 other airlines as members.
b) Earn points for spends on non-airline partners. Air India has several non-airline partners, the details of which are discussed later in the article.
c) Redeem Maharaja points on Air India and other Star Alliance Partner Airlines for award flights and cabin class upgrades.
2) Silver Tier
The Silver Tier benefits include the following:
a) All the Red Tier benefits discussed in the above section.
b) Priority connect through dedicated helpline numbers within India and specified other countries outside India.
c) Priority and seamless check-in through dedicated check-in counters, regardless of booked cabin class.
d) Members received priority status and expedited clearance from the flight waitlist.
e) Priority boarding, irrespective of cabin class, ensuring a stress-free start to the journey.
f) Fee waiver for itinerary changes for a domestic flight for a flat fee of Rs. 1,000 + GST. The facility can be availed for 1 change per ticket up to 24 hours before departure. It is applicable for Air India domestic flights only for tickets booked with Air India directly (website, App, call centre, and ticketing offices)
g) One cabin upgrade voucher with 6 months validity on tier renewal and upgrade.
h) 5 Kg excess baggage allowance on Air India flights as per the weight system.
3) Gold Tier
The Gold Tier benefits include the following:
a) All the Red Tier benefits and Silver Tier benefits b), c), d) and e) discussed in the above section.
b) 20 Kg excess baggage allowance on Air India flights where free baggage allowance is as per the weight system.
c) 1 piece (up to 23 Kg) excess baggage allowance on Air India flights where free baggage allowance is as per piece system
d) Excess baggage allowance of 20 Kg or 1 piece of up to 23 Kg on Star Alliance flights
e) Lounge access along with 1 guest on the same Air India or Star Alliance flight
f) Complimentary fly prior service that allows passengers arriving early to switch to an earlier flight within 12 hours of their original departure, on the same route, date, and cabin class on the availability. The service is applicable on all Air India domestic flights.
g) Fee waiver for itinerary changes for a domestic flight. The facility can be availed free for 1 change per ticket up to 24 hours before departure. It applies for Air India domestic flights only for tickets booked with Air India directly (website, App, call centre, and ticketing offices).
h) Fee waiver for itinerary changes for an international flight. The facility can be availed free for 1 change per ticket up to 72 hours before departure.
i) Fee waiver for domestic flight cancellation. The facility can be availed for a flat fee of Rs. 1,199 + GST, up to 24 hours before departure. It applies for Air India domestic flights only for tickets booked with Air India directly (website, App, call centre, and ticketing offices).
j) Complimentary seat selection on standard seats (excluding exit row and bulkhead seats) across the network. Applicable only on Air India-operated flights and on tickets booked with Air India directly.
k) Two cabin upgrade vouchers with 9 months validity on tier renewal and upgrade.
4) Platinum
The Platinum Tier benefits include the following:
a) All the Red Tier benefits, Silver Tier benefits b), c), d) and e), and Gold Tier benefits b), c), d), e) and f) discussed in the above section.
b) Fee waiver for itinerary changes for a domestic flight. The facility can be availed free for 2 times for change per ticket up to 24 hours before departure. It is applicable for Air India domestic flights only for tickets booked with Air India directly (website, App, call centre, and ticketing offices)
c) Fee waiver for itinerary changes for an international flight. The facility can be availed free for 2 times for change per ticket up to 24 hours before departure.
d) Fee waiver for domestic flight cancellation. The facility can be availed for free up to 24 hours before departure. It applies for Air India domestic flights only for tickets booked with Air India directly (website, App, call centre, and ticketing offices).
e) Complimentary seat selection on all seats across the network. Applicable only on Air India-operated flights and on tickets booked with Air India directly.
f) Three cabin upgrade vouchers with 12 months validity on tier renewal and upgrade.
As seen above, if you are an Air India frequent flyer, the Maharaja Club offers numerous benefits based on tier. The higher the tier, the higher the benefits.
Here is a summary of the various tiers and their benefits
| Benefit | Red | Silver | Gold | Platinum |
| Earn points on Air India and Star Alliance partner airlines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Earn points with non-airline partners | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Redeem points on Air India and Star Alliance partner airlines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Priority connect through dedicated helpline numbers | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Domestic Flights: Fee Waiver for itinerary changes | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| International Flights: Fee Waiver for itinerary changes | NA | NA | Yes | Yes |
| Fee waiver for domestic flight cancellation | NA | NA | Yes | Yes |
| Complimentary seat selection | NA | NA | Yes | Yes |
| Cabin upgrade vouchers on tier renewal and upgrade | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Complimentary fly prior | NA | NA | Yes | Yes |
| Priority waitlist clearance | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Priority check-in | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Excess baggage allowance on Air India flights as per weight system | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Excess baggage allowance on Air India flights as per piece system | NA | NA | Yes | Yes |
| Excess baggage on Star Alliance flights | NA | NA | Yes | Yes |
| Lounge access with one guest | NA | NA | Yes | Yes |
| Priority boarding | NA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Earning Maharaja points
Maharaja points can be earned/accumulated in the following ways.
1) Earning Maharaja points on flight bookings
A Maharaja Club member can earn Maharaja points for every Rs. 100 spent on booking Air India and Star Alliance partner airline flights as follows:
a) Red Tier member: 6 Maharaja points
b) Silver Tier member: 8 Maharaja points
c) Gold Tier member: 9 Maharaja points
d) Platinum Tier member: 10 Maharaja points
Additionally, members earn 2 bonus Maharaja points for every Rs. 100 spent on direct bookings on the Air India website and App.
2) Earning Maharaja points on non-airline partners
Air India has tied up with various domestic and international non-airline partners. The tie-up enables members to earn Air India points when they transact with these partners. The partners are spread across categories like car rentals, experiences, lifestyle, stays, etc. Some of these include the following.
| Partner name | Maharaja points |
| Walmart | Up to 99 points for every USD 100 spent |
| Victoria’s Secret | 310 points for every GBP 100 spent |
| Victorinox | 300 points for every USD 100 spent |
| Gap | 180 points for every USD 100 spent |
| Healthians Lab | 7 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Matrix Cellular | 10 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Fitpass | 7 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| iCruise | 5 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Avis | 4 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Apple Store Online | 4 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| The Grand Dragon Ladakh | 20 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Ferns N Petals | 11 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Sherpa | 25 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Discover Cars | 10 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Tattva | 13 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
| Zoomcar | 5 points for every Rs. 100 spent |
For the complete list of non-airline partners, refer to the following link:
https://www.airindia.com/in/en/maharaja-club/partner-offers.html
3) Transferring credit card reward points to Maharaja Club
One of the best ways to accumulate Maharaja points is to transfer credit card reward points to your Maharaja Club account. The reward points can be transferred in a specified ratio. The banks that allow you to transfer credit card rewards to Maharaja Club include the following.
| Bank name | Credit card name | Transfer ratio | Transfer timeline |
| Yes Bank | Yes Private Credit Card | 6:1 | Within 7 working days |
| Other eligible credit cards | 15:1 | ||
| AU Small Finance Bank | AU Zenith+ | 1.5:1 | Within 7 working days |
| Other eligible credit cards | 6:1 | ||
| Fi Money | Fi Coins | 100:2 | Within 3-5 working days |
| HDFC Bank | Infinia, Infinia Metal, Diners Black, Diners Black Metal | 2:1 | Within 2-4 working days |
| Regalia Gold | 3:1 | ||
| DBS Bank | DBS Vantage Card | 5:4 | Within 3 working days |
| DBS Spark and Bajaj Finserv DBS Bank SuperCard | 6:1 | ||
| SBI Card | SBI Aurum Credit Card | 5:1 | Within 2 working days |
| Miles Credit Card, Miles Credit Card Prime, Miles Credit Card Elite | 1:1 | ||
| ICICI Bank | Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card | 1:1 | Within 5 working days |
| Other eligible debit/credit cards | 6:1 | ||
| HSBC | HSBC Premier and HSBC Travel One | 1:1 | Within 10 working days |
| HSBC Platinum | 2:1 | ||
| Axis Bank | Burgundy Private Credit Card | 5:4 | Within 5 working days |
| Magnus and Reserve credit cards | 5:2 | ||
| Atlas Credit Card | 1:2 | ||
| Select, Privilege, and Rewards credit cards | 10:1 | ||
| Other eligible credit cards | 20:1 |
Please note the above transfer ratios are as of June 2025. These are subject to changes from time to time. For the latest information on transfer ratios, refer to the Air India website:
https://www.airindia.com/in/en/maharaja-club/partner-offers.html
As the above table shows, the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card offers the best transfer ratio of 1:2, i.e. one Atlas Edge Mile = 2 Maharaja points.
4) Buying Maharaja points
If you are short by a few points for a specific booking, you can buy Maharaja points from the Air India website. The pricing is Rs. 1.50 per point. The minimum purchase must be 100 points, and there is no restriction on maximum purchase.
5) Accumulating points through family pooling
With family pooling, two or more family members can link their Maharaja Club accounts for sharing of points. The family head must contact the Air India customer support team to create the family pool. The customer support team contacts the other family members (Maharaja Club members) for their consent to join the family pool.
A family pool can have a maximum of 9 members (family head and 8 other family members). The members can include parents, siblings, children, spouse, and spouse’s parents. A family member’s Maharaja points are split between their individual account and the family pool in a specified split ratio. The family head decides the split ratio. The 3 options include the following.
| Split ratio | Description |
| 100:0 | 100% of the members’ existing and future points earned are automatically transferred to the family head’s Maharaja Club account. |
| 75:25 | 75% of the members’ existing and future points earned are automatically transferred to the family head’s Maharaja Club account. |
| 50:50 | 50% of the members’ existing and future points earned are automatically transferred to the family head’s Maharaja Club account. |
Family pooling is an excellent concept for families to come together and share frequent flyer points. The family head can redeem the Maharaja points from the family pool to book flights for self and family members.
Maharaja points validity
The Maharaja points have a soft expiry of 24 months. However, they never expire for active members. Whenever a member takes an Air India flight (excluding reward flights), the expiry date of all Maharaja points gets extended by 24 months from the date of travel.
Redemption of Maharaja Club points
The Maharaja Club points can be used for booking flights and cabin class upgrades. You can redeem Air India points against booking flight tickets on Air India and Star Alliance partner airlines. The fare pricing is dynamic and depends on several factors.
For example, for 1st July 2025, the Economy ticket fare for the Mumbai – Bengaluru route is Rs. 4,618 (fares as of 10th June). The Maharaja points requirement for an Economy ticket for the same route is 4,000 points. In this case, the value per point is Rs. 1.15.
For the same route, the requirement for a Premium Economy ticket is 9,500 points (fare – Rs. 5,837), and for a Business Class ticket is 21,000 points (fare – Rs. 28,764). In this case, while the value per point for a Premium Economy ticket is lower, it is higher than Rs. 1.00 for a Business Class ticket.
As we move closer to the travel date, based on the occupancy rate, the fare will likely increase. However, the points requirement remains the same. For Air India flights, getting the redemption value of each Maharaja point in the Rs. 0.75 to Rs. 1.00 is a decent redemption rate.
To book Air India flights with points, you must be a registered Maharaja Club member. Take the following steps to book a flight:
1) Visit the Air India website (www.airindia.com) and log on to your account with your mobile number and OTP.
2) Go to your profile page. In the Account Summary tab, click on “Book Flight”
3) Enter details like ‘From’ and ‘To’ destination, one-way/round trip, departure date, number of passengers, cabin class, etc. Select the ‘Pay by Points’ option and press ‘Search’.
4) The search results will show the flight options and the Maharaja points requirement for each flight option.
5) When you click the points dropdown arrow, it will show the points requirement for an Economy, Premium Economy, and Business Class ticket for that particular flight. You can select the cabin class and proceed ahead with the booking.
The points required for Premium Economy tickets are usually double or more than that for Economy tickets. The points required for Business Class tickets are significantly higher than for Economy tickets.
There is an Air India points calculator on the website. You have to input travel details like one way/return, Air India/Star Alliance, cabin class, Maharaja Club Tier, ‘From’ and ‘To’ and press the ‘Calculate’ button. It will show you the number of points required for flight redemption on the selected route. The link to the Points Calculator is as follows:
https://www.airindia.com/in/en/maharaja-club/points-calculator.html
At the time of redemption, if you are short of points, you can use the ‘Cash + Points’ option to redeem points and pay the balance with any payment method.
Apart from booking flights, the Maharaja points can also be used to upgrade cabin class. The upgrade can be done from Economy to Premium Economy, Premium Economy to Business Class, etc.
Important note: The usage of Maharaja points for booking flights and cabin class upgrades is always subject to the availability of Award seats. So, always check the seat availability on your travel route.
Pro tips for Maximising Maharaja points
Some frequent flyer tips you can follow to make the best use of reward points include the following.
1) Book well in advance
The availability of award seats for booking against Maharaja points is limited. Hence, book well in advance to ensure seat availability.
2) Check flight options with partner airlines
While booking international flights, along with Air India, check the options available with other Star Alliance partner airlines on the same route. Sometimes, you may get a better deal with other Star Alliance partner airlines than Air India. In such a case, you can use Maharaja points to book the flight with the Star Alliance partner airline.
3) Bonus offers for the transfer of credit card reward points
Make the most of bonus offers for transferring credit card reward points. From time to time, Air India announces a bonus offer for transferring credit card reward points to the Maharaja Club account.
For example, in March 2025, Air India announced the ‘Maharaja Club Points Plus’ offer. During the offer period (1st to 31st March), members who transferred their credit card reward points from eligible partners to the Maharaja points account got up to 50% bonus Maharaja points as follows.
| Converted bank reward points to Maharaja points | Bonus Maharaja points |
| 5,000 to 25,000 | 10% |
| 25,001 to 50,000 | 20% |
| 50,001 to 75,000 | 30% |
| 75,001 to 1,00,000 | 40% |
| More than 1,00,000 | 50% |
A member could earn up to 2,00,000 bonus Maharaja points per eligible partner. Enrolment for the offer was compulsory.
Air India announces similar offers for bonus Maharaja points on the transfer of credit card reward points from time to time. Keep an eye on such offers to earn bonus Maharaja points.
4) Family pooling
As explained in the earlier section, you can make the most of family pooling to collect Maharaja points from family members. You can then use points from the family pool to book flight tickets.
Star Alliance
The Star Alliance is an alliance of 25 global airline companies. Together, they offer air connectivity to almost the entire globe. Air India is a member of the Star Alliance. The other 24 member airlines include the following.
| Aegean | Air Canada | Air China | Air New Zealand |
| ANA | Asiana Airlines | Austrian | Avianca |
| Brussels Airlines | Copa Airlines | Croatia Airlines | EgyptAir |
| Ethiopian | Eva Air | Lot Polish Airlines | Lufthansa |
| Shenzhen Airlines | Singapore Airlines | South African Airlines | Swiss |
| Air Portugal | Thai | Turkish Airlines | United |
As Air India is a Star Alliance member, you can earn and redeem Maharaja points when you book flights on any member airline. Thus, with the Star Alliance network, the scope for earning and redeeming Maharaja points increases substantially.
To earn airmiles on the Star Alliance, you must register with the frequent flyer program (FFP) of one of the member airlines (for example, Air India’s Maharaja Club). Whenever you fly with any Star Alliance member airline, enter your frequent flyer number (Maharaja Club account number) at the time of booking the flight or check-in. If you forget, you can retroactively credit the points after the flight by logging into the Maharaja account and entering the flight details.
Similarly, you can redeem the Maharaja points for booking an Award flight with any Star Alliance member airline. The Award flights are subject to availability. Use the Air India ‘Points Calculator’ to know the number of Maharaja points required for booking a flight with the Star Alliance member airline.
https://www.airindia.com/in/en/maharaja-club/points-calculator.html
While doing the points calculator search, in the ‘Airline’ dropdown, select the ‘Star Alliance Partners’ option. The Maharaja points can also be used to upgrade the cabin class for your flight with the Star Alliance member airline.
Should you join the Maharaja Club?
If you are an Air India frequent flyer, you must consider the Maharaja Club. It is lifetime free. It gives you several benefits based on the membership tier. You can accumulate Maharaja points by taking flights from Air India and Star Alliance partner airlines, doing transactions with non-airline partners, transferring credit card reward points, family pooling, etc. Having the right credit cards gives you an opportunity to convert the reward points into Maharaja points, with occasional bonuses on reward points transfer offers.
You can further use the Maharaja points to book free flights and/or upgrade cabin class for flights from Air India and Star Alliance partner airlines. Thus, the Maharaja Program gives you an opportunity to benefit from the vast network of Air India, India’s second-largest domestic airline. As Air India is a Star Alliance member, it gives you an opportunity to benefit from the alliance’s vast international network. Thus, frequent flyers taking flights for whether official and/or personal purposes, must join the Maharaja Club, one of the best loyalty programs in India, and make the most of its benefits.
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