Air India Slashes Reward Points by Up to 64% in Major Maharaja Club Overhaul

NEW DELHI- Tata Group-owned Air India (AI) has announced major upgrades to its Maharaja Club loyalty programme, effective progressively from 1 April 2026.

The updates deliver lower Maharaja Points for award flights and cabin upgrades, faster tier progression, greater booking flexibility, and extended privileges to companions.

These changes, based on extensive member feedback, significantly increase value for Air India passengers flying from major hubs including Delhi (DEL), Mumbai (BOM), Bengaluru (BLR), and Hyderabad (HYD).

The revised programme makes both domestic short trips and long-haul international journeys more rewarding.

Air India Maharaja Club Upgrades

Air India has reduced Maharaja Points requirements for award flights and cabin upgrades across at least 90% of its network.

Economy Class redemptions dropped by around 30% on 80% of domestic routes and 75% of international routes.

Business Class saw reductions of about 15% on 70% of domestic routes and 25% on 35% of international routes. Premium Economy recorded cuts of around 13% on 30% of domestic routes and 12% on 17% of international routes.

Domestic award flights now start from 1,500 Maharaja Points, while cabin upgrades begin at 4,000 points. International one-way award flights are standardised with Europe (including the UK) from 35,000 points, the US and Australia from 40,000 points, and Canada from 50,000 points.

These changes bring better value on more than 90% of routes, though a small number of sectors see no change or marginal increases.

Economy Class Redemption Changes (Partial Listing)

Domestic Routes

Sector	Existing Points	Revised Points	Change
Goa (Mopa) – Hyderabad	7,000	2,500	64% ↓
Delhi – Chandigarh	5,000	3,000	40% ↓
Delhi – Chennai	7,500	6,000	20% ↓
Delhi – Ahmedabad	4,000	3,500	13% ↓
Bengaluru – Chennai	2,000	1,500	25% ↓
Mumbai – Amritsar	9,500	5,500	42% ↓
Delhi – Bhopal	5,000	3,000	40% ↓
Delhi – Goa (Dabolim)	9,000	5,000	44% ↓
Delhi – Guwahati	8,500	6,000	29% ↓
Delhi – Patna	6,500	5,000	23% ↓
Delhi – Mumbai	5,000	5,000	0%
Delhi – Bangalore	8,000	7,000	13% ↓
Delhi – Kolkata	5,000	5,000	0%
Bangalore – Mumbai	4,000	4,000	0%

International Routes

Sector	Existing Points	Revised Points	Change
Delhi – San Francisco	77,000	40,000	48% ↓
Mumbai – Newark	67,000	40,000	40% ↓
Delhi – Vancouver	87,000	50,000	43% ↓
Delhi – Melbourne	61,000	40,000	34% ↓
Delhi – Chicago	65,000	40,000	39% ↓
Delhi – New York (JFK)	62,000	40,000	36% ↓
Amritsar – Birmingham	53,000	35,000	34% ↓
Mumbai – Mauritius	25,000	12,000	52% ↓
Mumbai – Doha	23,000	12,000	48% ↓
Delhi – Jeddah	26,000	12,000	54% ↓
Delhi – Tokyo	35,000	30,000	14% ↓
Delhi – Dubai	16,000	12,000	25% ↓
Delhi – Bangkok	16,000	12,000	25% ↓
Delhi – London	30,000	35,000	17% ↑
Delhi – Bali	25,000	12,000	52% ↓

Premium Economy Redemption Changes (Partial Listing)

Domestic Routes

Sector	Existing Points	Revised Points	Change
Hyderabad – Goa (Mopa)	12,000	9,000	25% ↓
Delhi – Guwahati	16,500	13,000	21% ↓
Mumbai – Varanasi	15,000	12,000	20% ↓
Bengaluru – Delhi	17,000	14,000	18% ↓
Delhi – Mumbai	13,000	15,000	15% ↑
Delhi – Bengaluru	17,000	14,000	18% ↓

International Routes

Sector	Existing Points	Revised Points	Change
Delhi – San Francisco	1,24,000	1,00,000	19% ↓
Delhi – Vancouver	1,29,000	1,10,000	15% ↓
Delhi – Newark	1,08,000	1,00,000	7% ↓
Delhi – Dubai	29,000	40,000	38% ↑
Delhi – London (Heathrow)	66,000	85,000	29% ↑
Delhi – Bali (Denpasar)	40,000	45,000	13% ↑

Business Class Redemption Changes (Partial Listing)

Domestic Routes

Sector	Existing Points	Revised Points	Change
Delhi – Chennai	30,000	24,000	20% ↓
Delhi – Goa (Dabolim)	29,000	25,000	14% ↓
Delhi – Patna	20,000	17,000	15% ↓
Mumbai – Amritsar	19,000	17,000	11% ↓
Delhi – Udaipur	21,000	15,000	29% ↓
Delhi – Coimbatore	39,000	32,000	18% ↓
Delhi – Kolkata	33,000	28,000	15% ↓
Mumbai – Hyderabad	21,000	16,000	24% ↓
Bengaluru – Hyderabad	20,000	16,000	20% ↓
Delhi – Mumbai	23,000	20,000	13% ↓
Bengaluru – Mumbai	21,000	19,000	10% ↓
Delhi – Bengaluru	31,000	25,000	19% ↓

International Routes

Sector	Existing Points	Revised Points	Change
Delhi – Chicago	1,75,000	1,30,000	26% ↓
Delhi – New York (JFK)	1,80,000	1,30,000	28% ↓
Delhi – Vancouver	1,80,000	1,30,000	28% ↓
Delhi – San Francisco	1,85,000	1,30,000	30% ↓
Mumbai – Newark	2,00,000	1,30,000	35% ↓
Mumbai – London (Heathrow)	1,25,000	1,00,000	20% ↓
Delhi – London (Heathrow)	1,25,000	1,00,000	20% ↓
Mumbai – Mauritius	70,000	50,000	29% ↓
Delhi – Dubai	46,000	50,000	9% ↑
Mumbai – Dubai	43,000	50,000	16% ↑

Stronger Value on Award Flights and Upgrades

The enhancements make quick getaways and long-haul travel far more accessible. Redemption levels are now lower and standardised across regions.

Key examples include Delhi (DEL) to San Francisco (SFO) dropping from 77,000 to 40,000 points and Mumbai (BOM) to Mauritius from 25,000 to 12,000 points in Economy. Similar meaningful reductions appear across Business and Premium Economy classes on most sectors.

Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said: “Our Maharaja Club members are at the heart of Air India’s ongoing transformation.

These enhancements are designed to ensure that every Maharaja Point they earn carries more meaning, more flexibility, and more possibilities.”

Flexibility in Managing Bookings

Air India (AI) introduced a simplified tier-based structure for award flight cancellations and rescheduling.

Platinum members can cancel or reschedule free of charge up to 2 hours before departure. Gold members enjoy this facility up to 7 days before departure, while Silver members get it up to 30 days.

Within these windows, points are fully redeposited. Outside the window, a flat 25% fee applies. No-show bookings continue with no refunds.

Points used for upgrades are now refunded automatically upon cancellation. This change gives members confidence to book upgrades more freely.

Elite Tier Status and Extended Benefits

The airline lowered flight-count thresholds for tier qualification while keeping spend requirements unchanged.

Platinum now requires 60 flights (previously 90) with a minimum of 12 Air India (AI) flights. Gold needs 45 flights (previously 60) with a minimum of 8 Air India flights. Silver requires 20 flights (previously 30) with a minimum of 4 Air India flights.

Tier Points criteria remain the same. Flights from the past 365 days will be retrospectively assessed, and eligible members will receive automatic upgrades.

Aggarwal added: “We recognise that many of our loyal customers may have found progressing through tiers to be harder than it should be… By easing the flight count thresholds, our valued members now have a more achievable path to the privileges they’ve earned.”

Platinum and Gold members can now extend their travel privileges to one companion travelling on the same PNR.

Companions receive priority check-in, boarding, baggage handling, and lounge access alongside the member.

Rapid Points Crediting and Continued Growth

Maharaja Points earned on Air India (AI) flights and Star Alliance partner carriers will now be credited within 2 hours of flight completion.

These updates build on the 2024 redesign that shifted from a legacy miles-based system to a fairer spend-based structure.

Maharaja Club currently serves over 10 million members worldwide with simplified rules, strong global benchmarks, and growing partnerships across banking, retail, hospitality, and lifestyle sectors.

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