Air India Maharaja Club

Joining and the account

Enrolment is done online through the Maharaja Club enrolment form. An applicant needs a valid email address and mobile number that are not already registered to another Maharaja Club account, and the name entered must match the passport or other official identification, including any middle name. [4] [6] Membership is complimentary, with no enrolment or annual fee. [6]

Membership is open to individuals only; organisations, small businesses, travel agents and other commercial entities are not eligible, and the programme is intended for personal, non-commercial use. [4] [6] Nationality and country of residence do not restrict joining, although Air India notes that participation may be prohibited or restricted in some countries. [4] [6] Each member may hold only one account, and duplicate accounts are suspended and liable to termination. [4]

On enrolment a member receives a digital card carrying a unique nine-digit Maharaja Club ID; Gold and Platinum members may also receive physical cards on upgrade, renewal or adjustment. [4] [6] Children above two and below 18 years enrol as minors under a parent or guardian's account, with up to four minors per account and a separate email address each, and must give consent at 18 to continue independently. [4] [6]

Air India credits an enrolment bonus of 1,000 Maharaja Points after a new member's first qualifying revenue flight with Air India, Air India Express or Air India Express codeshare flights; award flights and complimentary voucher bookings do not trigger it. [6] The terms describe the same bonus as credited only after the first accrual on an Air India or Air India Express revenue flight. [4] Separately, a limited-time offer applies to enrolments completed between 22 September 2026 and 31 October 2026 through a designated campaign link: 1,000 bonus points on enrolment and a further 1,000 after a first eligible flight, with those bonus points valid for 12 months, and it is closed to existing members and to enrolments made through any other channel. [4]

Earning Maharaja Points and Tier Points

On Air India, Maharaja Points are calculated on the combined base fare and fuel surcharge, excluding taxes and fees, at 6 points per INR 100 spent on the Red tier, 8 on Silver, 9 on Gold and 10 on Platinum. [5] [6] Tier Points do not vary by tier: members across all tiers earn 6 Tier Points per INR 100 of eligible Air India or Air India Express spend. [5] [6] Air India's FAQ and calculator terms state that on Air India Express, Maharaja Points and Tier Points are earned on the base fare only, and that accrual applies to travel taken on or after 22 May 2026. [4] [5] [6]

Booking directly brings a bonus of 2 extra Maharaja Points per INR 100 on Air India and Air India Express flights booked through the airlines' own websites or apps. [5] [6] That bonus does not apply to Air India Express codeshare flights booked on the Air India site, or to Star Alliance and codeshare bookings. [6]

Star Alliance flights are not rewarded on fare: points are calculated from the booking class and the sector distance flown, follow the operating carrier's earning rates for that class, and booking classes missing from Air India's published table are not eligible for accrual. [6] [7] The table shows wide variation between carriers — Lufthansa first class in F or A earns 300% of miles flown, while United business classes J, C and D earn 125%. [7] Star Alliance flights also earn 1 Tier Point for every 2 Maharaja Points accrued. [6] Non-airline partners, of which Air India lists more than 100 across categories such as hotels, car rental and retail, award Maharaja Points but never Tier Points. [4] [6]

Only one programme can be credited per flight or transaction, and on Air India Express bookings a member chooses either Maharaja Points or Tata NeuCoins, not both. [4] [6] Air India states credit within seven business days of the flight date in its terms, within 48 hours of a completed journey in its FAQ, and says on its partner-airline page that credit may take up to four weeks after the flight. [4] [6] [7] Missing Air India flights can be claimed up to 12 months after travel, while Star Alliance claims run 365, 210 or 180 days depending on the airline and require membership on the date of travel; retroactive claims for Air India Express are not yet available. [4] [6] [7]

Spending Maharaja Points

Rewards are limited to award flights and cabin upgrades. [4] Award flights can be booked on Air India, Air India Express codeshare flights and Star Alliance partners, but not on Star Alliance codeshare flights, not as multi-city itineraries, and not as mixed itineraries that include both Air India and Air India Express travel. [4] [6] Points must still be valid when the ticket is issued, and an award ticket is valid for one year from issue. [4] Taxes, fees and surcharges are payable by the traveller, and Air India's terms state that a convenience fee applies to award bookings. [4] Its FAQ says the fee is charged per customer, per ticket and lists INR 399 for domestic travel within India, INR 649 from India to short-haul international destinations, INR 999 from India to long-haul international destinations, USD 8 for short-haul travel into India and USD 12 for long-haul travel into India other than from Australia, Canada and the USA. [6] The FAQ defines short-haul as Africa, Bahrain, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, SAARC, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand and the UAE, and long-haul as Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, South Korea, the USA and the UK; it does not publish the fee for long-haul travel into India from Australia, Canada or the USA. [6]

Availability is controlled: seats are capacity-limited, not every seat in a cabin can be redeemed, and blackout periods may apply. [4] The points required are not a fixed chart — Air India's calculator returns conditional, live route quotes, showing 6,000–9,500 Maharaja Points for a Value Fare and 12,500 for a Prime Fare on a one-way Delhi–Guwahati economy trip, with fares dependent on booking time and seat availability. [5] The same calculator priced an upgrade from economy to premium economy at 7,000 points and to business at 22,000 on that route. [5] Upgrades are only permitted to the immediately higher cabin class [5], and Air India's terms describe cabin upgrades as available on Air India flights [4], while its FAQ also lists cabin upgrades on Star Alliance partner flights and states that upgrades on Air India Express codeshare flights cannot be made with Maharaja Points. [6]

Booking rewards for other people is allowed only after the member has flown at least two Air India or Air India Express flights on different booking references that were credited to the account. [4] [6] Points can also be bought at INR 1.50 each in batches of 100 with no stated maximum, although new members must first complete a revenue Air India flight and purchases cannot be cancelled. [4] [6] Cash + Points bookings exist on Air India, while Cash + Points bookings on Star Alliance partner airlines are not eligible for accrual. [4] [6] A Family Pool lets eligible family members link accounts and share points, but points are otherwise non-transferable between accounts and cannot be moved to another programme. [4] [6]

Tiers, Star Alliance flying and partner activity

Every member starts at Red and moves up on Tier Points or on eligible flight counts measured over the last 365 days. [4] [6] Silver requires 15,000 Tier Points including 4,500 on Air India or Air India Express, or 20 flights including 4 on those airlines. [6] Gold requires 30,000 Tier Points including 9,000, or 45 flights including 8; Platinum requires 45,000 Tier Points including 13,500, or 60 flights including 12. [6] A new tier lasts one year, and the same thresholds must be met again to keep it, with failure leading to a downgrade. [6] Tiers cannot be bought with points. [6]

Tier benefits include lounge access, priority check-in and boarding, and extra baggage: Silver adds 5 kg on Air India flights, while Gold and Platinum add one piece up to 23 kg or 20 kg extra on Air India and Star Alliance partner flights, excluding codeshare and interline flights. [6] Gold and Platinum also receive Fly Prior on direct domestic Air India flights within India on the same sector, where the original and new flight durations do not exceed four hours, requested at the airport check-in counter at least two hours before the original departure and confirmed subject to availability. [6] Upgrade vouchers last six months for Silver, nine for Gold and twelve for Platinum, are not extendable, and work only on Air India-operated flights. [6] Tier benefits are not offered on Air India Express award flights. [6]

Star Alliance flying is still governed by Air India's own rules: Tier Status is determined solely by Maharaja Club Tier Points, so Maharaja Points earned on Air India, Air India Express, Star Alliance partners or non-airline partners never contribute to it. [4] Air India joined Star Alliance in 2014 and the programme counts 25 Star Alliance partner airlines. [6] Air India states that the Fly Prior benefit is not available to Star Alliance Gold members and is not applicable on award flights. [6] Partner earning is not static: Air India publishes that Asiana Airlines exits Star Alliance on 16 December 2026 and that Maharaja Points stop accruing on Asiana-operated flights from 15 October 2026, that a new Singapore Airlines earning table applies from 15 April 2026, and that Thai Airways class A earns 100% of miles flown from 1 July 2026. [7] Air India Express is not a Star Alliance member, so those flights earn Maharaja Points but not points or miles for Star Alliance partner programmes. [6]

Exceptions and limits

• Expired Maharaja Points cannot be revived, and only qualifying Air India or Air India Express flights extend validity — Air India requires a cash or Cash + Points revenue ticket on its own flights and a cash-only revenue ticket on Air India Express, and excludes Star Alliance and codeshare flights. [4] [6] The extension rule applies to flights taken on or after 2 April 2024, and Vistara flights taken on or before 11 November 2024 do not count. [4]
• Air India states that award flights booked in O, I, X and E classes are not eligible for Maharaja Points accrual, and that on Air India Express flights no Maharaja Points or Tier Points are earned on award or complimentary voucher bookings, private fares, industry or agency discounts, barter, charters, group bookings, ancillaries, or tickets reissued because of irregular operations. [4] Some other fares, including some sold over the internet, may be excluded from Maharaja Points accrual at Air India's discretion, and flights rerouted onto another airline after disruption are not credited. [4]
• On award tickets, a no-show forfeits the ticket and the points used, partly used awards are non-refundable, and cancelled awards return points only within their original validity. [4] Unaccompanied minors aged 2–12 cannot travel on award tickets or upgrades, and children pay the adult points price. [4] [6]
• Membership itself does not expire through inactivity, but a minor who does not consent at 18 may have the account deactivated with points and benefits forfeited, and a terminated account's balance cannot be redeemed. [4] [6]
• Points pass to a legal heir only on a member's death, only the Maharaja Points accrued up to that date, and never Tier Points, vouchers or other privileges; the heir must already be a member when making the request. [4]
• Partner accrual and reward rules can change or be withdrawn without notice, and individual partners set their own conditions and may exclude some member categories from transfers. [4] [7]

Related pages

Start with choosing your main programme and the Star Alliance guide. For the mechanics behind status and awards, see elite status and award availability, or compare a partner programme such as United MileagePlus and its award booking walkthrough. More definitions sit in the glossary.

Sources

Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. Other Star Alliance programmes, including United MileagePlus, Lufthansa Miles & More and Singapore KrisFlyer, are not covered here; their own terms govern earning, expiry and status.

1. Air India Maharaja Club terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026
2. Air India Maharaja Club points calculator, checked 18 October 2026
3. Air India Maharaja Club frequently asked questions, checked 18 October 2026
4. Air India Maharaja Club partner airline earning chart, checked 18 October 2026