Air India today announced a significant expansion of its Maharaja Club loyalty programme, enabling members to earn and redeem Maharaja Points on flights operated by Air India Express to over 55 destinations across South, Southeast and West Asia, in addition to Air India services.

This much-awaited enhancement reflects Air India Group’s continued focus on making Maharaja Points more relevant for frequent flyers, enabling members to unlock greater value on their journeys across both Air India and Air India Express’ expansive network.

Maharaja Club members can immediately begin earning Maharaja Points and Tier Points on Air India Express-operated flights when booking across multiple channels, including the Air India and Air India Express websites and mobile apps and through major travel agents.

Maharaja Club members will also have their Air India Express flights contribute to their tier progression, with eligible flights counting toward both minimum flight requirements and Tier Points accumulation, enabling members to accelerate reaching higher tiers of the programme.

Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, and Chairman, Air India Express, said: “Our focus is on continually expanding Maharaja Club in a way that ensures our loyal customers’ travel experiences across destinations contribute meaningfully to their relationship with the Air India group. The growing scale of the Air India Express network makes the introduction of accruals and redemptions on these flights both timely and important, addressing a long-standing expectation of our frequent flyers. It also reflects our aim to build Maharaja Points into a valuable currency over time.”

Earning Maharaja Points on Air India Express flights

Maharaja Club members can accrue Maharaja Points on all Air India Express flights by entering their Maharaja Club ID at the time of booking. Maharaja Points for Air India Express flights cannot be claimed retrospectively in the current phase of the rollout.

Members can add their Maharaja Club ID during booking on Air India and Air India Express platforms, as well as select online travel partners. The addition or modification of Maharaja Club membership ID is not available at airport counters or contact centres in the current phase.

The Maharaja Points accrual framework applies to a wide range of bookings, including special fares for senior citizens, students, and armed forces personnel. Reward Points will be calculated on base fare and fuel surcharge, with accrual rates aligned to Air India, as follows, to ensure a consistent and easy-to-understand earning structure.

Redeeming Maharaja Points for Air India Express Award Flights

Redemptions of Maharaja Points for Award Flights on Air India Express are currently available to members booking codeshare flights bearing Air India’s ‘AI’ designator code but which are operated by Air India Express, via the Air India website and mobile app.

For instance, a Maharaja Club member wants to fly from Delhi to Guwahati, and searches for flight options on the Air India website or mobile app. On the flight selection page, they would find multiple flight options on the sector bearing ‘AI’ flight numbers but a few of them may be operated by Air India Express under the codeshare agreement between two carriers. The member can simply redeem their Maharaja Points for those flights in addition to the other flights operated by Air India.

Redemptions for Air India Express Award Flights start from 1,500 Maharaja Points, as illustrated in the following sample redemption pricing table (partial listing of sectors only):

In the later phases of the integration Maharaja Club members flying Air India Express, will be extended a host of benefits such as priority check-in, priority boarding, Fly Prior, seat selection, and flexibility through cancellation and rescheduling fee waivers on eligible flights and services.