Maharaja Club is Air India’s frequent flyer programme. Status comes from Tier Points or a count of flights over a rolling 365 days, and a fixed share of either must be on Air India or Air India Express. Star Alliance partners can carry you most of the way, but not all of it.
Everything below was read on 1 October 2026 from Air India’s Maharaja Club FAQs, tier comparison, earn and redeem pages and programme terms. Two recent changes: Air India Express flights earn only from 22 May 2026, and since 11 March 2026 a Family Pool can be created only through a member’s login on Air India’s website.
The four tiers and how each is reached
Everyone starts at Red. The other three tiers each have two routes, and the FAQ says you are upgraded automatically once you meet either.
| Tier | Tier Points route | Flights route | Maharaja Points per INR 100 on Air India | Star Alliance tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | Join | Join | 6 | None |
| Silver | 15,000, at least 4,500 on Air India or Air India Express | 20, at least 4 on Air India or Air India Express | 8 | Silver |
| Gold | 30,000, at least 9,000 on Air India or Air India Express | 45, at least 8 on Air India or Air India Express | 9 | Gold |
| Platinum | 45,000, at least 13,500 on Air India or Air India Express | 60, at least 12 on Air India or Air India Express | 10 | Gold |
The Star Alliance column comes from Air India’s alliances page: “Maharaja Club Platinum & Gold members are mapped to Star Alliance Gold tier status and Maharaja Club Silver members are mapped to Star Alliance Silver tier.” Platinum adds nothing on another member airline. Its extras are Air India-only, listed below. For what Gold guarantees across the alliance, see what the alliance promises a Gold card holder.
A tier lasts a year, and keeping it takes the same thresholds again. The FAQ says: “Failure to meet the required criteria will result in a downgrade of your Tier Status.” Points cannot buy a tier.
The sources disagree on one point. The programme terms say “Tier Status in Maharaja Club is determined solely based on Maharaja Club Tier Points”, while the FAQ and the About page both publish the flights route. If you rely on flight count, check your account summary well before the 365 days run out.
How Tier Points are earned
On Air India. Every tier earns 6 Tier Points per INR 100 of base fare plus fuel surcharge, excluding taxes and fees. In the FAQ’s words, “The number of Tier Points earned does not vary by tier.” Only Maharaja Points, the spendable kind, rise with tier.
In base fare and surcharge over 365 days, the thresholds price out as:
| Tier | Air India minimum | Full threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | INR 75,000 | INR 250,000 |
| Gold | INR 150,000 | INR 500,000 |
| Platinum | INR 225,000 | INR 750,000 |
On Air India Express. Tier Points are calculated on the base fare only, with the fuel surcharge excluded. Air India Express is not in Star Alliance, so its flights earn Maharaja Points but nothing in a partner programme.
On Star Alliance partners. You earn 1 Tier Point for every 2 Maharaja Points. Those Maharaja Points do not depend on what you paid. The FAQ: “Star Alliance accrual is mileage-based.” They depend on booking class, distance flown and Air India’s agreement with each airline. The pages read today publish no partner earning chart, so a Singapore Airlines or Thai flight cannot be priced in Tier Points from Air India’s site alone.
Partner earning needs a cash ticket, and you must already be a member when you book: “You will not receive Maharaja Points for a flight with a Star Alliance Partner Airline if you are not already a Maharaja Club member at the time of booking.”
From Singapore, Hong Kong or Bangkok, if you mostly fly other alliance carriers, the flights route is easier to plan: Gold needs 45 flights with 8 on Air India. Our look at which airline status pays off for Asia-based flyers covers whether building status around one airline is worth it.
You can credit a flight to only one programme, and you earn only on tickets in your own name.
The direct-booking bonus does not count toward tier
Air India adds 2 bonus Maharaja Points per INR 100 on bookings made on its own website and app. These are spendable points only. Its earn page says: “All bonus points earned through ongoing offers and promotions will be added to your Maharaja Points and will not affect your Tier Points.”
A Silver member buying a fare worth INR 40,000 in base fare and surcharge earns 3,200 Maharaja Points and 2,400 Tier Points wherever the ticket is bought. Booking it on Air India’s own site or app adds 800 Maharaja Points and no Tier Points. The FAQ adds that “this direct booking bonus is not applicable on Air India Express codeshare flights.”
Air India puts no cash value on a point. If an agent sells the same fare for less, compare the totals.
What the points buy, and when they expire
Maharaja Points pay for Award Flights on Air India, Air India Express and the 25 Star Alliance partners, for cabin upgrades, and for Cash + Points on Air India-operated flights. Air India Express awards start from 1,500 points. These pages publish no fixed award chart. Air India offers a Value Fare and a Prime Fare, and a Points Calculator for the price on a given route. Cash + Points is sold only on Air India’s website and app, with the cash part paid by credit card.
An Air India or Air India Express Award Flight carries a convenience fee per passenger per ticket. For Asia the relevant ones are:
- INR 649 from India to short-haul destinations.
- USD 8 from short-haul destinations into India. Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand are on that list.
- USD 12 into India from long-haul places such as Japan and South Korea.
Points last 24 months plus the month of travel. Any revenue flight operated by Air India or Air India Express extends all of them by 24 months from that flight. Award Flights do not count, and the terms exclude Star Alliance flights, so a member who credits only partner flights will watch points lapse. “Members cannot revive Maharaja Points once they expire.” Points from non-airline partners also run 24 months, and the current enrolment bonus expires after 12 months. The membership itself never expires.
To book an award for someone else, you need at least two Air India or Air India Express flights on different bookings credited to your account. How miles expire across Asian programmes compares the rule with other airlines.
The benefits that need an Air India channel
Air India’s tier comparison attaches its fee waivers to “Air India operated flight tickets booked using Cash or Cash+Points through the Air India website, mobile app, call centre, or ticketing offices”. Each one covers only the member’s own booking and “does not extend to any other passengers included in the same PNR.”
| Benefit | Silver | Gold | Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic date change | 1 change for INR 1,000 plus GST | 1 free | 2 free |
| International date change | None | 1 free, up to 72 hours before | 2 free, up to 24 hours before |
| Domestic cancellation | None | INR 1,199 plus GST | Free, up to 24 hours before |
| Award Flight fee waiver | Up to 30 days before | Up to 7 days before | Up to 2 hours before |
| Free seat selection | None | Standard seats | All seats |
The domestic changes must be made at least 24 hours before departure. Free seats are narrower still: Air India-operated flights and “only on tickets booked via air india web, app and call center”, so a ticketing office booking does not qualify. Gold and Platinum also get the same free changes on international Star Alliance flights booked through Air India, but “there are no waivers on cancellation.”
If you are Gold or Platinum and often change plans, that is the case for buying from Air India rather than an agent.
None of these are Star Alliance benefits. On another member airline, a Gold or Platinum member gets the alliance set: lounges with a guest, priority check-in and boarding, and an extra 20 kg or one 23 kg piece. Two more benefits are Air India-only:
- Fly Prior, the free switch to an earlier Air India domestic flight.
- Domestic cabin upgrade vouchers, issued on qualifying or renewing: one for Silver, two for Gold, three for Platinum.
Student and senior citizen discounts are a separate scheme with their own ID checks, covered in Air India’s student and senior concession fares.
We have an affiliate arrangement with Air India through CJ and earn a small commission on bookings made through our links. Membership is free, and the tier rules are the same however you book.
Air India's Maharaja Club earn page, with the direct-booking bonus and the tier earn rates (affiliate link)