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Have you heard of Air India Maharaja Club? Neither have I … until recently, when I needed to book a short-haul United domestic flight. Anshul mentioned he accrues his parents’ paid Star Alliance flights to Maharaja Club, and honestly, I might start doing the same.
It is worth noting that earning Maharaja Club points is fairly difficult in Canada outside of crediting paid flights. Air India is not a transfer partner of Marriott Bonvoy and does not partner with any Canadian or U.S. transfer currencies. The easiest way to earn Maharaja Club points is through Rove, but Rove is technically only available for U.S. residents.
Maharaja Club – The Basics
Air India Maharaja Club doesn’t have a published award chart, but does appear to have fixed prices. You can use the award pricing calculator to figure out pricing and you can select Air India metal or Star Alliance Partners. It only works for direct flights; for example, nothing came up when I searched for Toronto (YYZ) to Auckland (AKL).
Air India Maharaja Club award calculator
Searching for Toronto (YYZ) to Montreal (YUL), however, did pull up results.
Book YYZ-YUL for 8,000 Maharaja Club points
Note this is specifically for an Air Canada flight of this distance and not for all Star Alliance flights in general because United has different prices.
When it comes to actually searching for flights, Air India makes it very straightforward and make sure the “Points” toggle is on when you search. You must be logged in, and I created a profile by logging in with Google.
Search Air India Maharaja Club
We might have talked about airlines releasing less space to partners, but Air Canada is fairly generous on the Toronto (YYZ) – Montreal (YUL) route as seen below.
Book Air Canada with Maharaja Club
Without having enough points in my account, Air India does not show the taxes and fees. I’d expect them to match what Aeroplan charges.
Intra-U.S. Short-Haul Flights on United
No doubt the best and my favourite sweet spot for Maharaja Club points is redeeming for United domestic flights. Key word here being domestic because unfortunately, the moment a flight touches Canada, the price jumps up considerably.
Verifying flight pricing is done with the points calculator, but Award Wallet published a United chart showing what Maharaja Club charges based on distance for U.S. domestic flights.
| Distance | Economy | First Class |
|---|---|---|
| Under 600 miles | 3,500 | 7,000 |
| 600-1,000 miles | 5,500 | 11,000 |
| 1,000-1,500 miles | 7,500 | 15,000 |
| 1,500-4,000 miles | 13,500 | 27,000 |
| 4,000+ miles | 30,000 | 60,000 |
Flights under 600 miles in distance cost just 3,500 points is a deal in all circumstances, though. And even farther, flying up to 1,000 miles costs just 5,500 points, and even farther than that, flying 1,500 miles costs only 7,500 points. Considering just one United hub, New York/Newark EWR, we can see what this means in reality.
Oh, the places United can take you for 7,500 Maharaja Club points or less
The three “layers” of the circle around New York/Newark EWR each represent a distance of 600, 1,000, and 1,500 miles, and I’ve selected a few major cities just as examples. Based on this map, we can ascertain the following when flying one-way in economy:
- Boston, Washington D.C., and Charlotte all fall under 600 miles in distance, meaning it costs just 3,500 Maharaja Club points
- Chicago and Atlanta fall between 600 and 1,000 miles in distance, meaning it costs 5,500 Maharaja Club points
- Dallas, Houston, and Miami all fall between 1,000 miles and 1,500 miles in distance, meaning it costs 7,500 Maharaja Club points
To put this into perspective, I’d be ecstatic to pay 7,500 United miles or 7,500 Aeroplan points for any of these flights, including flights under 600 miles — making the 3,500- and 5,500-Maharaja Club points flights absolute steals.
Air India Maharaja Club vs. Aeroplan vs. United MileagePlus
Later this year, I need to position from Miami (MIA) to Washington Dulles (IAD) and Air India Maharaja Club is charging 5,500 points.
Book MIA-IAD for just 5,500 Maharaja Club points
Meanwhile, the same flight through Aeroplan costs 15,000 points.
Aeroplan charges 15,000 points for MIA-IAD on United
Through United MileagePlus, it costs 13,200 miles.
Through United MileagePlus, MIA-IAD costs 13,200 miles
Taxes and fees booking through Air India Maharaja Club run about $18 USD on domestic United flights according to online data reports.
The examples use New York/Newark EWR as the hub, but of course this applies to the West Coast flights as well, so expect flights like San Francisco – Seattle to cost 5,500 Maharaja Club points.
Except When Touching Canada, Unfortunately
As mentioned before, flying to Canada is not a deal because both Air India Maharaja Club and Aeroplan charge 10,000 points for short-haul flights like Ottawa (YOW) – New York/Newark (EWR).
Aeroplan charges 10,000 points for Ottawa – New York/Newark
Needless to say, at the same price point, booking through Aeroplan is the obvious choice.
Or pay the same number of points with Air India Maharaja Club
Longer flights like Vancouver (YVR) – San Francisco (SFO) cost 15,000 Maharaja Club points, which aren’t a deal, either.
Longer flights like YVR-SFO cost 15,000 Maharaja Club points
Other Good Redemptions with Maharaja Club
Poking around with the online calculator, I found a few other decent redemptions:
- Mumbai (BOM) – Singapore (SIN) one-way in business class for 50,000 Maharaja Club points
- Compare to 52,500 Aeroplan points or 65,000 United miles (of course Aeroplan points are easier to earn)
- Delhi (DEL) – Port Blair (IXZ) one-way in economy for as low as 10,000 Maharaja Club points
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal are closer to Thailand than India and are a popular tourist destination
- Compare to 15,000 Aeroplan points or 22,500 United miles
- Mumbai (BOM) – Mauritius (MRU) one-way in economy for as low as 12,000 Maharaja Club points
- Compare to 30,000 Aeroplan points or 55,000 United miles
- This is the best Air India sweet spot as 12,000 points is the same price to fly to Southeast Asia and the Gulf region
- Domestic flights starting at 1,500 Maharaja Club points
- Chennai (MAA) – Bengaluru (BLR) starts at 1,500 points one-way in economy
- Mumbai (BOM) – Delhi (DEL) starts at 5,000 points one-way
- Aeroplan charges 7,500 points one-way for flights under 1,000 miles in distance and United starts at 12,500 miles
Redemptions on Air India appear to be dynamic depending on the time of booking, so the best prices appear when booked further from the date of departure. Grabbing awards at the lowest end of dynamic pricing is potentially challenging, and Aeroplan could come out ahead if there is saver space available to partners. I found lots of award space between Delhi and Mumbai at the lowest 5,000-point price, but couldn’t locate any flights between Chennai and Bengaluru costing just 1,500 points.
DEL-BOM seems wide open at the lowest 5,000-point price
Earning Maharaja Club Points is Challenging
The biggest hurdle is actually earning Air India Maharaja Club points without a bank or hotel transfer partner. Rove is the easiest and most accessible, and right now, signing up with a creator’s affiliate link comes with 1,500 free miles. You can combine Rove miles between accounts, but a minimum of 2,000 miles is required. And of course, earning Rove miles means making cash bookings through Rove, and it’s up to you if the multiplier offered makes sense for the Rove Miles earned. Often, it does (Rove has offered very generous multipliers in the past), but keep in mind Rove is technically only open to U.S. residents.
Because United flights start at just 3,500 miles, it could make sense to credit Star Alliance cash flights to Air India — a move I’m seriously considering because I book quite a few short-haul domestic United flights U.S. each year.
Takeaway
In practicality, booking short-haul flights on United represents the best and most practical sweet spot for Air India Maharaja Club points. It is unfortunate that the price jumps when flights touch Canada, as that significantly dampens the appeal for Canadians since it doesn’t make sense to redeem for positioning flights. If you’re flying domestic, though, flights under 1,500 miles in distance costing 3,500, 5,500, or 7,500 points one-way in economy are a steal.
The other biggest sweet spot is booking flights from India to Mauritius, Southeast Asia, or the Gulf for 12,500 points one-way, as Aeroplan and United both charge more than twice as much for a flight of this distance in this region.
Featured Image Credit: Air India
