✈️ Sky-High Rewards: How to Maximize the Air India Maharaja Club Points Fest (May 2026)
If you’ve been hoarding credit card reward points and waiting for the "perfect" moment to redeem them, your patience has just paid off. Air India has officially launched its Maharaja Club Points Fest for May 2026, and it is one of the most lucrative opportunities we’ve seen in the Indian aviation space.
With the airline recently reducing reward point requirements for 90% of its routes, these bonus points will go further than ever before. Here is everything you need to know to earn up to a 50% bonus on your transfers.
📋 The Offer at a Glance
Throughout the month of May, Air India is celebrating crossing the 100-partner milestone by offering tiered bonuses when you convert bank reward points into Maharaja Club Points.
- 📅 Offer Period: May 1, 2026 – May 31, 2026.
- ✍️ Registration: Mandatory. You must register on the Air India website before transferring points.
- 🏆 Maximum Bonus: 2,00,000 bonus points per partner.
- ⏳ Credit Timeline: Bonus points will be credited within 60 days after the offer ends.
📈 The Bonus Slabs: Go Big for 50%
The promotion uses a tiered structure. The more points you convert in a single transaction, the higher the percentage bonus you receive:
| Maharaja Points Received | Bonus Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1 to 25,000 | 10% |
| 25,001 to 50,000 | 20% |
| 50,001 to 75,000 | 30% |
| 75,001 to 1,00,000 | 40% |
| Above 1,00,000 | 50% |
💡 Pro Tip: If you have 100,000 points, don't stop there. Pushing just one point over the 1L mark unlocks the full 50% bonus, netting you an extra 50,000+ points!
💳 Who Should You Transfer From?
While Air India has over 100 partners, not all transfer ratios are created equal. Here are the standout eligible partners:
- 🏦 ICICI Bank: Specifically the Emeralde Private (Metal) card, which offers a solid 1:1 ratio.
- 💳 SBI Card: The Air India SBI Signature remains an outstanding value for this fest.
- 🌐 DBS Bank: The Vantage card offers a decent 1:0.8 ratio.
- 🤝 Others: Kotak (Solitaire), IndusInd (Tiger Card), and international partners from HSBC (UK, UAE, etc.) are also eligible.
⚠️ Important Exclusions: Note that Axis Bank and HSBC India are notably excluded from this promotion. Additionally, co-branded Club Vistara cards (SBI, IDFC, IndusInd) will not earn the bonus.
⚖️ 3 Golden Rules to Remember
- ✔️ Register First: If you transfer points and then register, you will miss out on the bonus.
- ☝️ First Transaction Only: The bonus applies only to the first eligible transaction with each partner. If you transfer 50k points and then another 60k from the same bank later in the month, the second transfer won't count for the bonus.
- 🏢 The "Per Partner" Advantage: You can earn the 50% bonus multiple times if you have points across different banks. For example, transferring 1L from ICICI and 1L from SBI can net you 100,000 bonus points in total (50k from each).
🏁 Final Verdict
With a 50% bonus, the value of a Maharaja Point effectively jumps from ~₹1 to ~₹1.5. When you combine this with Air India’s revamped (and lowered) award charts, this is arguably the best time to book that Business Class seat to London or New York.
If you have points sitting idle in your ICICI, SBI, or Kotak accounts, May 2026 is the month to make your move.
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