·
Wins ‘Program of the Year’ in the Middle East & Asia Pacific region at the Freddie Awards
2026
Gurugram : Air India,
India’s leading global airline, today announced that its loyalty programme,
Maharaja Club, has been named ‘Program of the Year’ in the Middle East & Aisa
Pacific region at the prestigious Freddie Awards 2026.
The award marks a significant milestone
in the transformation of Maharaja Club and follows its recognition as the ‘Up and Coming
Program of the Year’ at the Freddie
Awards 2025, marking its rapid
evolution into one of the region’s leading airline loyalty programmes.
In addition
to winning 'Program
of the Year', Maharaja Club was recognised as the runner-up in four key categories, ‘Best Promotion’, ‘Best Elite Program’, ‘Best Redemption Ability’ and ‘Best Customer Service’. The strong showing across
multiple categories reflects the programme's continued commitment on delivering
a rewarding and differentiated experience for its members.
Voted for by millions of travellers
worldwide, the Freddie Awards recognise loyalty programmes that deliver
outstanding member experience, value, customer service, redemption
opportunities and innovation.
The Freddie
Awards, introduced in 1988, are a highly respected global benchmark for travel
loyalty programs, having grown in stature
and importance to become the most prestigious member-generated awards in the travel loyalty industry. Today,
over 7 million voters worldwide cast the Freddie Award ballots annually, with
the balloting available in 13 languages, including Hindi.
Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said: “This title is a strong validation of the direction we have
taken with Maharaja Club. Our focus has been on creating meaningful value for
members and building a programme that extends beyond travel into everyday
experiences. We are grateful for the trust our members have placed in us, and
we remain committed to making Maharaja Club even more rewarding in the years
ahead.”
Redesigned in
2024, Maharaja Club moved away from the legacy model of miles-based collection
of points to a fairer, more equitable spend-based approach. With a simplified structure, a host of customer-friendly
features, renamed tiers, and an updated identity, the programme has added
millions of new members over the two years.
Recently, Air
India announced several enhancements to the Maharaja Club programme, including
reduced redemption levels across at least 90% of the routes served by the
airline, a new tier-based structure for rescheduling and cancellations of Award Flights, and reduced flight count
thresholds for tier progression.
Air India has
now also enabled its Maharaja Club members to earn and redeem Maharaja Points
on flights operated by Air India Express, a value-carrier of the Air India
group, serving 55 destinations across South, Southeast, and West Asia, with a fleet of more than 100
aircraft.
Additionally, Maharaja
Club has significantly expanded its partner
ecosystem to more than 100 partners
across categories, including airlines, hospitality, retail, lifestyle and
financial services, enabling members to earn Maharaja Points across a broad
range of travel and everyday spends.
Maharaja Club members can earn and redeem points
across 25 Star Alliance partner
airlines, enjoy tier privileges worldwide, and access over
1,100 lounges across the globe.