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 & Asia 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.
