IHG and Air India Launch Loyalty Points Partnership

IHG Hotels & Resorts and Air India have launched a loyalty partnership connecting IHG One Rewards and Air India’s Maharaja Club [1]. Under the agreement, Maharaja Club members earn points on hotel bookings worldwide, while IHG One Rewards members can convert points directly into airline currency to fund travel across Air India's international network [1].

How do Maharaja Club members earn points across IHG properties?

Maharaja Club members earn reward currency based on direct spend across IHG’s global footprint of more than 7,100 hotels in over 100 countries, according to eHotelier [1]. For qualifying stays at the majority of IHG brands, travelers receive 2 Maharaja Points for every US$1 spent [1]. Stays booked at Candlewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, IHG Residences, and IHG Army Hotels yield 1 Maharaja Point per US$1 spent [1].

To accelerate adoption after the announcement, the companies introduced an introductory earning incentive [1]. Maharaja Club members earn triple points—3x Maharaja Points—on qualifying hotel stays completed between September 15 and December 31, 2026 [1]. Travelers must register for the promotion, which operates without blackout dates during the promotional window [1].

What are the conversion terms between IHG One Rewards and Maharaja Club?

IHG One Rewards members can convert their hotel loyalty points directly into Air India Maharaja Points at a fixed ratio of five to one [1]. According to eHotelier's coverage of the agreement, 1,000 IHG One Rewards Points convert into 200 Maharaja Points [1].

The minimum threshold required to initiate a transfer is 1,000 IHG One Rewards Points [1]. This structure lets IHG's base of over 160 million members shift accumulated balances into airline loyalty currency for flights across Air India's domestic and international routes spanning five continents [1].

What does this tie-up signal for IHG's Indian pipeline?

The tie-up provides customer acquisition support for IHG's fast-expanding Indian property footprint [1]. IHG currently operates 53 hotels across seven brands in India, including Six Senses, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Vignette Collection, Crowne Plaza, voco Hotels, Holiday Inn Resort, and Holiday Inn Express [1].

The company maintains an active development pipeline of 110 properties scheduled to open across India within the next three to five years [1]. Linking loyalty operations directly with India's primary international carrier helps channel corporate and leisure travelers into these forthcoming properties [1]. Sudeep Jain, Managing Director for South West Asia at IHG, noted that India remains an essential growth market where the company seeks to build customer engagement and drive booking preference across its expanding portfolio [1].

Why is Air India expanding non-airline loyalty partnerships?

Air India is scaling partner integrations to position the Maharaja Club as a lifestyle loyalty programme that captures member spend beyond flight bookings [1]. Between fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2026, the airline added more than 100 partner brands to the Maharaja Club network [1].

During fiscal year 2026, Maharaja Club members completed over 4.2 million transactions across partner merchants covering travel, hospitality, lifestyle, and day-to-day purchases [1]. Sunil Suresh, Head of Marketing, Loyalty and E-commerce at Air India, explained that the carrier aims to create broader value across passenger travel journeys by establishing earning and redemption avenues across commercial categories outside aviation [1].