Can you buy Air India Maharaja Club points? A 2026 guide for Indian travellers
By Arjun Kapoor (Arjun Kapoor tracks error fares, mileage runs and award-chart sweet spots for Indian travellers. He moderates two Telegram fare-alert channels and has booked Europe round-trips at sub-₹25,000 four times in the last 24 months.) · Published · 9 min read
Air India lets Maharaja Club members buy points directly — but the base rate is expensive and only makes sense during promotional windows like 'Points Fest', which has historically offered bonus miles of up to 50%. Here is the CPM arithmetic, when buying beats transferring bank points, and the traps to avoid.
TL;DR — the short answer
Yes, you can buy Maharaja Club points directly through Air India's website, but only do it during a bonus promotion and only if you have a specific award redemption in mind. At the base rate (no promotion), the cost per mile is high enough that buying points rarely beats just paying cash for a ticket. During Maharaja Club's 'Points Fest' promos — which have historically offered bonuses in the range of 30–50% on purchased miles — the effective cost drops meaningfully. In May 2026 there was a reported 50% bonus window. Even then, run the numbers: compare (purchase cost ÷ total miles including bonus) against the cash value of the award you want to redeem. Only buy if the math works for a specific redemption you are ready to make within a reasonable time window. Always verify the current promotion terms on the Air India website before purchasing.
How does buying Maharaja Club points actually work?
Air India has a 'Buy Miles' feature available through the Maharaja Club portal. You log in, select the number of points you want to purchase, pay by credit or debit card (Indian-issued cards work fine), and the miles typically credit to your account within a few hours. There is usually a minimum purchase quantity and a per-transaction cap — both of which can change between promotions, so check the terms at the time of purchase.
The bought miles go into your regular account balance and can be used for any Maharaja Club redemption — Air India award tickets, partner airline awards, upgrades, or ancillary purchases. There is no separate 'bought miles' bucket; they sit alongside earned miles.
One thing to be aware of: bought miles are generally non-refundable once purchased, and they have the same expiry rules as your other miles (activity-based, so any earn or burn in the account resets the clock). More on expiry in a moment.
When does buying points actually make sense — the CPM math
CPM — cost per mile — is the metric that determines whether purchasing is smart or a waste of money. Here is how to run it:
Step 1: Find the total cost. If Air India is selling 10,000 points for, say, ₹8,000 (illustrative — check the current price on the Air India site), that is 80 paise per point at base rate.
Step 2: Apply the bonus. During a 50% bonus promotion, that ₹8,000 gets you 15,000 points. CPM drops to around 53 paise per point.
Step 3: Value the redemption. If you are planning to redeem for a Business Class ticket on Air India that would otherwise cost ₹1,20,000, and the award costs 80,000 points, then each point is 'worth' ₹1.50 in that specific redemption. At 53 paise per point purchase cost, you are getting about 2.8x value — a good trade. If the redemption is for a domestic economy award worth ₹5,000 at 15,000 points (33 paise per point), buying at 53 paise each is a loss.
The general wisdom I apply: buying points makes sense only when the award value exceeds roughly 1.2–1.5x the purchase CPM, and only when you have a specific redemption ready to make within 3–6 months. Buying speculatively — hoping to find a good use later — almost always ends in disappointment because the best awards get snapped up fast.
Buying vs transferring bank points to Maharaja Club
This is the real question for most Indian cardholders. The major Indian bank programmes that transfer to Maharaja Club include HDFC Bank SmartBuy/Diners, American Express Membership Rewards, and Axis Bank EDGE Rewards. Each has a different transfer ratio and a different effective CPM — and transfer is often (not always) better value than buying.
HDFC Diners Black and Infinia: These cards earn reward points that transfer to partner airline programmes at a ratio that varies by card variant. On the higher-tier cards, the effective cost of a transferred mile (when you factor in the spend required to earn the points) can be very competitive. But the transfer is one-way and takes 2–7 business days.
Amex Membership Rewards: After a significant devaluation in 2024–25, the Amex MR to Maharaja Club ratio shifted to 2 MR = 1 mile. At Amex's typical earn rate of 1 MR per ₹50 spent, that works out to a relatively high spend-per-mile. Still better than buying at base rate, but less attractive than it used to be.
Axis Bank EDGE Rewards: Axis Bank's premium cards (Magnus, Reserve) transfer to KrisFlyer and some other programmes, though Maharaja Club transfer availability and ratios depend on current bank agreements — verify on the Axis Bank rewards portal before counting on it.
If I had to generalise: for most Indian cardholders, transferring existing bank points to Maharaja Club beats buying new points at any price. The exception is when you have a hard deadline for a redemption (say, a specific award date is about to open) and you are just short by a few thousand points. In that scenario, a small purchase during a bonus promo to top up is perfectly rational.
Points Fest and other buying promotions — what to watch for
Air India runs 'Points Fest' — a periodic promotion where purchased miles come with a bonus, historically in the 25–50% range. In May 2026 there was a reported 50% bonus window, which is about as good as it gets on the Maharaja Club buy programme. These promotions tend to run for a week to ten days and are announced via email to Maharaja Club members and on the Air India social media accounts. Sign up for Maharaja Club email newsletters if you have not already — that is the most reliable way to hear about these windows first.
A few cautions:
- The best bonus promotions sometimes have a purchase cap. If the 50% bonus is only valid on the first 25,000 purchased miles, the effective benefit is capped even if you want to buy 50,000 miles.
- Buy only what you can use in a defined timeframe. Miles expiry is activity-based on Maharaja Club (any account activity resets the clock), but if your account goes dormant, miles can expire. Do not buy more than you need for the next redemption or two.
- Verify the points have credited before making an award booking. Typically they post within hours, but give it a day before calling Air India reservations to book an award that depends on the just-purchased miles.
If you are searching for flights and want to see the cash cost of options before deciding whether a redemption makes sense, start at FlightGPT — it pulls fares from multiple sources so you have a realistic baseline for the CPM comparison.
Can you gift or transfer purchased Maharaja Club points to another member?
Maharaja Club does allow a 'Miles Transfer' feature where you can move points from your account to another member's account. This is different from buying — the transfer uses your existing balance, not a fresh purchase. The feature typically carries a transfer fee (a percentage of the miles transferred, charged in cash or in miles), so it is not free. If your goal is to top up a family member's account for a redemption, gifting from an existing balance is often a cleaner option than buying new miles separately.
What you cannot do is pool miles across family members automatically — Maharaja Club does not have a household pooling feature like some other programmes (Avios family pooling, for instance). Each member's account is separate.
Bottom line
Buying Maharaja Club points at the base rate is almost never worth it. During a 30–50% bonus promotion, it can make sense for a specific, high-value redemption — particularly Business Class awards on Air India, which tend to offer good value per mile. Always run the CPM math against the actual cash cost of the ticket before committing. If you have bank reward points sitting idle, transfer those first — the effective cost is usually lower than buying. Check out our article on earning Maharaja points on Star Alliance partners for ways to build your balance without spending cash, and see how Indian bank points transfer to KrisFlyer for comparison context.
Frequently asked questions
How many Maharaja Club points can you buy at once?
Air India typically sets both a minimum purchase quantity and a per-transaction or per-year cap on bought miles. These limits change between promotions — during Points Fest windows, the cap has historically been around 1,00,000–1,50,000 miles per member per promotion. Check the current terms on the Air India website at the time of the offer.
Do purchased Maharaja Club points expire?
Maharaja Club points have activity-based expiry — any earning or redeeming activity in your account keeps the entire balance alive. Purchased miles go into your regular balance and follow the same expiry rules. If your account has been inactive for the programme's expiry period (typically 3 years for active accounts, but verify on the Maharaja Club terms page), all miles including purchased ones can expire.
Is there a GST charge on buying Maharaja Club points?
Yes, GST is typically applicable on miles purchased directly from the airline, as it is a service transaction. The GST amount is usually displayed at checkout before you confirm the purchase. Factor this into your CPM calculation — it adds to the effective cost per mile.
Can I use a credit card to buy Maharaja Club points and earn card rewards on the purchase?
Yes, you can use an Indian credit card to buy miles, and most cards will treat this as a regular e-commerce transaction and award your card's reward points on it. If your card earns well on online transactions (many travel cards do), you can effectively reduce your net CPM slightly. However, do not overweight this — card reward points on the purchase amount are unlikely to be worth more than a few paise per rupee spent.
When is the next Points Fest promotion for Maharaja Club in 2026?
Air India has not published a fixed schedule for Points Fest — they announce it a few days before it goes live. Sign up for Maharaja Club email newsletters and follow Air India on social media for advance notice. Based on past patterns, these promotions have appeared a few times per year, often around long weekends or seasonal travel peaks. I would not count on a specific date; just be ready to act quickly when one is announced.