Air India and IHG Hotels & Resorts announced a new loyalty tie-up this week: Maharaja Club members can now earn Maharaja Points on stays at IHG's roughly 7,100 hotels worldwide, and IHG One Rewards members can exchange their hotel points for airline points. It's a real, concrete partnership with real numbers attached — which also means it's easy to see exactly how mediocre the exchange side of it actually is.

What's actually new

Starting now, Air India Maharaja Club members earn Maharaja Points when they stay at IHG properties — that's the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, Kimpton, and voco family, among others. Separately, IHG One Rewards members can convert their hotel points into Maharaja Points if they'd rather have airline currency than another free night. IHG says it operates 53 hotels across India today with 110 more in the pipeline, and Air India says its loyalty program has grown its partner roster by more than 100 brands over the past three fiscal years. This is IHG and Air India explicitly building out points ecosystem depth in the Indian market, not a niche side deal.

The earn rate, in plain terms

Stay at most IHG-branded hotels and you'll earn 2 Maharaja Points per US$1 spent. Stay at the extended-stay and lower-tier brands — Candlewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, IHG Residences, and IHG Army Hotels — and that drops to 1 point per dollar. That's a normal co-brand-style earn rate, nothing shocking either way. It's a fine reason to pick IHG over a hotel chain with no Maharaja Club tie-in at all, if you're already loyal to Air India.

The exchange rate is the actual story here

Here's where it gets less exciting: converting IHG One Rewards Points into Maharaja Points runs at 1,000 IHG points for 200 Maharaja Points — a 5-to-1 ratio, with a 1,000-point minimum to even start. Hotel programs routinely devalue when you push points into an airline program, but a 5:1 hit is steep even by that standard. If you were sitting on IHG points hoping to stretch them into meaningfully more flight value, this isn't the move; you're better off just redeeming for the hotel stay IHG points were designed for. Notably, the announcement says nothing about elite status reciprocity — no mention of Maharaja Club elites getting IHG Diamond-equivalent treatment or vice versa. This is a points-earning and points-moving deal, not a full status alliance.

The one part worth actually using

The launch promo is the real reason to pay attention before this fades into background noise: eligible Maharaja Club members earn 3x Maharaja Points on qualifying IHG stays between September 15 and December 31, 2026, with no blackout dates. If you've already got Air India loyalty and a hotel stay coming up in that window anyway, that's genuinely worth booking through the promo rather than leaving it on the table. Outside that window, this partnership is mostly a mild convenience, not a reason to change how you book.

Bottom line

This is a legitimate, verified partnership — not vaporware, not a rumor. But it's a modest earn-and-transfer deal with a below-average exchange rate and no status perks attached, dressed up in press-release language about a "landmark" tie-up. If you're a Maharaja Club member with IHG stays already on the calendar for the fall, use the 3x promo. If you were hoping this meant something bigger for cross-program value, it doesn't. Confirmed directly on IHG's own newsroom press release.