Air India has revamped its frequent flyer program, flying returns. It has made some minor but notable changes inspired by Vistara. And there are still a few things that need to be cleared. Air India’s flying returns frequent flyer program will be a point for discussion for some time, as Indigo has taken steps to Introduce its frequent flyer program, too. Here is what you need to know about Air India Flying Returns.
What is Air India’s Frequent Flyer Program “Flying Returns”?
Flying Returns is a free-to-join membership flight rewards program for its members. Once registered, you can earn Air India Points from different sources and redeem them for booking Award Flights or upgrading flights.
Welcome Benefit
If you are not a member of Air India Flying Returns, you can join it free of cost. You will earn 1000 Bonus Air India points upon completing the first revenue flight. You can also claim those points if you have flown with Air India in the last 12 months or Star Alliance partners in the previous six months. Claiming points on these old Air India flights is also straightforward, as they are credited immediately. You can submit a claim for old flights here.
Pro Tip: Book Air India flights on its website and use the American Express Platinum Card to get 10x points with the reward Xcelerator or the Axis Atlas credit card to get 5 miles per INR 100.
Guide: Beginner’s Guide: Travel For Free Using Reward Points [Well Almost]
Air India Flying Returns Tiers
Once you enrol in flying returns, you will receive a Red Tier. After that, your eligibility to the next tier is decided based on the number of tier points you earn or the number of flights, including Air India flights you take.
There are four Air India flying returns tiers:
- Red Tier
- Silver Tier
- Gold Tier
- Platinum Tier
Flying Returns Tier Eligibility
- Red Tier: Enrollment
- Silver Tier: 15K Tier points, of which 4.5K points on Air India or 30 flights with 4 Air India flights
- Gold Tier: 30K Tier points, of which 9K points on Air India or 60 flights with 8 Air India flights
- Platinum Tier: 45K Tier points, of which 13.5K points on Air India or 90 flights with 12 Air India flights
All Tier members earn 6 Tier points for every INR 100 spent on base fare and fuel surcharge. However, members earn 1 Tier point for every two reward points earned on Star Alliance flights. So, you don’t earn tier points based on spending with Star Alliance flights. And in any case, to become an Air India Elite, you must fly with Air India.
If you take all flights with Air India, you must spend a minimum of INR 2.5 Lac to earn Silver Tier, INR 5 Lac to earn Gold Status and INR 7.5 Lac to earn Platinum Elite status.
Elite Status Validity
The Air India Flying Returns Elite status is valid for one year from the date you become an Air India Elite.
Star Alliance Elite Status with Flying Returns Elite Tier
Once you have reached an Air India elite tier, you will have Star Alliance Elite benefits. Silver Tier gets Star Alliance Silver, whereas Gold & Platinum members are Star Alliance Gold elites.
Air India Elite Tier with Credit Cards
As of now, there are no Air India credit cards that give elite tiers. However, we should soon get Air India co-branded cards, which provide elite tiers. Whereas for Club Vistara members who are elite based on Vistara Co-Branded cards, you should get similar elite status Air India. So, CV Gold members should get Flying Returns Gold.
Flying Returns Member Tiers Benefits
The joining tier or red tier has no benefits other than earning & burning points. A Red Tier member earns six reward points for every INR 100.
However, the elite tiers do enjoy some fantastic benefits.
Silver Elite Tier Benefits
- Earn 8 Reward Points per INR 100
- Star Alliance Silver
- Priority check-in
- One Upgrade voucher for domestic flights
- Limited Time: 10KG Excess baggage allowance
- Limited Time: 50% off on the selection of Standard seats
- Priority boarding
- Flight Change (If Booked Directly):
- One discounted flight change (24H before departure) at INR 1K for domestic flights booked directly with Air India.
- Priority waitlist clearance
- Priority and premium customer service
Gold Elite Tier Benefits
Flying Return Gold Elite members benefit significantly from the Air India frequent flyer program.
- Earn 9 Reward Points per INR 100
- Star Alliance Gold
- Fly Early if you reach the airport early (Subject to Availability)
- Priority check-in
- Two Upgrade vouchers for domestic flights
- Baggage Allowance (On Air India & Star Alliance Flights):
- 20KG Excess baggage allowance for flights as per weight system
- 1 Piece (up to 23K) for flights as per piece system
- Free Standard Seat Selection
- Lounge Access with 1 Guest
- Priority boarding
- Flight Cancellation or Change (If Booked Directly):
- One free change (24H before departure) for domestic flights
- One complimentary ticket change (72H before departure) for International flights
- Domestic flight cancellations at flat fees of INR 1199
- Priority waitlist clearance
- Priority and premium customer service
- 10% off on Avis
Platinum Elite Benefits
Air India Flying Returns Platinum Elite members receive exceptional benefits, such as free domestic flight cancellation, free seat selection, and more domestic upgrade vouchers.
- Earn 10 Reward Points per INR 100
- Star Alliance Gold
- Fly Early if you reach the airport early (Subject to Availability)
- Priority check-in
- Three Upgrade vouchers for domestic flights
- Baggage Allowance (On Air India & Star Alliance Flights):
- 20KG Excess baggage allowance for flights as per weight system
- 1 Piece (up to 23K) for flights as per piece system
- Free Seat Selection
- Lounge Access with 1 Guest
- Priority boarding
- Flight Cancellation or Change (If Booked Directly):
- Two free change (24H before departure) for domestic flights
- Two complimentary ticket changes (72H before departure) for International flights
- Free Domestic Domestic flight cancellations
- Priority waitlist clearance
- Priority and premium customer service
- 10% off on Avis
- Avis President’s Club membership
How to earn Air India Flying Returns Reward Points?
There are many ways to earn Air India Points now :
- Signup and Fly to earn 1000 Bonus Points
- Flying with Air India (Based on Elite Tier 6RP-10RP/INR100)
- Flying with Star Alliance Airlines (Based on mileage accrual rate defined for each airline)
- Book Directly on Air India website or Mobile App (Earn 2RP/INR 100)
- Buy Air India Points at a fixed cost of INR 1.5 per point using Axis Atlas to accelerate miles.
- Earn with SBI-Air India Co-Branded Cards (Expect New Cards in future)
- Convert Credit Card Points of:
- HSBC
- CITI
- Axis Bank
- SBI Miles Credit Cards
- ICIC Bank
- Earn with car rental companies like Avis, Zoomcar, discovercars.com & bookairportcab.com
- Earn for booking via Air India on:
- Experiences:
- Sherpa (25RP/INR100)
- Madame Tussauds (up to 16RP/INR100)
- iCruise (5 RP/INR 100)
- KidZania (7RP/INR100)
- Antara River Cruises (10RP/INR 100)
- Legoland (Up to 10Rp/INR100)
- Fratelli (11RP/INR100)
- GetYourGuide (10RP/INR 100)
- Lifestyle
- Truefitt & Hill (5RP/INR100)
- The Bicester Collection (5RP/INR100)
- Kiehl’s (5RP/INR100)
- IGP (10RP/INR100)
- Apple (4RP/INR100)
- FnP (11RP/INR100)
- Tattva (13RP/INR100)
- Stays
- Soneva (5RP/INR100)
- Evolve Back (7RP/INR100)
- Rainforest (10RP/INR100)
- The Grand Dragon Ladakh (20RP/INR100)
- The Roseate Hotels & Resorts (7RP/INR100)
- The Leela (5RP/INR100)
- The Set Collection (5RP/INR100)
- Experiences:
- Family Pooing
Redeeming Air India Flying Returns Points
You can use flying returns points to book Air India or Star Alliance award flights. These points can also be used for upgrades. There is no standard award chart; however, you can use a calculator to determine how many points you need to pay for an award flight. Air India has dynamic but fixed-range pricing for economy flights, whereas Business and first-class awards are fixed awards.
Related: Ways to Redeem Air India Points.
For upgrades, you must pay the difference between the points required to book a particular cabin award and the cabin booked for Air India flights. For Example, if you booked a DEL-LHR premium economy flight and want to upgrade to Business Class, you must pay 59K differential points. A premium economy award costs 66K points, while a business class award costs 125K.
Upgrade points for each Star Alliance member can vary and apply to eligible fares booked.
At present, you can book Lufthansa, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, United Airlines, and Austrian Airlines online. However, award flights operated by other Star Alliance airlines can only be booked via customer care.
If you use the Cash+Plus points option, you will get INR 0.35 per point value, which anyone would not like to use. And there seems to be some limit on the number of points you can use in cash+points option as i had more points but only 246 points could be used.
Cancellation or Change Fees on Award Flights
Air India has fixed cancellation or change fees for Award flights. However, such charges depend on the cancellation period. Also, in the case of a No-Show, your points will be forfeited, and only taxes will be refundable. Even though Air India has a decent but bit complex penalty chart on its website, here is what it means:
- Change Fees: Minimum 15%, 25% if changes are made closure to travel date (varies by region, seven days to 2 hours)
- Cancellation Fees: Minimum 20%, 30% if changes are made closure to travel date (varies by region, seven days to 2 hours)
- For Domestic India and US flights, 24-hour free cancellation is applicable if your flight is at least seven days later.
All changes or cancellations are to be done via Air India Customer Care.
Air India Flying Returns Family Pool Account
A Family Pool account is excellent for families if the family member travels infrequently. The earned points can be pooled into the Flying Returns family head account.
You need to submit the request to customer care to create a family pool account, and they will create the account within 14 days. At the time of pool account creation, you need to choose from three pooling options, which are 100:0, 75:25, and 50:50. The highest share is of the family pooling head account.
Air India Flying Returns Points Expiry
All Air India Flying Returns points expire 24 months after your travel date. However, they are reset from that date on Air India flights. These flights should be paid and reward flights.
Bottomline
Air India Flying Returns is a decent program. However, there’s a long way to go before it comes to its non-reputed metal. Air India consistently makes efforts to get its aircraft retrofitted along with new aircraft orders. With this, the sun may shine early for Air India soon. I had already credited my flight to my flying returns account and am waiting for their co-branded credit cards.
