Air India Cuts Frequent Flyer Mileage Targets by Half

Air India has announced a refresh of its ‘Flying Returns’ (FR) frequent flyer programme. For a limited time, members have the possibility to fast-track tier upgrades with just 50% of the same old qualifying points.

Flying Returns fast-track

The Indian airline’s FR program has benefited from several changes to turn out to be what Air India’s deems “” within the country. The large news is that flyers will find a way to fast-track tier status upgrades or membership renewals using only 50% of their points, for a limited time only.

Photo: Soos Jozsef | Shutterstock

FR members may have access to advantages with 25 Star Alliance airlines, including over 1 lakh (100,000) redemption seats every month and points earned on Air India and partner airline flights.

Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Industrial Officer, said,

Membership in Flying Returns starts off with Base Tier, followed by Silver Edge Club (25,000 points), Golden Edge Club (50,000 points), and The Maharaja Club (75,000 points). Passengers profit from dedicated check-in and boarding from Silver tier up, while the highest two tiers – Golden and Maharaja – can access airport lounges across 200 countries, amongst other perks.

What else has modified?

As Air India strives to make Flying Returns “,” the refresh includes several other perks:

• No blackout dates – unlike most airlines, you will not be locked out of certain dates when redeeming points, even during peak travel periods.
• Point validity extension – prolonged validity of Flying Returns points and tier status till June thirtieth, 2023, with an additional extension to the top of 2023 if points are earned or redeemed up until June thirtieth.
• Retro claim – claim points on previous trips with ‘Retro Claim’ up to 1 yr back on Air India flights and 6 months with Star Alliance partners.
• Customer care – Air India will launch a premium call center, together with a single point of contact on its website, for FR members.
• Family pooling – connect accounts with relations and mix points right into a single account for ease of use.

Roadmap continues

India’s flag carrier has undergone a substantial transformation since passing back into Tata Group ownership in 2020. The airline made world headlines earlier this yr after announcing an enormous order for 470 Airbus and Boeing planes, and has also introduced several latest international routes to its network, most recently Delhi-Amsterdam.

Photo: Media_works | Shutterstock

Its five-year Vihaan.AI plan appears to be paying off, with Air India implementing a variety of systems and culture upgrades, together with its network and fleet growth. The airline can also be undertaking a significant recruitment drive given its fleet expansion – it attracted over 700 latest pilot applications within the space of every week, with many keen to work under a Tata-owned business. Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have now hired almost 4,000 latest employees this yr, including greater than 500 pilots and a couple of,400 cabin crew.

Are you a Flying Returns member? How does it measure as much as other airline loyalty programmes? Tell us within the comments.