Air India and SBI Card are bringing back a co-branded card. Here is what the old two cards gave.
Air India and SBI Card announced a new Visa co-branded card for Maharaja Club members on 28 October 2026. Fees and earn rates are not out yet. Here is what the discontinued Signature and Platinum cards still give existing holders, and the numbers the new card has to beat.
In this article
On 28 October, Air India announced that it is working with SBI Card and Visa on a new co-branded credit card for members of Maharaja Club, its loyalty programme. The press release says the card will launch soon. It gives no fees, no earn rates and no variant names, and SBI Card has not published a product page or terms for it yet.
This is not SBI's first Air India card. It already has two, the Air India SBI Signature and the Air India SBI Platinum, and both product pages are still live on sbicard.com. Both pages also carry the same notice at the top: SBI stopped issuing them on 10 October 2024. If you hold one, it still works. If you don't, you can't get one.
So this post does two things. It sets out what the old cards give their holders today, taken from SBI's own pages and terms, and it uses those numbers as the bar the new card has to clear.
Key takeaway
You cannot apply for the Air India SBI Signature or Platinum. SBI stopped issuing both on 10 October 2024. The new card has been announced, and its terms have not been published.
The two cards side by side
Both cards earn SBI reward points, which you convert to Air India Maharaja Points at 1 to 1.
| Signature | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual and renewal fee | ₹4,999 + GST | ₹1,499 + GST |
| Welcome points (on paying the fee) | 20,000 | 5,000 |
| Anniversary gift | 5,000 points a year | 2,000 points a year |
| Air India tickets | 10 points per ₹100 | 5 points per ₹100 |
| Everything else | 4 points per ₹100 | 2 points per ₹100 |
| Spend milestones | 20,000 at ₹5 lakh, 30,000 more at ₹10 lakh, 50,000 more at ₹20 lakh | 5,000 at ₹2 lakh, 10,000 more at ₹3 lakh |
| Most bonus points a year | 1,00,000 | 15,000 |
| Domestic lounge visits | 8 a year, max 2 a quarter | 4 a year, max 1 a quarter |
| Network | Visa | Visa |
The Air India rate applies to tickets booked on Air India's website or app, at its booking offices or through its call centres, including tickets you buy for other people. SBI says the Air India points can take up to 60 days from the transaction to arrive.
The Signature also comes with a Priority Pass membership, but each visit to a Priority Pass lounge costs $27, so it is a pay-per-use pass. Its free visits are the 8 domestic ones.
Worth knowing
Both cards were cut on 31 March 2025. Air India tickets used to earn 30 points per ₹100 on the Signature and 15 on the Platinum. They now earn 10 and 5. SBI's terms still describe the old rates before the line that replaces them, which is why some sites still quote 30.
What the milestones are really worth
The base rate looks modest, but the milestones add a lot, especially on the Platinum. Here is the total for a year, counting base points and milestone bonuses but not the welcome or anniversary gift.
| Card and annual spend | Base points | Milestone bonus | Total | Per ₹100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum, ₹2 lakh | 4,000 | 5,000 | 9,000 | 4.5 |
| Platinum, ₹3 lakh | 6,000 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 7 |
| Signature, ₹5 lakh | 20,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 | 8 |
| Signature, ₹10 lakh | 40,000 | 50,000 | 90,000 | 9 |
| Signature, ₹20 lakh | 80,000 | 1,00,000 | 1,80,000 | 9 |
SBI counts the milestones over 12 months from the date your account was opened, not the calendar year. Air India tickets earn more than the base rate shown here, so a heavy Air India flyer ends up a little above these figures.
The Platinum at ₹3 lakh is the standout. You get 21,000 Maharaja Points for a ₹1,499 fee. Past ₹3 lakh, though, the Platinum has no more milestones and drops back to 2 points per ₹100. If you spend more than that, the Signature is the card to have.
What earns nothing
Both cards earn no points on fuel (MCCs 5172, 5541, 5542 and 5983), wallet loads (6540 and 6541), cash advances, balance transfers, Flexipay or merchant EMI. Rent (MCC 6513) stopped earning on 15 April 2024 and government payments (9311 and 9399) on 15 July 2024. Neither card's terms exclude utilities, insurance or education, so those earn the base rate.
Fuel does get a 1% surcharge waiver on both cards, on transactions between ₹500 and ₹4,000, up to ₹250 a statement cycle.
If you still hold one
- Keep it if you clear a milestone. At ₹3 lakh a year on the Platinum, or ₹5 lakh or more on the Signature, these cards earn 7 to 9 Maharaja Points per ₹100 with no transfer step in between.
- Convert before your points lapse. SBI points you have not redeemed within two years of your enrolment year lapse. You can convert in multiples of 5,000, and SBI says the Maharaja Points arrive within 7 working days.
- Fly with Air India before you redeem. Air India requires at least one flight on your Maharaja Club account before you can spend points on yourself, and five before you can book for family or friends.
- Don't convert on a whim. Once SBI points become Maharaja Points, they cannot come back.
What the new card has to beat
The obvious rival is the Axis Atlas, which many Indian Air India flyers have used to move points into Maharaja Club. In September, Axis moved Air India into its Group A transfer partners, which cut the yearly Air India allowance on Atlas by 75%. That leaves a gap for a card that earns Maharaja Points directly, with no transfer cap in between.
To be worth applying for, the new Air India SBI card has to do at least as well as the card it replaces. On today's numbers, that means:
- about 9 Maharaja Points per ₹100 overall for heavy spenders, as on the Signature at ₹10 lakh;
- more than 10 points per ₹100 on Air India tickets, ideally back towards the 30 the Signature paid before March 2025;
- free lounge visits that don't depend on a Priority Pass you pay for each time;
- a fee waiver tied to spend, which neither of the old cards had.
We'll update this post with the real fees and earn rates when SBI publishes the new card's terms.
Figures here were checked against issuer and primary sources on 30 October 2026. Card terms and offer periods change without notice, and this is general information rather than advice about your particular situation.
