Air India and SBI Card announce a new co-branded Visa card, two years after closing the old ones
Air India, SBI Card and Visa announced a new Maharaja Club credit card on 28 October 2026. No fee, earn rate or launch date is out yet. The old Air India SBI cards have been closed to new applicants since October 2024.
In this article
Air India, SBI Card and Visa announced on 28 October 2026 that they will build a new co-branded credit card for Air India's Maharaja Club. It will run on Visa. Live From A Lounge, Card Insider and BW Retail World all report the same announcement, and all three agree on how little is known so far.
What is confirmed, and what is not
| Status | |
|---|---|
| Partners | Air India, SBI Card, Visa |
| Loyalty programme | Maharaja Club (earns Maharaja Points) |
| Pitch | Rewards on everyday spending, plus travel and lifestyle |
| Launch date | Not announced |
| Annual fee | Not announced |
| Earn rates | Not announced |
| Lounge access and welcome benefit | Not announced |
| Card names and variants | Not announced |
So any fee or earn rate you see for this card today is a guess. We will update this post when the terms are published.
The old cards are a useful warning
This is a return, not a first attempt. SBI Card's own customer notices page records what happened to the previous pair:
- Closed to new applicants: the notices say that from 10 October 2024 the issuance of Air India SBI Platinum and Air India SBI Signature cards "has been discontinued".
- Earn rate cut: from 31 March 2025, points on Air India tickets bought by the primary cardholder on the airline's website or app fell from 30 to 10 per ₹100 on the Signature, and from 15 to 5 per ₹100 on the Platinum.
None of the three reports says what the new card means for people still holding the old ones. If you hold one, assume nothing changes until SBI Card or Air India tells you otherwise.
What to do
- Do not hold out for this card if you need one now. There is no launch date, and a card with no published terms cannot be compared with anything.
- Already collecting airline miles? See where your current points can go in the transfer partners matrix.
- Choosing a travel card now? Run your spend through Polo Match and compare the result with the new card once its terms are out.
Sources
Every claim on this page is backed by a primary or reputable source.
Cards affected
Card figures on CardPolo come from our catalog, each with an issuer source and a verified date where we have checked it. Spot something out of date? Tell us at hello@cardpolo.com.
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