Vistara, India’s last full-service carrier to launch operations and in line to merge with Air India, will see its operations merge with Air India on November 12, 2024. In May 2024, preliminary information was released about the merger of the loyalty programmes, followed by advice to link accounts of loyalty accounts in both programmes. Now, let us see more details about the merger of the programmes.

Date of Account Migration: Club Vistara and Flying Returns

On November 12, 2024, Club Vistara will merge with Air India’s Flying Returns. All CV Points, Tier Points, subsequent Tier Status and available Vouchers (if any) will be transferred to the linked Flying Returns account.

Flight Operations and Bookings

Vistara will continue its flight operations until November 11, 2024, allowing all bookings on the Vistara Website and accruing CV Points. From September 3, 2024, bookings with Vistara for travel on or after November 12, 2024, were discontinued. This included Award Flights and bookings made using Cash + Points.

In the interim, for bookings for travel on or after November 12, 2024, you can book with Air India and earn Flying Returns Reward Points by enrolling with the Flying Returns programme or using your existing Flying Returns account. However, once these benefits are migrated to your Flying Returns account, you can redeem your CV Points and available Club Vistara vouchers on the Air India website only on or after November 12, 2024.

Validity Extension for CV Points and Complimentary Vouchers

Club Vistara has acknowledged that this transition has limited the usage of CV Points or vouchers until November 11, 2024. Here is how Club Vistara is going to compensate.

• Compensatory CV Points: All CV Points set to expire in September and October 2024 will be reissued as ‘Compensatory CV Points’ and transferred to the Flying Returns account on or before November 12, 2024. These points will remain valid for at least one year from the date of migration, regardless of their original expiration date, with the ability for redemption in a broader network with Air India.
• Complimentary Ticket Vouchers:  Complimentary Ticket Vouchers issued by members or auto-generated under “On-demand Voucher Generation” with validity beyond November 11, 2024, will be further extended for three months.
• On-demand Vouchers: Vouchers available under the “On-demand Voucher Generation” feature that is not issued by November 11, 2024, will be automatically issued to the Flying Returns account with a fixed validity of 9 months.

Vistara will close out its airline partnerships effective October 1, 2024

Effective October 1, 2024, Vistara will transition away from its Airline Partnerships with Japan Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and Singapore Airlines. Club Vistara Members cannot book Award Flights or earn CV Points with these Partner Airlines for travel dates beyond September 30, 2024. This was already revealed by the notice that Japan Airlines issued on this development. In light of discontinuing the partnerships, Club Vistara Platinum and Gold members will not be eligible for KrisFlyer Gold benefits on Singapore Airlines flights after September 30, 2024. There is no update on the partnership with United Airlines for now.

All existing Award Flight bookings with these Partners for travel after this date will remain valid, except for those made with Japan Airlines, which will be cancelled. A full refund, including all taxes, charges, and convenience fees, will be provided, and the redeemed CV Points will be credited back to the member’s account.

Similarly, Retro Claims will not be accepted after September 30, 2024. To earn those points, you must provide your Club Vistara ID when booking or checking in to avoid missing out on points.

New Star Alliance Partnership

With the transition to Flying Returns, Club Vistara Platinum and Gold members can earn and redeem with all 24 Star Alliance Airline partners and avail of Star Alliance status for Gold and Platinum members that grants status across the Star Alliance network globally. 

Vistara has discontinued many partnerships for earning points without notice.

In a post-facto disclosure, Club Vistara discontinued partnerships with its Health and Wellness Partners, Stay Partners, Car Rental Partners, Retail and Lifestyle Partners, Travel Services Partners, and Club ITC (Points Transfer Partner) on August 30, 2024. Vistara Getaways, powered by Thomas Cook, was discontinued on August 30, 2024. As a result, CV Points will only be awarded for bookings made and services rendered by August 30, 2024. Bookings made before this date but with service completion after August 30, 2024, will not be eligible to earn CV Points. Only Booking.com will continue to be a Club Vistara Stay Partner till October 31, 2024. Club Vistara members can earn CV Points with Booking.com for bookings made and services rendered by 31 October 2024.

What happens to the co-brand cards and partnerships?

There is no firm agreement between Air India and its co-brand issuance partners, but a handshake agreement has been made for now, or so it seems. Of course, this is not the complete picture, but as I mentioned earlier, this is a perfect time to take on those co-brand cards if you don’t have them, especially the Club Vistara Axis Bank Infinite Card and the IDFC First Bank Club Vistara Credit Card.  It would be best if you did it quickly, because all the banks are expected to stop issuance of these cards sometime in September 2024.

Club Vistara states that members holding existing co-brand cards will continue to enjoy current benefits as per the current card programme construct and existing programme terms and conditions until March 2026.

Existing Co-brand Card Holders

All CV Points, One Class Upgrade Vouchers, and Complimentary Ticket Vouchers will be transferred to linked Flying Returns accounts on November 12, 2024. After this date, co-brand cardholders will earn Flying Returns Points and Complimentary Ticket Vouchers in addition to the existing card benefits. You will also continue to enjoy your Tier status for a year from the merger date.

The annual credit card membership renewals will not be done after March 2025, so the features and benefits will continue for 12 months. I sure hope an Air India partnership is made by then so that these partnerships are not discontinued but rather transitioned to Air India Flying Returns. There is no reason to panic for now, as more details should emerge in the coming months.

Bottomline

What we now know from Club Vistara is very reassuring, especially on the future of the points and vouchers and status and so on. However, it is perhaps disappointing that people are unable to issue reward tickets between September and November 2024 for travel after November 11, 2024. This could have easily been handled by Club Vistara having access to the Air India inventory and them paying Air India for these reward partnerships. Having said that, they extend the vouchers by a couple of months. In the longer scheme of things, I expect more extensions for points, etc. but for now, this is all they will give.

What do you make of the transition parity between Vistara and Air India’s loyalty programmes for now?

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