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Award sweet spots · from India

United MileagePlus

₹1.00 our house value

The Star Alliance search engine, not the cheap chart. United went dynamic on its own metal but still prices partner (Star Alliance) awards at fixed saver levels with zero fuel surcharges — and its award-search tool is the best in the alliance, so many people use United to FIND space and then book it cheaper through Aeroplan. The one genuinely unique lever is the Excursionist Perk: a free one-way inside a round trip. India-origin partner business is dear (110,000 to the US), so United earns its keep on US-based flying and on the Excursionist, not on price out of Delhi.

the take, in full fold that back up

The table

Redemption Points Surcharge Typical cash ₹ / pt vs index
Excursionist Perk — a free one-way inside a round trip — — — — —
US domestic, economy Saver (one-way) 12,500 ₹1,500 — — —
India → US/Canada, business partner Saver (one-way) 110,000 ₹6,000 — — —

₹/pt = (typical cash − surcharge) ÷ points, computed only from sourced numbers — the build fails if a row's arithmetic doesn't. A dash means no honest cash anchor exists; the row's note below says why. Dynamic-priced programs are framed as “typical”, never guaranteed.

Chart-priced, not live seats. Every corridor behind this page is priced off published award charts — 39,855 options across 2,450 corridors. 37% of the 39,855 priced options on the board are stated estimates for programmes that publish no chart; they are marked ~ est. and never crowned the play. Nobody here can see whether a seat exists on your date — confirm the space with the programme before you transfer. Points that leave your issuer do not come back.

Row by row

Excursionist Perk — a free one-way inside a round trip

unpriced

United's structural trick: on a round trip through three or more segments, one qualifying leg prices at ZERO miles — it must sit in the region where your trip turns around and cannot be the first segment. Think US→Europe, a free intra-Europe hop, then home. No fuel surcharge and no cash anchor to compute — it is simply a leg for free, the closest thing in Star Alliance to Aeroplan's stopover.

Feed it: Any United balance: Axis Atlas 1:2 (doubles in) · HDFC/HSBC/SBI/Kotak 2:1 · Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 (effective 2:1 with the bonus)

as of 23 Jul 2026 milesopedia.com

US domestic, economy Saver (one-way)

unpriced

Dynamic on United metal, but saver economy still opens from ~12,500 one-way (the range runs 5,000–15,000) with no fuel surcharge. The headline low-end value — not India-origin, so it is a domestic-US tool rather than a Delhi redemption. Atlas 1:2 turns it into 6,250 EDGE Miles.

Feed it: Axis Atlas 1:2 (6,250 EDGE Miles) · HDFC/HSBC/SBI/Kotak 2:1 — but you must be in the US to use it

as of 23 Jul 2026 10xtravel.com

India → US/Canada, business partner Saver (one-way)

unpriced

Partner Star Alliance business India↔North America prices at a fixed 110,000 one-way (economy 60,500) with zero fuel surcharge — but Aeroplan sells the same Air India seat for 90,000. United's real edge here is award SPACE and search, not price: use it to locate the seat, then transfer to the cheaper program. Widest Star reach in the alliance.

Feed it: Axis Atlas 1:2 · HDFC/HSBC/SBI/Kotak 2:1 — or find the space on United and book it via Aeroplan for 90,000

as of 23 Jul 2026 10xtravel.com

The corridors that feed it

Live ratios from our transfer data — our points : partner points, exactly as tracked in data/transfer-partners.yaml. Every card sits beside the ratio it gets: the headline rate first, then the cards that move at something else.

2:1
HDFC Reward Points HDFC Infinia Metal · HDFC Diners Club Black Metal · HDFC BizPower at 100:33: HDFC Regalia Gold only the cards named — 37 other HDFC Reward Points cards can't ride it 24 hours
1:2
Axis EDGE Miles Axis Atlas at 1:5: Axis Bank PRIMUS at 1:4: Axis Olympus at 1:1: Axis Horizon at 2:1: IndianOil Axis Bank Premium up to 1 working day
2:1
HSBC Reward Points HSBC Premier (Metal) · HSBC TravelOne · HSBC Privé at 3:1: HSBC Platinum · HSBC RuPay Platinum instantly or within 1 working day
2:1
SBI Travel Credits SBI Card MILES PRIME · SBI Card MILES ELITE · SBI Card MILES up to 21 days
2:1
Kotak Air Miles Kotak Air+ Prime · Kotak Air+ · Kotak Air