The handbook
The guides that don't expire.
6 long-form guides, each the standing answer to one whole question — one program, one card, one way of paying. Written by hand, and re-read against the desk's own data on the date stamped beside it.
Which shelf is which
The desk publishes four kinds of writing and they are easy to confuse. News is dated and never rewritten — what changed this week, and it stays wrong-side-of-history on purpose. A handbook entry — the 6 guides below — is the standing answer to a whole question, and it is rewritten every time the ground moves under it. An award sweet-spot guide prices one program's best redemptions and nothing else. And a program hub is the live data itself — today's ratios, today's ₹ per point, today's nerf log.
The date on a row below is the last time a human re-read the ground for that guide, not the last time we felt like publishing. When a ratio moves, the program hub has it first and the guide catches up on the next sweep — so where a guide and a hub ever disagree, believe the hub. Nothing here assumes you already know the vocabulary; where it slips, the glossary has it, and start here has the rest.
Wondering where your points can actually go? Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) · Amex Membership Rewards · Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer · Air India Maharaja Points
Holding one of these cards? HDFC Infinia Metal
Wondering why some of your spending earns nothing? UPI (RuPay-on-UPI only)
the standing answer for Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair)
The Avios playbook from India
Every Indian route into Avios with exact ratios, the Finnair 1:1 trick, pooling, the BOM–LHR band math, the two ways Qsuite prices, and BA's YQ problem.
the standing answer for Amex Membership Rewards
Amex Membership Rewards in India, completely
All five MR cards and their milestone engines, the ₹0.50 house value, ShopWise and Reward Multiplier mechanics, the eight transfer routes, and the traps.
the standing answer for HDFC Infinia Metal
The Infinia endgame
HDFC Infinia at ₹12,500 in 2026: the SmartBuy math after the July caps, the ₹18L retention rule, the 1:1 transfer plays, and who should walk away.
the standing answer for Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
The KrisFlyer bible from India
Every route into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer from Indian cards — exact ratios, the Nov-2025 devaluation math, the saver sweet spots, and the traps.
the standing answer for Air India Maharaja Points
Maharaja Club, the post-merger guide
Air India's Maharaja Club after Vistara: the Apr-2026 award cuts and hikes, twelve bank routes with real ratios, the 24-month expiry trick, and the sweet spots.
the standing answer for UPI (RuPay-on-UPI only)
UPI on a credit card: the RuPay route to travel points
UPI credit runs on RuPay rails only. Which of 37 RuPay-variant cards actually earn, the ₹2,000 interchange quirk, and the three routes to real miles.