Award flight · one-way
Etihad flies AMD–AUH nonstop, but its Guest programme prices GuestSeats off demand with no published Ahmedabad datapoint — so the only fixed-price seat is the counter-intuitive one: Qatar's own Avios bands, booked AMD–DOH–AUH, land business for 38,500 by overshooting to Doha and doubling back. Air India has no Maharaja here — it terminated Abu Dhabi on mainline metal. Short hop, cheap cash; a redemption only if you're clearing a balance.
The play · economy
Which card mints this?
+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →
One of your cards is in those 7 — see it in the funnel →
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) the play | Qatar Airways via DOH (oneworld) — two segments, band-priced | 19,000 | — | ₹19,000 | the play |
| IndiGo BluChip | IndiGo nonstop AMD-AUH — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced) | ~14,000 est. | — | ₹7,000 | 0.4× |
| Etihad Guest | Etihad nonstop AMD-AUH — Saver Award, calculator-priced | ~13,000 est. | — | ₹13,000 | 0.7× |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Avianca LifeMiles | ~15,000 est. | — | ₹15,000 | 0.8× |
| United MileagePlus | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — United MileagePlus | ~17,500 est. | — | ₹17,500 | 0.9× |
| Aegean Miles+Bonus | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Aegean Miles+Bonus | 20,000 | — | ₹20,000 | 1.1× |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Copa ConnectMiles (fixed region chart) | 20,000 | — | ₹20,000 | 1.1× |
| Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards | Qatar Airways via DOH (oneworld partner award), India→the Gulf — Alaska Atmos | 25,000 | — | ₹25,000 | 1.3× |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — TAP Miles&Go | 60,000 | — | ₹48,000 | 2.5× |
The play · business
Which card mints this?
+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →
One of your cards is in those 7 — see it in the funnel →
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aegean Miles+Bonus the play | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Aegean Miles+Bonus | 30,000 | — | ₹30,000 | the play |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Avianca LifeMiles | ~25,000 est. | — | ₹25,000 | 0.8× |
| United MileagePlus | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — United MileagePlus | ~32,500 est. | — | ₹32,500 | 1.1× |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Copa ConnectMiles (fixed region chart) | 35,000 | — | ₹35,000 | 1.2× |
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | Qatar Airways via DOH (oneworld) — two segments, band-priced | 38,500 | — | ₹38,500 | 1.3× |
| Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards | Qatar Airways via DOH (oneworld partner award), India→the Gulf — Alaska Atmos | 50,000 | — | ₹50,000 | 1.7× |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — TAP Miles&Go | 80,000 | — | ₹64,000 | 2.1× |
All-in ₹ = points × the program's house value (valuation index) + the sourced one-way surcharge; a dash means the carrier doesn't publish it and the ranking counts it ₹0 — the row's note carries the caveat. That surcharge is the airline's own cash charge on an award — YQ, as the notes below call it — and it is not the fuel-surcharge waiver your credit card advertises: that one hands back a hundred rupees or two at a petrol pump, this one runs to tens of thousands and decides whether the award is worth taking at all. “Dynamic” and estimated (~… est.) rows never compete for the play — the crown is always a verified, bookable price. Feed-ins come from the same transfer data as the optimizer, multi-hop chains included.
Chart-priced, not live seats. These prices are read off each programme’s published award chart and valued at our own house ₹/point. 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.
The cash on top of the miles. Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) and Etihad Guest state that a carrier-imposed surcharge is charged on an award. United MileagePlus and Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards make you liable for one if the operating airline levies it, without saying whether it does. Government taxes and airport charges are payable in every case. Almost no programme publishes the amount, so the desk carries each one’s policy in its own words — on its programme hub — rather than a number nobody published. 5 other programmes priced here publish nothing the desk could read.
Open this corridor in British Airways’ Flight Finder → It fills in your search — AMD to AUH on 29/12/2026, which you change there. It does not show award space, and no link on this page can. It is the only carrier handoff the desk ships: Qatar returns CASH fares under award-looking parameters, Aeroplan discards them behind a login, KrisFlyer’s search has no URL to link to, and the Flying Blue template in circulation has never been verified.
Qatar Airways oneworld
12,500 (AMD-DOH, Z3) plus 6,500 (DOH-AUH, Z1) = 19,000 Avios for the Doha-overshoot routing. Economy isn't this corridor's Avios story — on a short Gulf hop with a nonstop on Etihad, a cash fare usually wins.
Feed it: 19,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 38,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 19,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo
IndiGo flies AMD-AUH nonstop, but BluChip has no award chart — chips offset the live fare at roughly ₹0.40-0.60 apiece (min 500), own metal only. A cash purchase wearing a loyalty badge; convenient if you already hold chips.
Estimate IndiGo BluChip is revenue-linked ~Rs0.50/pt; ~= typical one-way IndiGo economy fare / Rs0.50 for ~1,174 mi - a rupee offset that moves 1:1 with the live fare. Own-metal only, no partners.
Feed it: 21,000 HSBC Reward Points (1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 70,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:1) · 42,000 HDFC Reward Points (3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Etihad Airways
Etihad flies AMD-AUH nonstop, but Guest prices Saver Award seats dynamically off demand with no published Ahmedabad datapoint, and real prices run well past the theoretical distance chart. The nonstop convenience is the draw; the points maths rarely is.
Estimate Etihad Guest Saver Award starting level for the ~1,140-mile flown itinerary (nonstop), read off Etihad's last published one-way distance-band structure (1,500-mile band). Etihad publishes no award chart today - GuestSeat became Saver Award on 13-Nov-2025 and pricing lives in the Miles Calculator - so fixed-rate space is limited and real quotes often run well above this floor.
Feed it: 6,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 13,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 32,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Star Alliance
LifeMiles prices Star partner metal off an unpublished grid; India→Europe business ~63k is the headline sweet spot (beats Aeroplan). Business is the value cabin here; economy is mediocre. The chart is semi-fixed/unpublished, so some bands are estimates.
Estimate LifeMiles publishes no award chart — Avianca withdrew its public zone table in 2023 and prices Star partner awards off an unpublished internal grid. This level is extrapolated from that historical zone pricing plus dated community booking reports, not a verified chart price.
Feed it: 45,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 90,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 30,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)
Star Alliance
United went fully dynamic in 2020 (no fixed chart), so ~17,500 is a typical Saver partner level to the Gulf. But Aeroplan often prices the same Star seat lower, so compare before burning United miles.
Estimate United MileagePlus Saver partner level, India→the Gulf on Star Alliance metal; United went fully dynamic in 2020, so this is a typical Saver that moves with availability and cabin scarcity.
Feed it: 8,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 43,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2) · 52,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
Aegean Miles+Bonus prices Star partner metal off one region chart published as ROUND TRIPS — its own rule is that a one-way costs exactly half, and the halved figure is what we show. India sits in the "Near East & Central Asia" zone: the Far East is a flat 30k/45k one-way (Tokyo costs the same as Bangkok), Europe 35k/55k, North America 50k/75k. No Indian card feeds it — Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 is the only road in, and awards only display once you hold the full balance.
Feed it: 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 120,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
Copa ConnectMiles prices Star partner metal off its FIXED region chart (India sits in Copa’s "Central Asia" zone). Standout value — India→Europe 45k business, India→Sub-Saharan Africa 17.5k economy on Ethiopian (Cairo is a dearer 20k Middle East cell) — but NO Indian card feeds ConnectMiles (buy-miles or a US co-brand only), so treat it as a reference benchmark, not a wallet-reachable route.
Feed it: 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 120,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Qatar Airways oneworld
Alaska Atmos bands the TOTAL DISTANCE FLOWN, not the nonstop great circle: the cheapest Atmos routing is Qatar Airways via DOH, ~1,532 flown miles against a 1,140-mile nonstop, which reads the Asia-Pacific chart's 1,501-3,000 mi band — 25,000 economy / 50,000 business one-way, plus the $20 partner booking fee per person each way (up from $12.50 on 1-Jul-2026). One-way.
Feed it: 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 120,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
The 4 May 2026 chart pulled the Gulf out of TAP's "Asia" zone and gave it a Middle East band of its own: India→Middle East went 40k/60k → 60k/80k one-way, +50% in economy and +33% in business on a short hop. Intra-Asia is now 50k/70k, so Bangkok and Singapore price below Dubai. Heavy fuel surcharges on Lufthansa-group and TAP metal; Turkish, EgyptAir and Ethiopian routings dodge most of the YQ.
Feed it: 150,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.5:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 300,000 RBL Reward Points (5:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 100,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.67:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
Aegean Miles+Bonus prices Star partner metal off one region chart published as ROUND TRIPS — its own rule is that a one-way costs exactly half, and the halved figure is what we show. India sits in the "Near East & Central Asia" zone: the Far East is a flat 30k/45k one-way (Tokyo costs the same as Bangkok), Europe 35k/55k, North America 50k/75k. No Indian card feeds it — Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 is the only road in, and awards only display once you hold the full balance.
Feed it: 75,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.5:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 150,000 RBL Reward Points (5:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 50,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.67:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
LifeMiles prices Star partner metal off an unpublished grid; India→Europe business ~63k is the headline sweet spot (beats Aeroplan). Business is the value cabin here; economy is mediocre. The chart is semi-fixed/unpublished, so some bands are estimates.
Estimate LifeMiles publishes no award chart — Avianca withdrew its public zone table in 2023 and prices Star partner awards off an unpublished internal grid. This level is extrapolated from that historical zone pricing plus dated community booking reports, not a verified chart price.
Feed it: 75,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 150,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 50,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)
Star Alliance
United went fully dynamic in 2020 (no fixed chart), so ~32,500 is a typical Saver partner level to the Gulf. But Aeroplan often prices the same Star seat lower, so compare before burning United miles.
Estimate United MileagePlus Saver partner level, India→the Gulf on Star Alliance metal; United went fully dynamic in 2020, so this is a typical Saver that moves with availability and cabin scarcity.
Feed it: 16,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 81,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2) · 67,500 Amex Membership Rewards (2.08:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
Copa ConnectMiles prices Star partner metal off its FIXED region chart (India sits in Copa’s "Central Asia" zone). Standout value — India→Europe 45k business, India→Sub-Saharan Africa 17.5k economy on Ethiopian (Cairo is a dearer 20k Middle East cell) — but NO Indian card feeds ConnectMiles (buy-miles or a US co-brand only), so treat it as a reference benchmark, not a wallet-reachable route.
Feed it: 90,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.57:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 180,000 RBL Reward Points (5.14:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 60,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.71:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Qatar Airways oneworld
24,500 for AMD-DOH (Z3, 1,151-2,000 mi) plus 14,000 for the DOH-AUH hop (~193 mi, Z1) = 38,500 Avios for Qatar's business cabin, the only fixed-price premium seat here — bought by overshooting east to Doha and coming back. Partner Avios ignore MPM, so the detour prices cleanly; no peak/off-peak. Whether it beats Etihad depends on what the calculator quotes.
Feed it: 38,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 77,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 38,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
Qatar Airways oneworld
Alaska Atmos bands the TOTAL DISTANCE FLOWN, not the nonstop great circle: the cheapest Atmos routing is Qatar Airways via DOH, ~1,532 flown miles against a 1,140-mile nonstop, which reads the Asia-Pacific chart's 1,501-3,000 mi band — 25,000 economy / 50,000 business one-way, plus the $20 partner booking fee per person each way (up from $12.50 on 1-Jul-2026). One-way.
Feed it: 120,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 240,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 80,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
The 4 May 2026 chart pulled the Gulf out of TAP's "Asia" zone and gave it a Middle East band of its own: India→Middle East went 40k/60k → 60k/80k one-way, +50% in economy and +33% in business on a short hop. Intra-Asia is now 50k/70k, so Bangkok and Singapore price below Dubai. Heavy fuel surcharges on Lufthansa-group and TAP metal; Turkish, EgyptAir and Ethiopian routings dodge most of the YQ.
Feed it: 195,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.44:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 390,000 RBL Reward Points (4.88:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 130,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.63:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Or take the whole region: every corridor we price into Middle East — 207 of them. Or pick any two hubs — 2,450 corridors priced.