Economy the play 7,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
276 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published “All other partners” cell is 7,500 economy — read first-hand off Air Canada's own Flight Reward Chart PDF on 2026-08-29, page “Within Atlantic zone”. Air India is one of those partners: it is a Star Alliance member on fixed-price partner metal, not one of the Select carriers Aeroplan prices dynamically. Air India's own calculator samples the same seat at 4,000 — ₹3,200 of Maharaja Points against ₹7,500 of Aeroplan — but that is an estimate off a programme with no published chart, so the crown stays here. Watch the band edge — a connecting itinerary that flies past 1,000 miles lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000 / 22,500, and Aeroplan bands the distance actually FLOWN, not the great circle. A flat CA$39 partner booking fee applies per ticket.
Feed it: 3,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 7,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 18,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air India mainline nonstop, plus Air India Express on the same pair — both redeemable with Maharaja Points
Air IndiaAir India Express
Cut 20% in the April-2026 route-level overhaul — the full pull prints "AMD,BOM, old 5,000-5,500, new 4,000-9,500" — and 4,000 is the Value floor this board prices. ₹3,200 at the ₹0.80 house value for a one-hour sector that sells for ₹3-5k cash: the best points-to-rupees ratio in this batch. Air India Express flies the pair too and its seats have been redeemable with Maharaja Points since 21-May-2026, so either group metal books at this cell. Government taxes and passenger service fees are cash on top.
Estimate Air India publishes no award chart. Its own Points Calculator states that “Fares indicated above are dependent on the time of booking and seat availability”, and Maharaja Club prices every award either as a Value fare (the discounted rate for booking well in advance) or as a higher Prime fare closer to departure. This number is the Value-fare floor as sampled after the April-2026 repricing — not a published chart cell: Value space is not always available on a given flight, and the same seat prices higher once it is gone. Pricing model re-verified against Air India’s Maharaja Club T&C and Points Calculator on 2026-08-09.
Feed it: 4,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 2,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 4,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
Business the play 12,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
276 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published “All other partners” cell is 12,500 business — read first-hand off Air Canada's own Flight Reward Chart PDF on 2026-08-29, page “Within Atlantic zone”. Air India is one of those partners: it is a Star Alliance member on fixed-price partner metal, not one of the Select carriers Aeroplan prices dynamically. Air India's own calculator samples the same seat at 12,000 — ₹9,600 of Maharaja Points against ₹12,500 of Aeroplan — but that is an estimate off a programme with no published chart, so the crown stays here. Watch the band edge — a connecting itinerary that flies past 1,000 miles lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000 / 22,500, and Aeroplan bands the distance actually FLOWN, not the great circle. A flat CA$39 partner booking fee applies per ticket.
Feed it: 6,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 31,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Business ~12,000 pts est. Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier — Air India Express has no business cabin
Air India Star Alliance
Cut 20%, 15,000 → 12,000, and one of only two cells in this wave where the house chart undercuts Aeroplan's floor band on BOTH metrics — 12,000 against 12,500 points, ₹9,600 against ₹12,500. It still cannot be crowned, because Air India publishes no chart and this is a sampled Value fare rather than a cell you can hold the airline to. If the Value seat is there, it is the better buy by ₹2,900; if it is gone, the Aeroplan row is the hedge and it is a published price.
Estimate Air India publishes no award chart. Its own Points Calculator states that “Fares indicated above are dependent on the time of booking and seat availability”, and Maharaja Club prices every award either as a Value fare (the discounted rate for booking well in advance) or as a higher Prime fare closer to departure. This number is the Value-fare floor as sampled after the April-2026 repricing — not a published chart cell: Value space is not always available on a given flight, and the same seat prices higher once it is gone. Pricing model re-verified against Air India’s Maharaja Club T&C and Points Calculator on 2026-08-09.
Feed it: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)