Award route card · one-way
Thai flies the nonstop and its zone chart still sells Royal Silk to its own hub for 27,500 miles one-way — the standout published business fare leaving Bengaluru, cheaper than KrisFlyer's Zone6→3 economy via Singapore. Air India's flat 12,000-point economy is the cheap-seat floor (it doesn't fly the nonstop — that's a metro connection), and Aeroplan books the very same Thai nonstop for 47,500 surcharge-free. Chart says ROP; the arithmetic doesn't argue.
The play · business
Feed it: 13,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 27,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 27,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thai Royal Orchid Plus | Thai Airways nonstop (Star Alliance), Royal Silk | 27,500 | — | ₹27,500 | the play |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India via DEL (BLR–DEL–BKK, mainline one award — Star Alliance), Value tier | 50,000 | — | ₹40,000 | 1.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Thai Airways nonstop (Star Alliance partner award) | 47,500 | — | ₹47,500 | 1.7× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines via SIN (one stop), Saver | 47,500 | — | ₹52,250 | 1.9× |
| Cathay Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific business via HKG (oneworld), Standard award — cumulative-distance pricing | 60,000 | — | ₹60,000 | 2.2× |
The play · economy
Feed it: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India via DEL (BLR–DEL–BKK, mainline one award — Star Alliance), Value tier | 12,000 | — | ₹9,600 | the play |
| Thai Royal Orchid Plus | Thai Airways nonstop (Star Alliance), zone chart | 17,500 | — | ₹17,500 | 1.8× |
| Cathay Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific via HKG (oneworld), Standard award — cumulative-distance pricing | 20,000 | — | ₹20,000 | 2.1× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines via SIN (one stop), Saver | 20,000 | — | ₹22,000 | 2.3× |
| IndiGo BluChip | IndiGo nonstop — revenue-based BluChip pricing | dynamic | — | — | — |
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. “Dynamic” rows never compete for the play. Feed-ins come from the same transfer data as the optimizer, multi-hop chains included.
27,500 miles one-way in Royal Silk to TG's own hub on the nonstop — the desk's pick for the corridor and one of the best published business rates any Bengaluru balance can touch. Book TG-operated flights only; the 3-year mile expiry is the one trap.
Feed it: 13,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 27,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 27,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
Flat 50,000 SE Asia business (region tier), connection on AI metal included (BLR–DEL–BKK, one award, not a leg-sum). Thai's 27,500 nonstop is the sharper premium buy; Maharaja's case on this corridor is the 12,000 economy.
Feed it: 50,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 25,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 50,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
BLR-BKK's 1,548 great-circle miles sit in the 0-2,500-mile Atlantic-Pacific band — 47,500 in business after the June-2026 hike, on Thai's own nonstop, with no fuel surcharges. 1.7× ROP's 27,500 for the identical seat; only for points already stranded in Aeroplan (reachable 1:1 from SBI, 1:2 from Atlas).
Feed it: 23,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 47,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,18,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
47,500 Saver in business via Changi — 1.7× Thai's 27,500 Royal Silk nonstop on the same corridor, for a seat you'd fly with an extra stop and a detour. Zone 6 → Zone 3, asterisked (over-MPM routing recomputes above the printed fare). A completeness row; ROP wins outright.
Feed it: 47,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 23,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 95,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)
60,000 Standard for two Cathay business sectors through Hong Kong — 2.2× Thai's 27,500 Royal Silk nonstop on the same board. The backtrack adds ~3 hours and Standard space must line up on both legs; completeness for Asia Miles balances, nothing more.
Feed it: 1,20,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 60,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 2,88,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Region-tier award: SE Asia is a flat 12,000 in the April-2026 chart, and BLR–DEL–BKK rides entirely on AI mainline metal, so the domestic feeder is included in the single tier price — NOT blr-del 7k + del-bkk 12k summed. The cheapest published seat to Bangkok from Bengaluru on points.
Feed it: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
India zone → Bangkok on ROP's DIRECT-flight chart — the BLR-BKK nonstop, not a through-priced connection. At ₹8-14k cash fares this rarely clears ₹0.7/mile; Royal Silk one row down is where the same chart earns its keep. HDFC (2:1), Axis (1:2), HSBC (1:1) and SBI (1:1) all feed ROP; mind the hard 3-year mile expiry.
Feed it: 8,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 17,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 17,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
BLR-HKG-BKK is ~3,507 flown miles — the 2,751-5,000 band at 20,000 Standard, no India type-2 premium up there. But it's a Hong Kong dog-leg east past Bangkok then southwest back (~2.3× the nonstop). Air India's 12,000 and Thai's nonstop both win; a row for stranded SBI-fed Asia Miles only.
Feed it: 40,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 20,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 96,001 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Zone 6 → Zone 3 (Thailand) on the official 1-Nov-2025 chart: 20,000 Saver for two SQ legs through Changi. Above ROP's nonstop and above Air India's flat 12,000, plus a southbound detour TG flies around — but it's the balance four Indian issuers actually mint. ASTERISKED: SQ concedes the routing can exceed maximum permitted mileage, so 20,000 is the published reference and a floor — the calculator may recompute the BLR-SIN-BKK MPM higher.
Feed it: 20,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 10,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 40,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)
IndiGo flies the nonstop and a BluChip is worth ₹0.40-0.60 against the 6E fare, no chart. It will never beat Thai's 27,500 Royal Silk for drama, but for a cheap seat to Bangkok it's the program most Indians already hold.
Ways in: HSBC Reward Points 1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL) · Axis EDGE Reward Points 5:1 · HDFC Reward Points 3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)