Award route card · one-way
No nonstop from Bengaluru to Seoul and no Indian card feeds Korean's SKYPASS, so this corridor is a connections board. The quiet win is Asia Miles: 20,000 Standard economy on Cathay via Hong Kong, SBI 1:1, cheaper than Korean's own off-peak nonstop from Delhi — and JMB prices the same HKG routing at 23,000/42,000, direct-fed via HSBC. KrisFlyer via Singapore (42,000/88,000) and Aeroplan on Air India metal via Delhi complete it. SKYPASS stays the trophy no Bengaluru balance can reach.
The play · business
Feed it: 21,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 42,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 1,05,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | Cathay Pacific business via HKG (oneworld) on JAL partner chart | 42,000 | — | ₹46,200 | the play |
| Cathay Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific business via HKG (oneworld), Standard award — cumulative-distance pricing | 60,000 | — | ₹60,000 | 1.3× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Air India metal via DEL (Star Alliance partner award) | 75,000 | — | ₹75,000 | 1.6× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines via SIN (one stop), Saver | 88,000 | — | ₹96,800 | 2.1× |
The play · economy
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)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathay Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific via HKG (oneworld), Standard award — cumulative-distance pricing | 20,000 | — | ₹20,000 | the play |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | Cathay Pacific via HKG (oneworld) on JAL partner chart | 23,000 | — | ₹25,300 | 1.3× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines via SIN (one stop), Saver | 42,000 | — | ₹46,200 | 2.3× |
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.
42,000 one-way business through Hong Kong on the 2,001-4,000-mile partner band — under SKYPASS's unreachable Prestige, well under KrisFlyer's 88,000, and HSBC feeds it 1:1 instantly. The quiet business answer to Seoul from a Bengaluru balance.
Feed it: 21,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 42,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 1,05,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
60,000 Standard for two Cathay business sectors — SKYPASS has no Indian bank feed at all while Asia Miles takes SBI at 1:1, and against KrisFlyer's 88,000 via Changi it's fewer miles for arguably better metal. Standard space capped, book early.
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)
Bengaluru→Seoul clears the distance line at 75,000 in business on the June-2026 chart, booking Air India's BLR-DEL-ICN on its own metal. Roughly double JMB's 42,000 via Hong Kong; exists because Aeroplan is reachable 1:1 from SBI and 1:2 from Atlas — a fallback, not a plan.
Feed it: 37,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 75,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,87,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Zone 6 → Zone 7 Saver, same rate as Tokyo: 88,000 miles for two SQ business legs through Changi. More than double JMB's 42,000 via HKG on this very corridor — direct-fed and SQ metal both legs, but the miles gap is the story. Asterisked (over-MPM). Completeness.
Feed it: 88,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 44,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 1,76,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)
BLR-HKG-ICN totals ~3,743 flown miles — the 2,751-5,000 band at 20,000 Standard, no India type-2 premium up there. On a corridor with no nonstop anyway, this is the cheapest published economy to Seoul, on a program SBI feeds 1:1 — the quiet win.
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)
JMB's oneworld partner chart sums the sectors: BLR-HKG-ICN's ~3,743 flown miles sit in the 2,001-4,000 band — 23,000 one-way economy on Cathay metal. 3,000 over Asia Miles for the same seats, but JMB is direct-fed (HSBC 1:1, Axis EDGE 1:2, SBI 2:1). JAL's own metal can't do this trip — its own-metal chart prices Japan departures only.
Feed it: 11,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 23,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 57,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Seoul shares Zone 7 ("Japan & South Korea") with Tokyo, so BLR→Seoul prices exactly like BLR→Tokyo: 42,000 Saver economy via Changi. More than Asia Miles' 20,000 and a longer detour, but mintable from four Indian issuers without a hotel program. ASTERISKED: over-MPM SIN routing recomputes above the printed reference fare.
Feed it: 42,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 21,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 84,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)