Economy the play 17,500 pts oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or SriLankan Airlines via CMB
SriLankan Airlines oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. First is the chart’s top cabin for this region pair, so the cell is easier to read than to book wherever no oneworld carrier flies a first cabin on the sector. That region-to-region cell is the PAIR, not the direction: every Indian-Subcontinent cell reads identically from either origin chart, so this heading has one published number.
Feed it: 52,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 105,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 35,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced)
IndiGo
IndiGo flies Bengaluru–Malé nonstop — Bengaluru's own airline table lists Malé on the 6E row, settling the listings conflict this row used to carry — but BluChip prices every seat off the live fare — dynamic ₹0.40–0.60 per BluChip, no chart, minimum 500, taxes cash-only. On a route where honeymoon-season fares run rich, the revenue-priced award just mirrors that; the fixed Maharaja 8,000 is the plan.
Estimate IndiGo BluChip is revenue-linked ~Rs0.50/pt; ~= typical one-way IndiGo economy fare / Rs0.50 for ~685 mi - a rupee offset that moves 1:1 with the live fare. Own-metal only, no partners.
Feed it: 15,600 HSBC Reward Points (1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 52,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:1) · 31,200 HDFC Reward Points (3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Air India has no BLR–MLE nonstop and its only Malé service, Delhi–Malé, is cancelled 1-Jun–31-Aug-2026 and resumes 1-Sep-2026 — connect via DEL, Value tier
Air India Star Alliance
The April-2026 chart newly prices Bengaluru–Malé at 8,000 points — below the 10,000 flat South Asia tier Delhi–Malé pays, because Air India prices routes, not distance. The route-level price is the sourced fact; the metal behind it is not a nonstop. Air India's Malé network is Delhi-only (Delhi's own airport table carries Malé under Air India, Mumbai's does not), so the Air India build is BLR–DEL–MLE and it is cancelled 1 Jun – 31 Aug 2026, resuming 1 Sep 2026 (AeroRoutes, 12-May-2026). IndiGo flies the nonstop today. Taxes unpublished; Maldives departure levies land on the return.
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: 8,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 4,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 8,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
SriLankan Airlines via CMB (oneworld partner award), India→a South-Asia neighbour — Alaska Atmos
SriLankan Airlines oneworld
No Atmos partner flies BLR-MLE nonstop, so the 684-mile great circle never reaches the chart. Alaska bands what you actually fly: SriLankan Airlines via CMB is ~925 flown miles — the Asia-Pacific chart's sub-1,500-mile band, 7,500 economy / 15,000 business one-way, plus the $20 partner booking fee per person each way (up from $12.50 on 1-Jul-2026). One-way.
Estimate Priced at the flown-routing distance, not the nonstop great circle: SriLankan Airlines via CMB = ~925 mi summed great-circle (1.35x the 684-mi nonstop), which reads the Atmos Asia-Pacific partner chart's sub-1,500-mile band (7,500 economy / 15,000 business one-way). Atmos prices partner awards on total distance flown; the exact routing Alaska sells on this pair is not calculator-verified (alaskaair.com blocks automated reads).
Feed it: 22,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 45,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 15,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Emirates via DXB (BLR–DXB–MLE) — Classic Rewards, calculator-priced
Emirates
Emirates connects Bengaluru–Malé through Dubai but publishes no chart — the Miles Calculator prices it per date, the May-2026 devaluation lifted premium ~15%, and EK's surcharges are heavy. A westward Gulf backtrack roughly quadrupling the nonstop distance; never the value buy on a 2-hour leisure hop.
Estimate Emirates Skywards one-way Saver estimate, re-marked 01-Aug-2026 to the official miles-calculator pull of 25-Jul-2026 (post the 20-May-2026 devaluation, premium cabins +~15%; connecting corridors summed per leg); dynamic - no published chart, Saver space thin, Flex/Flex Plus price well above.
Feed it: 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 150,000 RBL Reward Points (5:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 60,000 SBI Travel Credits (2:1)
Etihad via AUH (BLR–AUH–MLE) — dynamic Guest pricing
Etihad Airways
BLR–AUH–MLE flies 3,572 miles for a 685-mile city pair — a westward backtrack of nearly 2,900 miles, and Etihad prices the whole flown distance: 30,000 economy off the distance chart, against Maharaja's nonstop-priced 8,000. Printed for carrier completeness, never as a play; Saver Award space is thin and the carrier charges land on top.
Estimate Etihad Guest Saver Award starting level for the ~3,572-mile flown itinerary (via AUH), read off Etihad's last published one-way distance-band structure (4,000-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: 15,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 30,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 75,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Business the play 30,000 pts oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or SriLankan Airlines via CMB
SriLankan Airlines oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. First is the chart’s top cabin for this region pair, so the cell is easier to read than to book wherever no oneworld carrier flies a first cabin on the sector. That region-to-region cell is the PAIR, not the direction: every Indian-Subcontinent cell reads identically from either origin chart, so this heading has one published number.
Feed it: 90,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 180,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 60,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Business ~15,000 pts est. SriLankan Airlines via CMB (oneworld partner award), India→a South-Asia neighbour — Alaska Atmos
SriLankan Airlines oneworld
No Atmos partner flies BLR-MLE nonstop, so the 684-mile great circle never reaches the chart. Alaska bands what you actually fly: SriLankan Airlines via CMB is ~925 flown miles — the Asia-Pacific chart's sub-1,500-mile band, 7,500 economy / 15,000 business one-way, plus the $20 partner booking fee per person each way (up from $12.50 on 1-Jul-2026). One-way.
Estimate Priced at the flown-routing distance, not the nonstop great circle: SriLankan Airlines via CMB = ~925 mi summed great-circle (1.35x the 684-mi nonstop), which reads the Atmos Asia-Pacific partner chart's sub-1,500-mile band (7,500 economy / 15,000 business one-way). Atmos prices partner awards on total distance flown; the exact routing Alaska sells on this pair is not calculator-verified (alaskaair.com blocks automated reads).
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 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
First the play 40,000 pts AAdvantage region-chart first cell — no oneworld carrier flies a first cabin on this route (SriLankan's top cabin is business); the cell prices, the seat does not fly. Chart completeness only.
oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. First is the chart’s top cabin for this region pair, so the cell is easier to read than to book wherever no oneworld carrier flies a first cabin on the sector. That region-to-region cell is the PAIR, not the direction: every Indian-Subcontinent cell reads identically from either origin chart, so this heading has one published number.
Feed it: 120,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 240,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 80,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)