Award route card · one-way
India's longest nonstop is a masterclass in chart geometry: at 8,691 miles the Air India bird sails past Aeroplan's 8,000-mile band line, repricing to 75,000/110,000 — while the zone-based charts don't blink. Air India's own April-2026 tier prints 40,000 economy, same as Delhi. ANA's partner chart books the nonstop at 136,000 round-trip — 68,000 a direction, 42,000 under Aeroplan — and AAdvantage's 70,000 Qsuite via Doha ignores the distance entirely. On ultra-long-haul, fly the zone chart, not the tape measure.
The play · business
Feed it: 1,63,200 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 3,26,400 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 54,400 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Mileage Club | Star-partner award on the Air India nonstop — ROUND-TRIP only | 68,000 | — | ₹68,000 | the play |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Qatar Airways Qsuite via Doha (oneworld) | 70,000 | — | ₹70,000 | 1.0× |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier | 1,30,000 | — | ₹1,04,000 | 1.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star Alliance partner award (Air India nonstop bookable) | 1,10,000 | — | ₹1,10,000 | 1.6× |
| Emirates Skywards | Emirates via Dubai — Classic Rewards, calculator-priced | dynamic | — | — | — |
The play · economy
Feed it: 40,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 20,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 40,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier | 40,000 | — | ₹32,000 | the play |
| ANA Mileage Club | Star-partner award on the Air India nonstop — ROUND-TRIP only | 40,000 | — | ₹40,000 | 1.3× |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Qatar Airways via Doha (oneworld) | 40,000 | — | ₹40,000 | 1.3× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star Alliance partner award (Air India nonstop bookable) | 75,000 | — | ₹75,000 | 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.
136,000 round-trip — 68,000 a direction on India's longest flight, 42,000 under Aeroplan's band price. The catch trio: round-trip only, Air India Value space required, and funding runs through Bonvoy at 3:1. Worth all three on a 17-hour flat bed.
Feed it: 1,63,200 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 3,26,400 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 54,400 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
70,000 one-way in Qsuite — the cheapest fixed business number on the board, one-way flexible where ANA isn't, and distance-blind where Aeroplan isn't. Qatar's partner saver J is scarce and no Indian card feeds AAdvantage directly (Bonvoy 3:1 — see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage).
Feed it: 2,10,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 4,20,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 70,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Bengaluru–SFO business isn't separately published; every documented India–North America business route in the April-2026 chart floors at 130,000. ANA's partner chart does the same seat for 68,000 a direction — round-trip strings attached.
Feed it: 1,30,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 65,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 1,30,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
110,000 in the 8,001+ band — untouched by June 2026, still surcharge-free, but 20,000 over what Delhi pays for the same coast. The distance chart's honest price for 8,691 miles; the zone charts below simply refuse to count.
Feed it: 55,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 1,10,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 2,75,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Bengaluru–Dubai–SFO prices off the calculator, +15% on premium cabins since May 2026. No published number; with four fixed-price anchors above, a Skywards quote has to clear a high bar.
Ways in: Amex Membership Rewards 2:1 · RBL Reward Points 4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy · Axis EDGE Miles 1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy
Explicitly published at 40,000 in the April-2026 chart — the North America tier floor, identical to Delhi–SFO despite 1,600 more kilometres. ₹32,000 at house value for 17 nonstop hours is the single best economy ratio in the program.
Feed it: 40,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 20,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 40,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
Zone 4 ⇄ Zone 6 partner chart: 80,000 round-trip, halved here, distance-blind — 8,691 miles priced like 6,000. Round-trip-only (ANA sells no international one-ways), and Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 is the only Indian road into the program.
Feed it: 96,001 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 1,92,001 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 32,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
40,000 on the published Contiguous 48 ⇄ Indian Subcontinent partner chart, Bengaluru–Doha–SFO on Qatar metal. Matches Air India's nonstop price while adding a Doha stop — a backup, not a plan. Bonvoy 3:1 funds it — see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage.
Feed it: 1,20,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 2,40,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
The band jump: 8,691 flown miles lands in the 8,001+ tier — 75,000 after June 2026's +7%, not the 60,000 Delhi pays. Nearly double Air India's 40,000 on the same aircraft; in economy this chart is the wrong tool for this corridor.
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)