Award route card · one-way
India's favourite transfer target versus the merger dividend. KrisFlyer's post-Nov-2025 chart still sells SQ business at 45,000 miles Saver — the redemption four Indian issuers exist to feed — but Air India's flat 12,000-point economy tier is the quiet steal, and at house values its 50,000-point business seat costs less ₹ to mint than the SQ one. Chart says KrisFlyer; arithmetic says Maharaja.
The play · business
Feed it: 50,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 25,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 50,000 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 | 50,000 | — | ₹40,000 | the play |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Air India or Singapore Airlines metal (Star Alliance partner award) | 47,500 | — | ₹47,500 | 1.2× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines nonstop, Saver (Zone 6 chart) | 45,000 | ₹6,000 | ₹55,500 | 1.4× |
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 nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier | 12,000 | — | ₹9,600 | the play |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines nonstop, Saver (Zone 6 chart) | 19,000 | ₹5,000 | ₹25,900 | 2.7× |
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, 2-hop chains included.
SE Asia business rose 19% to 50,000 in April 2026 — but at ₹0.80 a point those 50k cost less to mint from bank points than KrisFlyer's 45k. The merger dividend, in one row.
Feed it: 50,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 25,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 50,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
BLR–SIN's ~1,960 great-circle miles sit in Aeroplan's 0–2,500-mile Atlantic–Pacific band — 47,500 in business after the June-2026 hike (was 40,000). Fixed partner pricing, no fuel surcharges; SQ releases partner J sparingly, Air India is the realistic metal.
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)
Post-Nov-2025 Saver for Zone 6 (up from 43,000). Saver J space ex-BLR is real if you book early; this is the redemption the Indian transfer ecosystem was built around.
Feed it: 45,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 22,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 90,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)
April-2026 flat tier: all of SE Asia for 12,000 points in economy — Singapore used to cost 20,000. The cheapest published seat on this corridor by a wide margin.
Feed it: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
The one rate the Nov-2025 devaluation CUT (20,000 → 19,000) — and it still loses to cash: ₹14–25k economy fares put this near ₹0.7/mile. Economy to SIN is a cash purchase, not a redemption.
Feed it: 19,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 9,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 38,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)