Economy the play 7,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
424 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published “All other partners” cell is 7,500 economy — read first-hand off Air Canada's own Flight Reward Chart PDF on 2026-08-29, page “Within Atlantic zone”. Air India is one of those partners: it is a Star Alliance member on fixed-price partner metal, not one of the Select carriers Aeroplan prices dynamically. Air India's own calculator samples the same seat at 4,000 — ₹3,200 of Maharaja Points against ₹7,500 of Aeroplan — but that is an estimate off a programme with no published chart, so the crown stays here. Watch the band edge — a connecting itinerary that flies past 1,000 miles lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000 / 22,500, and Aeroplan bands the distance actually FLOWN, not the great circle. A flat CA$39 partner booking fee applies per ticket.
Feed it: 3,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 7,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 18,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance) — Air India Express serves Nagpur from Bengaluru only
Air India Star Alliance
Cut 27.3% in April 2026 — "BOM,NAG, old 5,500-7,000, new 4,000-11,000" — and 4,000 is the Value floor, ₹3,200 at the ₹0.80 house value against a ₹4-6k cash fare. The ceiling nearly doubled in the same overhaul, so the Prime-tier price of a late booking is 11,000; this is a book-early cell. Air India Express does not fly Mumbai-Nagpur, so mainline is the only metal. Government taxes and passenger service fees are cash on top.
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: 4,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 2,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 4,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced)
IndiGo
IndiGo flies Nagpur from both Mumbai fields and runs most of the frequency, but BluChip has no award chart — dynamic ₹0.40-0.60 per BluChip, minimum 500, and BluChips cannot be applied to taxes or convenience fees. Roughly twice the rupee cost of the 4,000-point house cell above.
Estimate IndiGo BluChip is a revenue-linked rupee offset worth ~Rs0.50/BluChip (Card Insider pegs Rs0.40-0.60, 500 BluChip minimum, and states the value “is dynamic”); this row divides a typical one-way IndiGo economy fare for a ~424 mi domestic sector by Rs0.50, on the same fare-per-mile ladder every other BluChip row on this board reads. There is no chart: it moves 1:1 with the live fare.
Feed it: 12,600 HSBC Reward Points (1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 42,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:1) · 25,200 HDFC Reward Points (3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Business the play 12,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
424 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published “All other partners” cell is 12,500 business — read first-hand off Air Canada's own Flight Reward Chart PDF on 2026-08-29, page “Within Atlantic zone”. Air India is one of those partners: it is a Star Alliance member on fixed-price partner metal, not one of the Select carriers Aeroplan prices dynamically. Air India's own calculator wants 16,000 for the same seat — ₹12,800 against ₹12,500 — so the Canadian chart is cheaper in both currencies here. Watch the band edge — a connecting itinerary that flies past 1,000 miles lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000 / 22,500, and Aeroplan bands the distance actually FLOWN, not the great circle. A flat CA$39 partner booking fee applies per ticket.
Feed it: 6,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 31,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Business ~16,000 pts est. Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier
Air India Star Alliance
One of the domestic cells April 2026 left alone — 16,000 before, 16,000 after — which makes it 3,500 points dearer than Aeroplan's floor band and ₹300 dearer at house values, for the identical Air India narrowbody. Air India publishes no chart, so it is a sampled Value fare either way. Chart completeness; the Canadian row is the booking.
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: 16,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 8,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 16,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)