Award flight · one-way
The corridor where flying FROM Colombo pays you — UK Air Passenger Duty (£244 premium from April 2026) hits only UK departures, so the ex-CMB one-way carries none. And the UL nonstop finally has a published price: AAdvantage books SriLankan's own CMB–LHR widebody for 20,000 economy and 42,500 business — under Avios' ~32,500/65,000 Doha routing and less than half BA's published 33,000/99,000, and UL is the ONLY London nonstop today (BA's seasonal Gatwick return lands 23-Oct-2026). Funding is the catch (Bonvoy 3:1 only). Aeroplan's 70,000 via Delhi is the directly-fed fallback; KrisFlyer routes via Singapore but prices only on the calculator here — the fixed 108,500 once shown was an ex-Singapore fare, not Colombo's. 3 of the 33 rows here are mirrored from the lhr-cmb direction — award charts price the zone pair, not the direction of travel — and render as honest estimates that never crown THE PLAY.
The play · economy
Which card mints this?
+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →
One of your cards is in those 7 — see it in the funnel →
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage the play | SriLankan nonstop (oneworld partner award) — or Qatar via DOH, or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Cathay Pacific via HKG | 20,000 | — | ₹20,000 | the play |
| Air China PhoenixMiles | Star Alliance metal (SQ/TG partner metal — CA itself flies only Delhi from India), India→Europe — Air China PhoenixMiles | ~30,000 est. | — | ₹27,000 | 1.4× |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — Copa ConnectMiles (fixed region chart) | 30,000 | — | ₹30,000 | 1.5× |
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | Qatar Airways via DOH (oneworld) — Privilege Club route pricing; flying today, unlike BA | ~32,500 est. | — | ₹32,500 | 1.6× |
| Aegean Miles+Bonus | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — Aegean Miles+Bonus | 35,000 | — | ₹35,000 | 1.8× |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | Etihad Airways via AUH (CMB–AUH–LHR), or Malaysia Airlines via KUL (CMB–KUL–LHR) — Flying Blue partner award (dynamic) | ~37,500 est. | — | ₹37,500 | 1.9× |
| Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards | SriLankan Airlines nonstop CMB-LHR (oneworld partner award), India→Europe — Alaska Atmos | 37,500 | — | ₹37,500 | 1.9× |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | Malaysia Airlines via KUL (one stop) — revenue-based Enrich pricing | ~47,500 est. | — | ₹38,000 | 1.9× |
| United MileagePlus | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — United MileagePlus | ~40,000 est. | — | ₹40,000 | 2.0× |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — Avianca LifeMiles | ~40,000 est. | — | ₹40,000 | 2.0× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Air India via Delhi (Star Alliance partner award) — or Turkish Airlines via IST | 42,500 | — | ₹42,500 | 2.1× |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | Star Alliance metal (Air India/SQ/TG — EVA itself serves no Indian city; the award rides partner metal), India→Europe — EVA Infinity MileageLands | 44,500 | — | ₹44,500 | 2.2× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines via SIN (one stop) — Zone 6 → Europe Saver, through-priced | ~44,000 est. | — | ₹48,400 | 2.4× |
| SriLankan FlySmiLes | SriLankan nonstop — FlySmiLes published zone chart (own metal, online price) — nonstop | 54,450 | — | ₹49,005 | 2.5× |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — TAP Miles&Go | 80,000 | — | ₹64,000 | 3.2× |
The play · business
Which card mints this?
+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →
One of your cards is in those 7 — see it in the funnel →
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage the play | SriLankan business nonstop (oneworld partner award) — or Qatar via DOH, or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Cathay Pacific via HKG | 42,500 | — | ₹42,500 | the play |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — Copa ConnectMiles (fixed region chart) | 45,000 | — | ₹45,000 | 1.1× |
| Air China PhoenixMiles | Star Alliance metal (SQ/TG partner metal — CA itself flies only Delhi from India), India→Europe — Air China PhoenixMiles | ~55,000 est. | — | ₹49,500 | 1.2× |
| Aegean Miles+Bonus | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — Aegean Miles+Bonus | 55,000 | — | ₹55,000 | 1.3× |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — Avianca LifeMiles | ~63,000 est. | — | ₹63,000 | 1.5× |
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | Qatar Qsuite via DOH (oneworld) — Privilege Club route pricing; flying today, unlike BA | ~65,000 est. | — | ₹65,000 | 1.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Air India via Delhi (Star Alliance partner award) — or Turkish Airlines via IST | 70,000 | — | ₹70,000 | 1.6× |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | Star Alliance metal (Air India/SQ/TG — EVA itself serves no Indian city; the award rides partner metal), India→Europe — EVA Infinity MileageLands | 71,000 | — | ₹71,000 | 1.7× |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | Etihad Airways via AUH (CMB–AUH–LHR), or Malaysia Airlines via KUL (CMB–KUL–LHR) — Flying Blue partner award (dynamic) | ~75,000 est. | — | ₹75,000 | 1.8× |
| Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards | SriLankan Airlines nonstop CMB-LHR (oneworld partner award), India→Europe — Alaska Atmos | 75,000 | — | ₹75,000 | 1.8× |
| United MileagePlus | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — United MileagePlus | ~80,000 est. | — | ₹80,000 | 1.9× |
| Etihad Guest | Etihad via AUH (one stop) — Saver Award, calculator-priced | ~95,000 est. | — | ₹95,000 | 2.2× |
| SriLankan FlySmiLes | SriLankan nonstop — FlySmiLes published zone chart (own metal, online price) — nonstop | 108,900 | — | ₹98,010 | 2.3× |
| Emirates Skywards | Emirates via DXB (one stop) — Classic Rewards, calculator-priced | ~109,000 est. | — | ₹98,100 | 2.3× |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | Star Alliance partner metal, India→Europe — TAP Miles&Go | 125,000 | — | ₹1,00,000 | 2.4× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines business via SIN (one stop) — Zone 6 → Europe Saver, through-priced | ~108,500 est. | — | ₹1,19,350 | 2.8× |
The play · first
Which card mints this?
+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →
One of your cards is in those 7 — see it in the funnel →
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage the play | SriLankan nonstop (oneworld partner award) — or Qatar via DOH, or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Cathay Pacific via HKG | 62,500 | — | ₹62,500 | the play |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Air India via Delhi (Star Alliance partner award) — or Turkish Airlines via IST | ~100,000 est. | — | ₹1,00,000 | 1.6× |
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. That surcharge is the airline's own cash charge on an award — YQ, as the notes below call it — and it is not the fuel-surcharge waiver your credit card advertises: that one hands back a hundred rupees or two at a petrol pump, this one runs to tens of thousands and decides whether the award is worth taking at all. “Dynamic” and estimated (~… est.) rows never compete for the play — the crown is always a verified, bookable price. Feed-ins come from the same transfer data as the optimizer, multi-hop chains included.
Chart-priced, not live seats. These prices are read off each programme’s published award chart and valued at our own house ₹/point. 37% of the 39,855 priced options on the board are stated estimates for programmes that publish no chart; they are marked ~ est. and never crowned the play. Nobody here can see whether a seat exists on your date — confirm the space with the programme before you transfer. Points that leave your issuer do not come back.
The cash on top of the miles. Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair), Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Etihad Guest and Emirates Skywards state that a carrier-imposed surcharge is charged on an award. American Airlines AAdvantage, Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards, United MileagePlus and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer make you liable for one if the operating airline levies it, without saying whether it does. Air Canada Aeroplan states it adds none on its own metal. Government taxes and airport charges are payable in every case. Almost no programme publishes the amount, so the desk carries each one’s policy in its own words — on its programme hub — rather than a number nobody published. 8 other programmes priced here publish nothing the desk could read.
Open this corridor in British Airways’ Flight Finder → It fills in your search — CMB to LHR on 29/12/2026, which you change there. It does not show award space, and no link on this page can. It is the only carrier handoff the desk ships: Qatar returns CASH fares under award-looking parameters, Aeroplan discards them behind a login, KrisFlyer’s search has no URL to link to, and the Flying Blue template in circulation has never been verified.
SriLankan AirlinesQatar AirwaysCathay Pacific oneworld
20,000 AA miles Indian Subcontinent → Europe on SriLankan's own CMB-LHR widebody — 60,000 Bonvoy at 3:1 (see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage). A rare nonstop oneworld chart out of Colombo.
Feed it: 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 120,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Singapore AirlinesThai Airways Star Alliance
Air China PhoenixMiles prices its own metal (India→Beijing, resumed Apr-2026) plus Star partners. North Asia is its only genuine strength; elsewhere it is a weak Star pricer with heavy fuel surcharges (why the currency sits at ₹0.90). India-origin levels are not published, so all values are estimated off trans-Pacific anchors. One-way (current PhoenixMiles).
Estimate PhoenixMiles' official zone division could not be reconciled with this corridor — Air China publishes no India-origin level, and its published zone tables do not map cleanly onto these city pairs. This value is extrapolated from the nearest published anchors, not a verified chart price.
Feed it: 37,500 HSBC Reward Points (1.25:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 75,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.5:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 150,000 RBL Reward Points (5:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
Copa ConnectMiles prices Star partner metal off its FIXED region chart (India sits in Copa’s "Central Asia" zone). Standout value — India→Europe 45k business, India→Sub-Saharan Africa 17.5k economy on Ethiopian (Cairo is a dearer 20k Middle East cell) — but NO Indian card feeds ConnectMiles (buy-miles or a US co-brand only), so treat it as a reference benchmark, not a wallet-reachable route.
Feed it: 75,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.5:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 150,000 RBL Reward Points (5:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 50,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.67:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Qatar Airways oneworld
Qatar via Doha off Privilege Club's route table, ~32,500 off-peak — the routing that actually flies today. BA's own Colombo return is 23-Oct-2026, seasonal, to Gatwick (not Heathrow): a published 33,000 off-peak / 38,500 peak each way, bookable ahead of the resumption. Today the only London nonstop is SriLankan, whose post-devaluation partner band is unpublished.
Estimate Qatar Privilege Club route-based O&D pricing, ex-UK table (HfP Jan-2026): London-Colombo through DOH 32,500 economy off-peak one-way; assumes the ex-Colombo direction prices the same O&D and an off-peak date - Qatar's peak trial runs ~20% higher.
Feed it: 32,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 65,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 32,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
Star Alliance
Aegean Miles+Bonus prices Star partner metal off one region chart published as ROUND TRIPS — its own rule is that a one-way costs exactly half, and the halved figure is what we show. India sits in the "Near East & Central Asia" zone: the Far East is a flat 30k/45k one-way (Tokyo costs the same as Bangkok), Europe 35k/55k, North America 50k/75k. No Indian card feeds it — Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 is the only road in, and awards only display once you hold the full balance.
Feed it: 90,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.57:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 180,000 RBL Reward Points (5.14:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 60,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.71:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Etihad AirwaysMalaysia Airlines
Flying Blue has no award chart, but its partner awards are additive per segment, so this routing bands to 37,500 economy (AUH–LHR 5,516 km → 22,500 + CMB–AUH 3,300 km → 15,000 = 37,500 economy). Partner awards pass the operating carrier's surcharges — the published Oman Air datapoints run US$190–390 one-way — and Flying Blue publishes no per-route table, so this row's cash side stays unpublished. Cabin scope: Etihad sells Flying Blue awards in economy and business only — first, including the Apartment, is not bookable with Miles. First IS bookable on a short list of other partners (Oman Air on Muscat–Bangkok alone, China Eastern, Garuda), none of which is a first routing this board prices, so there is no Flying Blue first row here. Mirrored from lhr-cmb: the chart cell is the same in either direction, so 37,500 is that corridor's number read back the other way — an estimate until this direction is re-read, and never crowned THE PLAY.
Estimate Mirrored from lhr-cmb — Air France-KLM Flying Blue prices the zone pair, not the direction of travel, so this reads the lhr-cmb economy cell back the other way; the desk has not separately re-read the chart for this direction. Flying Blue publishes no chart, but prices PARTNER awards PER SEGMENT — One Mile at a Time, 6-Jun-2024 on the Oman Air launch: "you're paying the per segment pricing anyway", and the additive structure reproduces all four published connection datapoints inside 5%. This row rides Etihad Airways (a Flying Blue non-alliance partner redemption — Flying Blue runs ONE partner engine over SkyTeam and non-alliance metal alike, which the 13-Jan-2025 repricing proved by moving Etihad and Delta together), so it is banded segment by segment: AUH–LHR 5,516 km → 22,500 + CMB–AUH 3,300 km → 15,000 = 37,500 economy. Bands anchored on the published Flying Blue partner datapoints (one-way business: Muscat–Dubai 6,100, Abu Dhabi–Kuwait 9,500, Muscat–Bangkok 42,900, Abu Dhabi–Bangkok 45,000, Muscat–Munich 45,800, Abu Dhabi–Johannesburg 48,000, Abu Dhabi–Washington 87,000), with economy at half of business — the one published long-haul economy anchor is Toronto–Abu Dhabi 43,500 against an ~87,000 business segment of the same length. The <=1,200 km rung is the one exception — re-fitted cabin by cabin on its own published quotes on 2026-08-02, hence 5,000 / 11,500 rather than half-and-half. Dates and demand move the real number.
Feed it: 37,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 18,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 37,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
SriLankan AirlinesQatar Airways oneworld
SriLankan Airlines flies CMB-LHR nonstop, ~5,415 miles, and Alaska Atmos bands partner awards by distance flown — the Asia-Pacific chart's 5,001-7,000 mi band: 37,500 economy / 75,000 business one-way, plus the $20 partner booking fee per person each way (up from $12.50 on 1-Jul-2026). One-way.
Feed it: 97,500 Amex Membership Rewards (2.6:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 195,000 RBL Reward Points (5.2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 65,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.73:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Malaysia Airlines oneworld
MH sells CMB–KUL–LHR daily — east to Kuala Lumpur, then 6,600 miles west — but Enrich prices awards off the cash fare, not a chart: points clear ~0.8–1.2¢, no Indian bank feeds Enrich (hotel-side only: IHG 5:1, Hilton 25:3), and the two-leg award books by phone. A stranded-balance row on a corridor with three better charts.
Estimate Malaysia Enrich is revenue-linked ~Rs0.80/pt; ~= typical one-way MH economy fare / Rs0.80 for ~5,415 mi; moves with the live fare. MH own-metal Value redemptions only.
Feed it: 263,889 Amex Membership Rewards (5.56:1 via Hilton Honors) · 593,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (12.5:1 via IHG One Rewards) · 237,500 HDFC Reward Points (5:1 via IHG One Rewards)
Star Alliance
United went fully dynamic in 2020 (no fixed chart), so ~40,000 is a typical Saver partner level to Europe. But Aeroplan often prices the same Star seat lower, so compare before burning United miles.
Estimate United MileagePlus Saver partner level, India→Europe on Star Alliance metal; United went fully dynamic in 2020, so this is a typical Saver that moves with availability and cabin scarcity.
Feed it: 20,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 100,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2) · 90,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.25:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
LifeMiles prices Star partner metal off an unpublished grid; India→Europe business ~63k is the headline sweet spot (beats Aeroplan). Business is the value cabin here; economy is mediocre. The chart is semi-fixed/unpublished, so some bands are estimates.
Estimate LifeMiles publishes no award chart — Avianca withdrew its public zone table in 2023 and prices Star partner awards off an unpublished internal grid. This level is extrapolated from that historical zone pricing plus dated community booking reports, not a verified chart price.
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 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)
Air IndiaTurkish Airlines Star Alliance
SriLankan's nonstop is oneworld, so Aeroplan routes CMB–DEL–LHR on Air India mainline — 1,487 + 4,180 ≈ 5,667 flown miles, the 4,001–6,000-mile Within-Atlantic band at 42,500 economy, and crucially, which lets it undercut BA's fee-laden economy on total out-of-pocket.
Feed it: 21,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 42,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 106,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air IndiaSingapore AirlinesThai Airways Star Alliance
EVA Infinity MileageLands prices Star metal off its zone chart (India = "Central/South Asia" zone; one-way = half round-trip). EVA own metal via Taipei covers Japan/N-Asia/SE-Asia/US/Europe; Gulf/Africa/Oceania are partner-metal only. India→US business ~97.5k (possibly ~55-60k on a fully-EVA routing).
Feed it: 44,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 296,667 Amex Membership Rewards (6.67:1 via Hilton Honors) · 1,112,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (25:1 via Hilton Honors)
Singapore Airlines Star Alliance
SETTLED 2026-07-22 against SQ's official chart: Zone 6→11 (Europe) has NO published fixed Saver — calculator-only, and CMB–SIN–LHR backtracks 1,700 mi east to fly 6,800 west. The earlier 44,000/108,500 were the ex-Singapore SIN–LHR fares, not Colombo's. Dynamic — check the calculator.
Estimate SQ Saver Zone 6->11 is a '^' calculator cell (via-SIN backtrack); anchored to the published Zone 1(SIN)->Europe economy Saver 44,000.
Feed it: 44,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 22,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 88,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)
SriLankan Airlines oneworld
FlySmiLes 20-zone published chart (official PDF, effective 01-Sep-2022, machine-validated cell-by-cell — spec: docs/research/hub-grid/specs/srilankan-flysmiles.json). ONLINE one-way price on UL own metal (phone bookings cost ~11% more); YQ passes on awards. SriLankan is the only oneworld carrier at Colombo, so this is CMB's own-metal door.
Star Alliance
TAP's 4 May 2026 devaluation lifted India→Europe (its "Europe and North Africa" zone) from 70k/115k to 80k/125k one-way. TAP's own metal and the Lufthansa group carry the heaviest fuel surcharges of any Star program into Europe; Turkish, EgyptAir and Ethiopian routings dodge most of the YQ. Keep the itinerary inside two TAP zones — anything touching a third is billed segment by segment and summed.
Feed it: 195,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.44:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 390,000 RBL Reward Points (4.88:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 130,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.63:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
SriLankan AirlinesQatar AirwaysCathay Pacific oneworld
42,500 AA miles for SriLankan's nonstop business CMB-LHR — undercuts Emirates' calculator and the Avios BA-metal rate, on a direct flight. Chain-only from India: Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 = 127,500 points (see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage).
Feed it: 127,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 255,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 85,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
Copa ConnectMiles prices Star partner metal off its FIXED region chart (India sits in Copa’s "Central Asia" zone). Standout value — India→Europe 45k business, India→Sub-Saharan Africa 17.5k economy on Ethiopian (Cairo is a dearer 20k Middle East cell) — but NO Indian card feeds ConnectMiles (buy-miles or a US co-brand only), so treat it as a reference benchmark, not a wallet-reachable route.
Feed it: 120,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.67:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 240,000 RBL Reward Points (5.33:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 80,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.78:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Singapore AirlinesThai Airways Star Alliance
Air China PhoenixMiles prices its own metal (India→Beijing, resumed Apr-2026) plus Star partners. North Asia is its only genuine strength; elsewhere it is a weak Star pricer with heavy fuel surcharges (why the currency sits at ₹0.90). India-origin levels are not published, so all values are estimated off trans-Pacific anchors. One-way (current PhoenixMiles).
Estimate PhoenixMiles' official zone division could not be reconciled with this corridor — Air China publishes no India-origin level, and its published zone tables do not map cleanly onto these city pairs. This value is extrapolated from the nearest published anchors, not a verified chart price.
Feed it: 135,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.45:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 270,000 RBL Reward Points (4.91:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 68,750 HSBC Reward Points (1.25:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Star Alliance
Aegean Miles+Bonus prices Star partner metal off one region chart published as ROUND TRIPS — its own rule is that a one-way costs exactly half, and the halved figure is what we show. India sits in the "Near East & Central Asia" zone: the Far East is a flat 30k/45k one-way (Tokyo costs the same as Bangkok), Europe 35k/55k, North America 50k/75k. No Indian card feeds it — Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 is the only road in, and awards only display once you hold the full balance.
Feed it: 135,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.45:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 270,000 RBL Reward Points (4.91:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 90,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.64:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
LifeMiles prices Star partner metal off an unpublished grid; India→Europe business ~63k is the headline sweet spot (beats Aeroplan). Business is the value cabin here; economy is mediocre. The chart is semi-fixed/unpublished, so some bands are estimates.
Estimate LifeMiles publishes no award chart — Avianca withdrew its public zone table in 2023 and prices Star partner awards off an unpublished internal grid. This level is extrapolated from that historical zone pricing plus dated community booking reports, not a verified chart price.
Feed it: 189,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 378,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 126,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)
Qatar Airways oneworld
Qatar via Doha off Privilege Club's route table, ~65,000 J off-peak — and it flies today. BA's own Colombo service returns 23-Oct-2026, seasonal, to Gatwick — bookable ahead at a published 99,000 off-peak / 110,000 peak one-way; the ex-CMB direction dodges the £244 UK APD. SriLankan's nonstop books off the 4,001–5,500 partner band whose post-devaluation value is unpublished, so it can't be priced.
Estimate Qatar Privilege Club route-based O&D pricing, ex-UK table (HfP Jan-2026): London-Colombo through DOH 65,000 business off-peak one-way (whole journey, not per segment); assumes the ex-Colombo direction prices the same O&D and an off-peak date - Qatar's peak trial runs ~20% higher.
Feed it: 65,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 130,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 65,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
Air IndiaTurkish Airlines Star Alliance
70,000 in the 4,001–6,000-mile band for Air India business CMB–DEL–LHR (≈5,667 flown miles), fixed — the honest all-in comparison to Avios once BA's YQ is counted. Chain-funded HDFC 2:1 / Bonvoy 3:1; a Delhi connection, but taxes in the low thousands.
Feed it: 35,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 70,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 175,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air IndiaSingapore AirlinesThai Airways Star Alliance
EVA Infinity MileageLands prices Star metal off its zone chart (India = "Central/South Asia" zone; one-way = half round-trip). EVA own metal via Taipei covers Japan/N-Asia/SE-Asia/US/Europe; Gulf/Africa/Oceania are partner-metal only. India→US business ~97.5k (possibly ~55-60k on a fully-EVA routing).
Feed it: 71,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 473,334 Amex Membership Rewards (6.67:1 via Hilton Honors) · 1,775,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (25:1 via Hilton Honors)
Etihad AirwaysMalaysia Airlines
Flying Blue has no award chart, but its partner awards are additive per segment, so this routing bands to 75,000 business (AUH–LHR 5,516 km → 45,000 + CMB–AUH 3,300 km → 30,000 = 75,000 business). Partner awards pass the operating carrier's surcharges — the published Oman Air datapoints run US$190–390 one-way — and Flying Blue publishes no per-route table, so this row's cash side stays unpublished. Cabin scope: Etihad sells Flying Blue awards in economy and business only — first, including the Apartment, is not bookable with Miles. First IS bookable on a short list of other partners (Oman Air on Muscat–Bangkok alone, China Eastern, Garuda), none of which is a first routing this board prices, so there is no Flying Blue first row here. Mirrored from lhr-cmb: the chart cell is the same in either direction, so 75,000 is that corridor's number read back the other way — an estimate until this direction is re-read, and never crowned THE PLAY.
Estimate Mirrored from lhr-cmb — Air France-KLM Flying Blue prices the zone pair, not the direction of travel, so this reads the lhr-cmb business cell back the other way; the desk has not separately re-read the chart for this direction. Flying Blue publishes no chart, but prices PARTNER awards PER SEGMENT — One Mile at a Time, 6-Jun-2024 on the Oman Air launch: "you're paying the per segment pricing anyway", and the additive structure reproduces all four published connection datapoints inside 5%. This row rides Etihad Airways (a Flying Blue non-alliance partner redemption — Flying Blue runs ONE partner engine over SkyTeam and non-alliance metal alike, which the 13-Jan-2025 repricing proved by moving Etihad and Delta together), so it is banded segment by segment: AUH–LHR 5,516 km → 45,000 + CMB–AUH 3,300 km → 30,000 = 75,000 business. Bands anchored on the published Flying Blue partner datapoints (one-way business: Muscat–Dubai 6,100, Abu Dhabi–Kuwait 9,500, Muscat–Bangkok 42,900, Abu Dhabi–Bangkok 45,000, Muscat–Munich 45,800, Abu Dhabi–Johannesburg 48,000, Abu Dhabi–Washington 87,000), with economy at half of business — the one published long-haul economy anchor is Toronto–Abu Dhabi 43,500 against an ~87,000 business segment of the same length. The <=1,200 km rung is the one exception — re-fitted cabin by cabin on its own published quotes on 2026-08-02, hence 5,000 / 11,500 rather than half-and-half. Dates and demand move the real number.
Feed it: 75,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 37,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 75,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
SriLankan AirlinesQatar Airways oneworld
SriLankan Airlines flies CMB-LHR nonstop, ~5,415 miles, and Alaska Atmos bands partner awards by distance flown — the Asia-Pacific chart's 5,001-7,000 mi band: 37,500 economy / 75,000 business one-way, plus the $20 partner booking fee per person each way (up from $12.50 on 1-Jul-2026). One-way.
Feed it: 180,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 360,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 120,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star Alliance
United went fully dynamic in 2020 (no fixed chart), so ~80,000 is a typical Saver partner level to Europe. But Aeroplan often prices the same Star seat lower, so compare before burning United miles.
Estimate United MileagePlus Saver partner level, India→Europe on Star Alliance metal; United went fully dynamic in 2020, so this is a typical Saver that moves with availability and cabin scarcity.
Feed it: 40,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 200,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2) · 180,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.25:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)
Etihad Airways
Etihad flies CMB–AUH daily and connects to London, but Saver Award pricing comes off a calculator, not a chart — the documented India-to-London datapoint ran 100,005 miles plus ~₹44,000 in carrier charges. Expect Colombo to price in that unhappy neighbourhood. Listed so nobody discovers it the expensive way.
Estimate Etihad Guest Saver Award starting level for the ~5,478-mile flown itinerary (via AUH), read off Etihad's last published one-way distance-band structure (6,000-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: 47,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 95,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 237,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
SriLankan Airlines oneworld
FlySmiLes 20-zone published chart (official PDF, effective 01-Sep-2022, machine-validated cell-by-cell — spec: docs/research/hub-grid/specs/srilankan-flysmiles.json). ONLINE one-way price on UL own metal (phone bookings cost ~11% more); YQ passes on awards. SriLankan is the only oneworld carrier at Colombo, so this is CMB's own-metal door.
Emirates
A calculator price, a May-2026 devaluation (+15% premium cabins), a Dubai connection and Emirates' heavy carrier surcharges — every part of this stacks against the published nonstops. Only for Skywards balances with nowhere else to go.
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: 218,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 534,000 RBL Reward Points (4.9:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 218,000 SBI Travel Credits (2:1)
Star Alliance
TAP's 4 May 2026 devaluation lifted India→Europe (its "Europe and North Africa" zone) from 70k/115k to 80k/125k one-way. TAP's own metal and the Lufthansa group carry the heaviest fuel surcharges of any Star program into Europe; Turkish, EgyptAir and Ethiopian routings dodge most of the YQ. Keep the itinerary inside two TAP zones — anything touching a third is billed segment by segment and summed.
Feed it: 300,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 600,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 200,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Singapore Airlines Star Alliance
SETTLED 2026-07-22 against SQ's official chart: Zone 6→11 (Europe) has NO published fixed Saver — calculator-only, and CMB–SIN–LHR backtracks 1,700 mi east to fly 6,800 west. The earlier 44,000/108,500 were the ex-Singapore SIN–LHR fares, not Colombo's. Dynamic — check the calculator.
Estimate SQ Saver Zone 6->11 is a '^' calculator cell (via-SIN backtrack; all Europe = Zone 11); anchored to the published Zone 1(SIN)->Europe business Saver 108,500 (the figure community sites misattribute to India-origin).
Feed it: 108,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 54,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 217,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)
SriLankan AirlinesQatar AirwaysCathay Pacific oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. A valid oneworld routing is assumed. 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: 187,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 375,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 125,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Air IndiaTurkish Airlines Star Alliance
Aeroplan prices Star partner awards by total distance FLOWN. This row is the direct great-circle band; a connecting routing that flies farther can land in the next band up. A valid Star routing (nonstop or via a Star hub within the maximum permitted mileage) is assumed. Mirrored from lhr-cmb: the chart cell is the same in either direction, so 100,000 is that corridor's number read back the other way — an estimate until this direction is re-read, and never crowned THE PLAY.
Estimate Mirrored from lhr-cmb — Air Canada Aeroplan prices the zone pair, not the direction of travel, so this reads the lhr-cmb first cell back the other way; the desk has not separately re-read the chart for this direction.
Feed it: 50,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 100,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 250,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Flying back? London to Colombo on points (LHR–CMB). Or take the whole region: every corridor we price into Europe — 532 of them. Or pick any two hubs — 2,450 corridors priced.