Award flight · one-way
The domestic cell that went UP, read back the other way. While Air India was cutting economy on 110 routes in April 2026, Kochi–Delhi moved against the tide — 7,500 to 8,500 on the longest domestic sector it sells — and then cut the front cabin 31,000 to 26,000. Both are mainline nonstops: Cochin's operator table lists Air India to Delhi and Mumbai and nothing else, and Air India Express, which serves Kochi from eleven other cities, sits this one out. That mainline metal is why Toronto reaches the corridor at all, 1,272 great-circle miles landing in Aeroplan's 1,001–2,000-mile band. Count the rupees before you book: Aeroplan's 22,500 up front is fewer points than Maharaja's 26,000 and more money, ₹22,500 against ₹20,800, the only domestic corridor here where that flips. Burn the house chart in both cabins. 5 options, 2 of them first-hand chart reads.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan the play | Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award) | 15,000 | — | ₹15,000 | the play |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier — Air India Express does not serve this pair | ~8,500 est. | — | ₹6,800 | 0.5× |
| IndiGo BluChip | IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced) | ~14,000 est. | — | ₹7,000 | 0.5× |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan the play | Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award) | 22,500 | — | ₹22,500 | the play |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier | ~26,000 est. | — | ₹20,800 | 0.9× |
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.
Air India Star Alliance
Kochi–Delhi's 1,272 miles sit in the 1,001–2,000-mile Within-Atlantic band — 15,000 points, no fuel or carrier surcharge, only a CA$39 partner booking fee plus taxes. Aeroplan bands the distance flown, which is the same either way round. Maharaja does the same seat for 8,500, so this row is completeness, not a buy.
Feed it: 7,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 15,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 37,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air India Star Alliance
"COK,DEL, old 7,500, new 8,500–14,500" — up 13%, one of only 15 domestic economy routes that got dearer while the average fell 28%. The chart lists the pair once and prices it in either direction, so this is a first-hand read for this heading, not a mirror. ₹6,800 at the ₹0.80 house value against ₹6–9k cash on a three-hour sector: still the better side of the trade in the back, and the Value cell is now bookable inside 30 days rather than 90+. 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: 8,500 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 4,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 8,500 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo
IndiGo flies Kochi–Delhi nonstop and runs more of it than Air India, but BluChip has no award chart — redemptions track the live fare at ₹0.40–0.60 per BluChip, minimum 500, taxes cash-only. On the longest domestic sector here that is a lot of points for a ticket you could have bought.
Estimate IndiGo BluChip is revenue-linked ~Rs0.50/pt; ~= typical one-way IndiGo economy fare / Rs0.50 for ~1272 mi - a rupee offset that moves 1:1 with the live fare. Own-metal only, no partners.
Feed it: 21,000 HSBC Reward Points (1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 70,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:1) · 42,000 HDFC Reward Points (3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Air India Star Alliance
22,500 in the 1,001–2,000-mile band for the identical Air India business seat, fixed and surcharge-free — 3,500 points cheaper than Maharaja's 26,000 and, at ₹1.00 a point against ₹0.80, ₹1,700 dearer. Chain-funded HDFC 2:1 / Bonvoy 3:1. Watch the band: a connection through Mumbai flies 1,368 miles and stays inside it, but only just.
Feed it: 11,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 22,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 56,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air India Star Alliance
"COK,DEL, old 31,000, new 26,000–30,000", a 16% cut, Value cell 26,000 and ceiling 30,000. The rare domestic business cell the house chart wins: Aeroplan quotes 3,500 fewer points for the identical Air India seat, but its points cost ₹1.00 to Maharaja's ₹0.80, so ₹20,800 here beats ₹22,500 there. That is still a lot of rupees for three hours in a narrowbody recliner — the 8,500-point economy cell is the corridor's real buy.
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: 26,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 13,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 26,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
Or take the whole region: every corridor we price into South Asia — 360 of them. Or pick any two hubs — 2,430 corridors priced.