Award flight · one-way
Route-priced, not distance-priced — exhibit A. Delhi–Kolkata costs 5,000 Maharaja points in economy, the same as Delhi–Mumbai despite being 175 km longer, and its business seat costs 28,000 where the much longer Delhi–Bengaluru run costs 25,000. The April-2026 overhaul held economy flat and cut business 15%, and at ₹0.80 a point the 5,000-point seat is ₹4,000 against ₹5–8k cash fares — a real award when Value space shows. IndiGo owns the frequency, chart-less as ever. Fly economy on points; the 28,000-point recliner is the chart's quiet overcharge.
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 nonstop (Star Alliance partner award) | 7,500 | — | ₹7,500 | the play |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier | ~5,000 est. | — | ₹4,000 | 0.5× |
| IndiGo BluChip | IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced) | ~10,400 est. | — | ₹5,200 | 0.7× |
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 nonstop (Star Alliance partner award) | 12,500 | — | ₹12,500 | the play |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier | ~22,000 est. | — | ₹17,600 | 1.4× |
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. Air India Maharaja Points makes 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. 1 other programme priced here publishes nothing the desk could read.
Air India Star Alliance
816 great-circle miles squeaks under the 0–1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band's ceiling — 7,500 points. Maharaja does it for 5,000; this row exists for chart completeness, not for a serious burn.
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 Star Alliance
Held at 5,000 through the April-2026 overhaul — the same price as Delhi–Mumbai, because Air India prices routes, not distance. ₹4,000 at house value against ₹5–8k cash; taxes unpublished, budget a few thousand rupees. Six issuers feed Maharaja at 1:1 or better.
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: 5,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 2,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 5,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo
IndiGo runs the highest frequency Delhi–Kolkata, but BluChip has no award chart — redemptions track the live fare at a dynamic ₹0.40–0.60 per BluChip, minimum 500, taxes cash-only. The "award" is the cash ticket in points clothing.
Estimate IndiGo BluChip is revenue-linked ~Rs0.50/pt; ~= typical one-way IndiGo economy fare / Rs0.50 for ~816 mi - a rupee offset that moves 1:1 with the live fare. Own-metal only, no partners.
Feed it: 15,600 HSBC Reward Points (1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 52,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:1) · 31,200 HDFC Reward Points (3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Air India Star Alliance
Here the partner chart embarrasses the house one: 12,500 Aeroplan in the 0–1,000-mile band against Maharaja's own 28,000 for the identical seat — a 55% discount via Toronto. Chain-funded HDFC 2:1 / Bonvoy 3:1; the cheapest published way to the front of a Delhi–Kolkata narrowbody.
Feed it: 6,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 31,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air India Star Alliance
Corrected 2026-08-08 against the FULL chart pull (doubledip.in's Datawrapper CSV): the April-2026 cut took CCU–DEL business from 27,000 to a 22,000–28,000 band, and 22,000 is the Value cell — aviationa2z's partial table printed the band's ceiling and we shipped it for two weeks. ₹17,600 of points for a 2¼-hour narrowbody recliner; burn economy, save the balance for the A350.
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: 22,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 11,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 22,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
Or take the whole region: every corridor we price into South Asia — 380 of them. Or pick any two hubs — 2,450 corridors priced.