Award route card · one-way
The corridor where 80 miles costs 30,000 points. Paris sits at 4,080 great-circle miles — just past the 4,000-mile line that Aeroplan's chart draws through Europe — so the surcharge-free Air India award prices at 70,000 in business, not Frankfurt's 40,000. Air France's own nonstop is dynamic-priced with no floor worth printing, though the recurring India Promo Rewards cut business to 63,750 miles through 2026. Fly the points to Frankfurt and take a train, or hold your nose and pay the band.
The play · business
Feed it: 35,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 70,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,75,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star Alliance partner award (Air India nonstop bookable) | 70,000 | — | ₹70,000 | the play |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier | 1,00,000 | — | ₹80,000 | 1.1× |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | Air France nonstop — dynamic pricing, recurring India promos | dynamic | — | — | — |
The play · economy
Feed it: 35,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 17,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 35,000 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 | 35,000 | — | ₹28,000 | the play |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star Alliance partner award (Air India nonstop bookable) | 42,500 | — | ₹42,500 | 1.5× |
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.
70,000 post-June-2026, no fuel surcharges, books Air India's nonstop. The sting: CDG lies 80 miles past the 4,000-mile band boundary — the identical seat to Frankfurt costs 40,000. Check the Frankfurt card before you burn here.
Feed it: 35,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 70,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,75,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
The 100,000-point Europe business tier, ex-Delhi edition — ₹80,000 at house value against Aeroplan's ₹70,000 for the same metal. Maharaja's six feeds are the tiebreak only when Aeroplan space won't show.
Feed it: 1,00,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 50,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 1,00,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
Flying Blue prices dynamically — no published India chart. The honest datapoint: 2026's India Promo Rewards sell Delhi/Mumbai to Paris or Amsterdam business at 63,750 miles one-way (25% off, book by 31 July, fly through December 2026). Off-promo, popular dates run multiples of that; five Indian issuers feed the program, so wait for the promo, then pounce.
Ways in: HDFC Reward Points 1:1 · Axis EDGE Miles 1:2 · HSBC Reward Points 1:1
Paris is named on the April-2026 chart's flat 35,000-point Europe economy tier. ₹28,000 of points for an economy seat — fine for stranded balances, poor arithmetic for fresh transfers.
Feed it: 35,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 17,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 35,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
Same 4,001–6,000-mile within-Atlantic band as London: 42,500 after the June-2026 hike. A ₹42,500 economy seat at house value — cash fares to Paris routinely undercut it.
Feed it: 21,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 42,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,06,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)