Economy the play 7,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
905 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published cell for "all other partners" is 7,500 economy — Air India is one of them. No fuel or carrier-imposed surcharge, only a CA$39 partner booking fee plus statutory taxes. On a domestic hop this is a completeness row: the house chart is cheaper in economy every time. Watch the band — a connecting routing that flies farther lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000.
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 (AI 879), plus Air India Express on the same pair — both redeemable with Maharaja Points since 21-May-2026
Air IndiaAir India Express
Cut 29.4% from 8,500 to 6,000, corroborated cell-for-cell by Aviation A2Z's April-2026 economy table. The calculator's full range runs 6,000-12,500 across award tiers; 6,000 is the Value-tier floor this board prices. ₹4,800 of points on a corridor where cash runs ₹6-11k and spikes through Bihu and the winter tourist season. Air India levies no carrier-imposed fuel surcharge on its own metal, so cash out-of-pocket is statutory taxes and airport fees only — the desk has no published rupee figure for those, hence the honest blank.
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: 6,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 3,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 6,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced)
IndiGo
IndiGo runs the frequency into Guwahati, but BluChip has no award chart — redemptions track the live fare at a dynamic ₹0.40-0.60 per BluChip, minimum 500, taxes and convenience fees cash-only. There is nothing to plan around: the "award" is the cash ticket in points clothing. Useful only to bleed an expiring balance onto a fare you would have paid anyway.
Estimate IndiGo BluChip is revenue-linked ~Rs0.50/pt; ~= typical one-way IndiGo economy fare / Rs0.50 for ~905 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))
Business the play 12,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
12,500 in the 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band against Air India's own 28,000 for the same AI 879 seat — ₹12,500 against ₹22,400 all-in, a 44% saving routed through Toronto. Fixed, surcharge-free beyond the CA$39 partner booking fee, chain-funded HDFC 2:1 / Bonvoy 3:1. The single largest house-versus-partner gap in this batch.
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 ~28,000 pts est. Air India mainline nonstop (AI 879, Star Alliance), Value tier — Air India Express has no business cabin
Air India Star Alliance
Held flat at 28,000 through an overhaul that cut 74 business cells — 0.0% change, and the most expensive business cell in this tier-2 batch by a wide margin. Aeroplan sells the identical Air India seat for 12,500. There is no reading under which 28,000 Maharaja Points (₹22,400) for 2¼ hours in a narrowbody recliner is the right call; it exists here so the reader can see exactly how badly the house chart loses.
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: 28,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 14,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 28,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)