Award route card · one-way
Cathay stopped publishing award charts, but the reconstructed May-2026 tables still price its own metal best: 33,000 Asia Miles in business Standard — even with India sitting in the "type 2" band Cathay reserves for its longest-feeling short-hauls. SBI feeds Asia Miles at 1:1, HDFC and Amex at 2:1. Maharaja's East Asia business tier is still unpublished route-level, so its 30,000-point economy is the only Air India row we'll print. Aeroplan squeaks under its 2,500-mile boundary here — 47,500 in business — but Cathay's own chart wins both cabins.
The play · business
Feed it: 66,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 33,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 66,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathay Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific nonstop (oneworld), Standard award | 33,000 | — | ₹33,000 | the play |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Air India metal (Star Alliance partner award) | 47,500 | — | ₹47,500 | 1.4× |
The play · economy
Feed it: 26,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 13,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 26,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathay Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific nonstop (oneworld), Standard award | 13,000 | — | ₹13,000 | the play |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier | 30,000 | — | ₹24,000 | 1.8× |
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.
33,000 Standard one-way to CX's own hub (type-2 band; type 1 pays 27,000) — the best rate on this corridor even after the 1-May-2026 devaluation and the India premium. SBI's 1:1 makes this a ₹33,000-equivalent flat bed; book the moment Standard space opens.
Feed it: 66,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 33,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 66,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)
DEL–HKG's 2,328 great-circle miles sit inside the 0–2,500-mile Atlantic–Pacific band — 47,500 post-June-2026, no surcharges, Air India metal (Cathay isn't Star). 10,500 more than Asia Miles for a worse-reviewed seat; the row exists for Aeroplan balances that can't reach Cathay.
Feed it: 23,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 47,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,18,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
The reconstructed post-May-2026 table: 13,000 Standard in the 751–2,750-mile "type 2" band — the surcharge Cathay applies to any route touching India (type 1 pays 9,000). Charts are unpublished since May 2026; Standard space is capped per flight, and dynamic "Choice" pricing takes over when it's gone.
Feed it: 26,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 13,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 26,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)
Hong Kong is named on the April-2026 chart's flat 30,000-point East Asia tier — 2.3× Cathay's Standard rate for the same corridor. The East Asia business tier isn't published route-level; we list what we can verify.
Feed it: 30,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 15,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 30,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)