Award route card · one-way
Delhi to Washington has no Air India nonstop and no Singapore/Cathay service, so the board is Qatar and the Star/SkyTeam partners: AA's Qsuite via Doha (40,000/70,000) is the fixed play, ANA via Tokyo the cheapest business, Korean via Seoul the SkyTeam option. No Maharaja — Air India flies no Dulles metal. Emirates, Etihad and Flying Blue price dynamically.
The play · business
Feed it: 1,12,801 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 2,25,601 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 37,600 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Mileage Club | ANA miles on Star metal via Tokyo — one-way | 47,000 | — | ₹47,000 | the play |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Qatar Airways Qsuite via Doha (oneworld partner award) | 70,000 | — | ₹70,000 | 1.5× |
| Korean Air SKYPASS | Korean Air via Incheon (SkyTeam) — published Americas chart | 85,000 | — | ₹85,000 | 1.8× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star partner via a hub (ANA via Tokyo) — no Air India metal to IAD; 8,001–10,000-mi band | 1,10,000 | — | ₹1,10,000 | 2.3× |
| Emirates Skywards | Emirates via Dubai (one stop) — Classic Rewards, calculator-priced | dynamic | — | — | — |
| Etihad Guest | Etihad via Abu Dhabi (one stop) — dynamic GuestSeats | dynamic | — | — | — |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | Air France via CDG / KLM via AMS (one stop) — dynamic | dynamic | — | — | — |
The play · economy
Feed it: 78,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 1,56,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 26,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Mileage Club | ANA miles on Star metal via Tokyo (ANA flies Tokyo–IAD) — one-way | 32,500 | — | ₹32,500 | the play |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Qatar Airways via Doha (oneworld partner award) | 40,000 | — | ₹40,000 | 1.2× |
| Korean Air SKYPASS | Korean Air via Incheon (SkyTeam) — published Americas chart | 47,500 | — | ₹47,500 | 1.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star partner via a hub (ANA via Tokyo) — no Air India metal to IAD; 8,001–10,000-mi band | 75,000 | — | ₹75,000 | 2.3× |
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, multi-hop chains included.
47,000 one-way business via Tokyo — ANA's low chart as one-way halves; Saver Star space is the fight, Bonvoy the feed.
Feed it: 1,12,801 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 2,25,601 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 37,600 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
70,000 AA miles for Qatar's Qsuite via Doha — the best business seat to Washington, and Qatar serves IAD nonstop. Funded via Bonvoy 3:1 (210,000 points).
Feed it: 2,10,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 4,20,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 70,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
85,000 business via Seoul on Korean metal — a fixed SkyTeam J to the US capital; hotel-hop-fed.
Feed it: 1,70,000 HSBC Reward Points (2:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 3,40,000 HDFC Reward Points (4:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 3,40,000 SBI Travel Credits (4:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
110,000 business in the 8,001–10,000-mile band, surcharge-free, on ANA via Tokyo — SBI feeds Aeroplan 1:1.
Feed it: 55,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 1,10,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 2,75,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Emirates flies India–DXB–IAD, calculator-priced with heavy surcharges. Verify before burning.
Ways in: Amex Membership Rewards 2:1 · RBL Reward Points 4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy · Axis EDGE Miles 1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy
India–AUH–IAD on Etihad, GuestSeat dynamic pricing plus carrier charges; rarely the math winner.
Ways in: Axis EDGE Miles 1:2 · HSBC Reward Points 1:1 · SBI Travel Credits 1:1
Flying Blue prices India–Europe–IAD dynamically; the monthly Promo Rewards are the only edge. Amex MR 2:1.
Ways in: HDFC Reward Points 1:1 · Axis EDGE Miles 1:2 · HSBC Reward Points 1:1
ANA prices India → USA-East at 32,500 one-way economy, routed on Star metal via Tokyo where ANA flies Tokyo–Dulles; Bonvoy-fed only.
Feed it: 78,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 1,56,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 26,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
40,000 AA miles Indian Subcontinent → Contiguous-48 on Qatar via Doha; Bonvoy 3:1 is the only Indian feed.
Feed it: 1,20,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 2,40,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
47,500 on Korean metal via Seoul (Korean flies Incheon–IAD); hotel-hop-fed from India, 10-year expiry.
Feed it: 95,000 HSBC Reward Points (2:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 1,90,000 HDFC Reward Points (4:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 1,90,000 SBI Travel Credits (4:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Air India flies no Dulles metal, so Aeroplan books ANA via Tokyo; the via-hub distance clears the 8,000-mile line into the 75,000 band, surcharge-free.
Feed it: 37,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 75,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,87,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)