Economy the play 7,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
143 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, plus Air India Express on the same pair — both redeemable with Maharaja Points since 21-May-2026
Air IndiaAir India Express
Cut 28.6% in the April-2026 route-level overhaul, 3,500 → 2,500, the lowest cell in this batch and a whisker off the chart's 1,500 domestic floor. The full range the calculator returns runs 2,500-6,000 across award tiers; 2,500 is the Value-tier floor, which is the number this board prices. Air India Express seats became redeemable with Maharaja Points on 21-May-2026, so either group metal books at this cell. 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: 2,500 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 1,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 2,500 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced)
IndiGo
IndiGo runs the frequency into Jaipur, 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 ~143 mi - a rupee offset that moves 1:1 with the live fare. Own-metal only, no partners.
Feed it: 10,500 HSBC Reward Points (1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 35,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:1) · 21,000 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, fixed and surcharge-free, chain-funded HDFC 2:1 / Bonvoy 3:1. It loses here twice over — 500 points and ₹2,900 all-in to Air India's own 12,000, one of two corridors in this batch where the house chart beats the Canadian one outright. Aeroplan's floor band does not care that this is a 143-mile flight; the same 12,500 buys Delhi to Guwahati, six times the distance.
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 ~12,000 pts est. Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier — Air India Express has no business cabin
Air India Star Alliance
Cut 25% from 16,000 to 12,000, and one of only two cells in this batch where the house chart undercuts Aeroplan's flat 12,500 for the identical Air India seat. ₹9,600 of points for fifty minutes up front is still an indefensible burn on the merits — take the 2,500-point economy cell — but if you are moving a stranded balance and want the front of the plane, this is the cheapest domestic J price we hold anywhere.
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: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)