Award route card · one-way
The shortest international on the board, priced like it isn't: 9,000 Maharaja points for 816 km when Delhi–Mumbai — 40% farther — costs 5,000. That's the international premium in one number, and Kathmandu was the route the April-2026 overhaul didn't touch. Here's the twist: the award still works, because DEL–KTM cash fares are notoriously inflated for the length — thin competition and heavy demand keep one-ways at ₹8–14k, so ₹7,200 of points clears more often than not. IndiGo flies it nonstop with no chart; Nepal Airlines, Bhutan Airlines and SpiceJet share the corridor but no program our cards feed prices any of them. On a two-hour hop over the Himalaya, Maharaja is the only game — and for once, a fair one.
The play · economy
Feed it: 9,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 4,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 9,000 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 | 9,000 | — | ₹7,200 | the play |
| IndiGo BluChip | IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced) | dynamic | — | — | — |
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.
Kathmandu "stays at 9,000" through the April-2026 overhaul — the untouched route — though the same source's tier table groups it into the 10,000 South Asia band with Colombo and Malé; the desk prints the route-level number. ₹7,200 of points against ₹8–14k cash one-ways clears well by short-haul standards. Taxes unpublished; Nepal's airport charges land on top.
Feed it: 9,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 4,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 9,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo flies Delhi–Kathmandu nonstop, but BluChip prices every seat off the live fare — dynamic ₹0.40–0.60 per BluChip, no chart, minimum 500, taxes cash-only. On a corridor where cash fares run rich year-round, that just means an expensive award; the fixed Maharaja row is the plan.
Ways in: HSBC Reward Points 1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL) · Axis EDGE Reward Points 5:1 · HDFC Reward Points 3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)