Award route card · one-way
The corridor that vindicates the Marriott hop. ANA's zone chart sells Japan–India business at 30,000 miles one-way in regular season — half of what KrisFlyer wants via Singapore — and since 2025 you can finally book it one-way. No Indian card reaches ANA directly; Bonvoy at 3:1 (2.4:1 in 60k blocks) is the toll road, and it's still the best maths to Tokyo. JAL's 40,000 via HSBC/Axis is the no-hop consolation.
The play · business
Feed it: 72,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 72,000 HSBC Reward Points (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 1,44,000 HDFC Reward Points (4.8:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Mileage Club | ANA nonstop to Haneda (Star Alliance), regular season | 30,000 | — | ₹30,000 | the play |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | Japan Airlines nonstop to Narita (oneworld), base award | 40,000 | — | ₹44,000 | 1.5× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines via SIN (one stop), Saver | 60,000 | ₹8,000 | ₹74,000 | 2.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | ANA metal via Aeroplan (Star Alliance partner award) | 75,000 | — | ₹75,000 | 2.5× |
The play · economy
Feed it: 42,001 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 42,001 HSBC Reward Points (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 84,001 HDFC Reward Points (4.8:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Mileage Club | ANA nonstop to Haneda (Star Alliance), regular season | 17,500 | — | ₹17,500 | the play |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | Japan Airlines nonstop to Narita (oneworld), base award | 17,500 | — | ₹19,250 | 1.1× |
| Air India Maharaja Points | Air India nonstop to Haneda (Star Alliance), Value tier | 30,000 | — | ₹24,000 | 1.4× |
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.
The sweet spot that makes the 2-hop worth it: 60,000 round-trip regular season (55,000 low / 63,000 high), halved for one-way — 30,000 miles for 7½ hours in a flat bed. Book the ANA site, pay the fuel surcharge, thank the Bonvoy 60k-block bonus (2.4:1) on the way in.
Feed it: 72,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 72,000 HSBC Reward Points (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 1,44,000 HDFC Reward Points (4.8:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)
40,000 base miles one-way in business — the best chart rate any DIRECTLY-fed program posts to Tokyo. HSBC TravelOne's instant 1:1 makes this the low-friction play; ANA is cheaper only if you'll work the Marriott hop.
Feed it: 20,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 40,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 1,00,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Two Saver segments through Changi for 60,000 miles — twice ANA's nonstop rate, but bookable from four Indian issuers without hotel gymnastics, and it's SQ product both legs. The detour adds ~5 hours.
Feed it: 60,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 30,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 1,20,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)
Delhi–Tokyo jumped 25% to 75,000 in June 2026 — 2.5× ANA's own chart for the identical seat. Exists for one reason: Aeroplan is reachable at 1:1 from SBI and 1:2 from Atlas without touching a hotel program.
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)
Zone 1 ⇄ Zone 4 (India) regular season: 35,000 round-trip, halved since one-way awards arrived — 17,500 one-way (15,000 low season, 19,000 high). ANA lands at Haneda, not Narita. Fuel surcharges apply; Marriott Bonvoy is the only Indian road in.
Feed it: 42,001 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 42,001 HSBC Reward Points (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 84,001 HDFC Reward Points (4.8:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)
17,500 base miles one-way Delhi–Tokyo, surviving the June-2025 hikes. Unlike ANA, JAL is directly reachable: HSBC 1:1, Axis EDGE Miles 1:2, SBI 2:1. When base space is gone, dynamic "PLUS" pricing balloons past 130,000 — never pay it.
Feed it: 8,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 17,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 43,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
East Asia sits at a flat 30,000 in economy on the April-2026 chart — 1.7× ANA's and JAL's own rates for the same corridor. The business tier for East Asia isn't published route-level yet; 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)