Award route card · one-way
The thinnest corridor in the East Asia set, and we'll say so. Air India only rejoined it in February 2026, and its flat 30,000-point East Asia economy tier is the one direct-fed published rate to Shanghai — nothing else our cards feed posts a number here. KrisFlyer's chart puts Beijing and Shanghai in their own zone and publishes no India pairing we can verify; Hainan's Fortune Wings has neither the metal nor a datapoint. Burn 30,000 Maharaja points or pay cash; the Aeroplan row is for stranded balances only.
The play · business
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)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Air India metal (Star Alliance partner award) | 75,000 | — | ₹75,000 | the play |
The play · economy
Feed it: 30,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 15,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 30,000 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 | 30,000 | — | ₹24,000 | the play |
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.
2,667 great-circle miles — just 167 past the June-2026 chart's 2,500-mile cliff, so business books at 75,000 instead of 47,500. And it only exists if Air India sells business on the relaunched Shanghai schedule, which the young timetable doesn't guarantee. SBI 1:1 / Atlas 1:2 balances only; everyone else takes Maharaja economy or a cash fare.
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)
Shanghai is named on the April-2026 chart's flat 30,000-point East Asia economy tier — the only direct-fed published rate on this corridor. Air India resumed Delhi–Shanghai in February 2026 after a long suspension; Value-tier space on a young relaunch schedule, so book early. Taxes unpublished.
Feed it: 30,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 15,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 30,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)