Award route card · one-way
Vietnam is where the transfer ecosystem runs out of chart. KrisFlyer prices India–Vietnam through a zone matrix it doesn't publish, Asia Miles has no metal, and LotusSmiles keeps no public chart — which leaves Air India's April-2026 overhaul alone on the podium: a flat 12,000 points for the five-hour nonstop, the same price as Bangkok or Singapore. The only published flat-bed is Aeroplan's 47,500 via Bangkok on Thai, squeaking under the 2,500-mile band with 240 miles to spare. Everything else on this corridor is a cash fare.
The play · business
Feed it: 23,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 47,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,18,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Thai Airways via BKK (Star Alliance partner award) | 47,500 | — | ₹47,500 | the play |
The play · economy
Feed it: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 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 | 12,000 | — | ₹9,600 | 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.
Routed DEL–BKK–SGN on Thai, the flown distance is ~2,260 miles — inside the 0–2,500 Pacific band (47,500 post-June-2026) with ~240 miles of headroom. Two Royal Silk cabins, no fuel surcharges. Do NOT route via Singapore: SQ metal pushes the trip past 3,200 flown miles and into the 75,000 tier.
Feed it: 23,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 47,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,18,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Ho Chi Minh City is named in Delhi's 12,000-point international list on the April-2026 chart — SE Asia flattened to one tier, and AI's nonstop (launched June 2023, still flying) is the longest sector that price buys. Business for SGN is unpublished; we list what we can verify.
Feed it: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)