Award route card · one-way
No airline flies India–Taiwan nonstop — not China Airlines, not EVA, not anyone (we checked the Taoyuan tables) — so Taipei is a connection-city shootout that Cathay wins. DEL–HKG–TPE sums to ~2,826 flown miles, just 76 past Asia Miles' 2,750 band edge: 20,000/60,000 Standard instead of the 13,000/33,000 a nonstop would've priced. JMB books the same metal at 23,000/42,000 with HSBC's 1:1 feed — the direct-fed business play — while AAdvantage files Taiwan under Asia Region 2, not 1: 25,000/40,000, the cheapest flat bed here. JAL's own NRT connection exists in the sky but not on any chart, and Star's best is Aeroplan's 75,000 via Bangkok. Small island, crowded maths, Cathay metal everywhere.
The play · business
Feed it: 1,20,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 2,40,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Cathay Pacific business via HKG (oneworld partner award) | 40,000 | — | ₹40,000 | the play |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | Cathay Pacific business via HKG (oneworld) via JAL partner chart | 42,000 | — | ₹46,200 | 1.2× |
| Cathay Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific business via HKG (oneworld), Standard award — cumulative-distance pricing | 60,000 | — | ₹60,000 | 1.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Thai Airways via Bangkok (Star Alliance partner award) | 75,000 | — | ₹75,000 | 1.9× |
The play · economy
Feed it: 40,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 20,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 96,001 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathay Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific via HKG (oneworld), Standard award — cumulative-distance pricing | 20,000 | — | ₹20,000 | the play |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Cathay Pacific via HKG (oneworld partner award) | 25,000 | — | ₹25,000 | 1.3× |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | Cathay Pacific via HKG (oneworld) via JAL partner chart | 23,000 | — | ₹25,300 | 1.3× |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | Malaysia Airlines via KUL (one stop) — revenue-based Enrich pricing | 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.
Region 2 business holds at 40,000 — same as Region 1 — making AA the cheapest published flat bed to Taipei, 2,000 under JMB and 20,000 under Asia Miles on identical Cathay metal. 120,000 Bonvoy at 3:1; chain-funded only, so JMB's 42,000 wins for bank-fed points.
Feed it: 1,20,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 2,40,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
42,000 one-way business — the direct-fed sweet spot to Taipei: 18,000 under Asia Miles on the same seats, HSBC 1:1, one-way partner awards allowed. AA's 40,000 edges it by 2,000 but needs 120,000 Bonvoy through a chain; for bank-fed points this is the corridor's flat-bed call.
Feed it: 21,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 42,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 1,05,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
The band edge bites: 76 extra flown miles lift business from 33,000 to 60,000 Standard. 18,000 to 20,000 over JMB and AA for identical Cathay seats — on this corridor Asia Miles is the economy play, not the business one. SBI 1:1; HDFC and Amex 2:1.
Feed it: 1,20,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 60,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 2,88,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Star's only published way in: DEL–BKK–TPE on Thai metal (~3,370 flown miles) books in the 2,501–5,000 Atlantic–Pacific band — 75,000 business post-June-2026, surcharge-free. Singapore Airlines via SIN (~4,590 miles) prices identically in-band. Nearly double AA's 40,000; for SBI-1:1/Atlas-1:2 balances that can't reach a oneworld ledger.
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)
DEL–HKG–TPE totals ~2,826 flown miles — 76 past the 2,750 band edge, so 20,000 Standard instead of the type-2 13,000 below it. Still the cheapest published economy to Taipei, on Cathay metal both legs with an SBI 1:1 feed. Standard space is capped; dynamic "Choice" pricing takes over when it's gone.
Feed it: 40,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 20,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 96,001 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Taiwan sits in AA's Asia Region 2 — with China and Hong Kong, not with Japan/Korea's Region 1 — so economy costs 25,000 from the Indian Subcontinent, 2,500 more than a Tokyo or Seoul award. 75,000 Bonvoy at 3:1 (see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage); Asia Miles and JMB both undercut it in this cabin.
Feed it: 75,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 1,50,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 25,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
JMB's partner chart sums DEL–HKG–TPE to ~2,826 miles — the 2,001–4,000 band at 23,000 one-way economy on Cathay metal. 3,000 over Asia Miles with a cleaner feed (HSBC 1:1 instant). JAL's own DEL–NRT–TPE metal exists but its own-metal chart prices Japan departures only — no published number, so Cathay's routing is the only JMB way in.
Feed it: 11,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 23,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 57,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
MH flies DEL–KUL and KUL–TPE on its own metal, but Enrich prices awards off the cash fare — ~0.8–1.2¢ a point, RM50-per-3,000 e-voucher floor, no chart, no Indian bank feed (IHG 5:1, Hilton 25:3 only). On a corridor with four fixed charts, strictly a balance-dump row.
Ways in: Amex Membership Rewards 9.26:1 via Hilton Honors · Axis EDGE Reward Points 12.5:1 via IHG One Rewards · HDFC Reward Points 5:1 via IHG One Rewards