Award flight · one-way

Chennai to Bahrain on points

17,500 pts cheapest economy · American Airlines AAdvantage MAA → BAH great-circle 3,415 km · 2,122 mi — short-haul 10 programs priced as of

Chennai → Bahrain was a hole in the board, and it is now 22 priced ways to buy the seat, economy from 15,000 on Avianca LifeMiles and business from 25,000 on Avianca LifeMiles. First is on the board too at 40,000 via AAdvantage — the published chart carries the cabin, so we print it. Aeroplan bands the 3,415 km on distance and AAdvantage prices the region flat; the dynamic Flying Blue row now rides Etihad via Abu Dhabi — no SkyTeam metal touches Chennai — and can never be crowned THE PLAY.

read the full take fold the take back up

Economy

The play · economy

American Airlines AAdvantage

oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT

17,500 pts
surcharge not published
₹17,500 all-in at house ₹

Which card mints this?

+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →

Program Metal / routing Points Surcharge All-in ₹ vs play
American Airlines AAdvantage the play oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT 17,500 — ₹17,500 the play
Avianca LifeMiles Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Avianca LifeMiles ~15,000 est. — ₹15,000 0.9×
United MileagePlus Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — United MileagePlus ~17,500 est. — ₹17,500 1.0×
Air France-KLM Flying Blue Etihad via AUH (MAA–AUH–BAH), or Oman Air via MCT — Flying Blue partner award (dynamic) ~20,000 est. — ₹20,000 1.1×
Aegean Miles+Bonus Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Aegean Miles+Bonus 20,000 — ₹20,000 1.1×
Copa Airlines ConnectMiles Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Copa ConnectMiles (fixed region chart) 20,000 — ₹20,000 1.1×
Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Oman Air via MCT (oneworld partner award), India→the Gulf — Alaska Atmos 25,000 — ₹25,000 1.4×
Air Canada Aeroplan Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (3,415 km) 30,000 — ₹30,000 1.7×
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — TAP Miles&Go 60,000 — ₹48,000 2.7×
Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles Etihad own metal (MAA–AUH–BAH) — Vietnam Lotusmiles partner award ~60,000 est. — ₹60,000 3.4×

Business

The play · business

American Airlines AAdvantage

oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT

30,000 pts
surcharge not published
₹30,000 all-in at house ₹

Which card mints this?

+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →

Program Metal / routing Points Surcharge All-in ₹ vs play
American Airlines AAdvantage the play oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT 30,000 — ₹30,000 the play
Avianca LifeMiles Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Avianca LifeMiles ~25,000 est. — ₹25,000 0.8×
Aegean Miles+Bonus Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Aegean Miles+Bonus 30,000 — ₹30,000 1.0×
United MileagePlus Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — United MileagePlus ~32,500 est. — ₹32,500 1.1×
Copa Airlines ConnectMiles Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Copa ConnectMiles (fixed region chart) 35,000 — ₹35,000 1.2×
Air Canada Aeroplan Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (3,415 km) 40,000 — ₹40,000 1.3×
Air France-KLM Flying Blue Etihad via AUH (MAA–AUH–BAH), or Oman Air via MCT — Flying Blue partner award (dynamic) ~41,500 est. — ₹41,500 1.4×
Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Oman Air via MCT (oneworld partner award), India→the Gulf — Alaska Atmos 50,000 — ₹50,000 1.7×
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — TAP Miles&Go 80,000 — ₹64,000 2.1×
Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles Etihad own metal (MAA–AUH–BAH) — Vietnam Lotusmiles partner award ~120,000 est. — ₹1,20,000 4.0×

First

The play · first

American Airlines AAdvantage

oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT

40,000 pts
surcharge not published
₹40,000 all-in at house ₹

Which card mints this?

+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →

Program Metal / routing Points Surcharge All-in ₹ vs play
American Airlines AAdvantage the play oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT 40,000 — ₹40,000 the play
Air Canada Aeroplan Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (3,415 km) 75,000 — ₹75,000 1.9×

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. That surcharge is the airline's own cash charge on an award — YQ, as the notes below call it — and it is not the fuel-surcharge waiver your credit card advertises: that one hands back a hundred rupees or two at a petrol pump, this one runs to tens of thousands and decides whether the award is worth taking at all. “Dynamic” and estimated (~… est.) rows never compete for the play — the crown is always a verified, bookable price. Feed-ins come from the same transfer data as the optimizer, multi-hop chains included.

Chart-priced, not live seats. These prices are read off each programme’s published award chart and valued at our own house ₹/point. 37% of the 39,855 priced options on the board are stated estimates for programmes that publish no chart; they are marked ~ est. and never crowned the play. Nobody here can see whether a seat exists on your date — confirm the space with the programme before you transfer. Points that leave your issuer do not come back.

The cash on top of the miles. Air France-KLM Flying Blue states that a carrier-imposed surcharge is charged on an award. American Airlines AAdvantage, United MileagePlus, Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards and Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles make you liable for one if the operating airline levies it, without saying whether it does. Air Canada Aeroplan states it adds none on its own metal. Government taxes and airport charges are payable in every case. Almost no programme publishes the amount, so the desk carries each one’s policy in its own words — on its programme hub — rather than a number nobody published. 4 other programmes priced here publish nothing the desk could read.

Row by row

22 options · 10 sourced charts
Economy

American Airlines AAdvantage

the play 17,500 pts

oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT

Qatar AirwaysOman Air oneworld

AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart, so a connection costs no extra miles. A valid oneworld routing — Oman Air via Muscat, Qatar Airways via Doha — is assumed.

Feed it: 52,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 105,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 35,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of aa.com
Economy

Avianca LifeMiles

~15,000 pts est.

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Avianca LifeMiles

Star Alliance

LifeMiles prices Star partner metal off an unpublished grid; India→Europe business ~63k is the headline sweet spot (beats Aeroplan). Business is the value cabin here; economy is mediocre. The chart is semi-fixed/unpublished, so some bands are estimates.

Estimate LifeMiles publishes no award chart — Avianca withdrew its public zone table in 2023 and prices Star partner awards off an unpublished internal grid. This level is extrapolated from that historical zone pricing plus dated community booking reports, not a verified chart price.

Feed it: 45,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 90,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 30,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)

as of awardtravelfinder.com
Economy

United MileagePlus

~17,500 pts est.

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — United MileagePlus

Star Alliance

United went fully dynamic in 2020 (no fixed chart), so ~17,500 is a typical Saver partner level to the Gulf. But Aeroplan often prices the same Star seat lower, so compare before burning United miles.

Estimate United MileagePlus Saver partner level, India→the Gulf on Star Alliance metal; United went fully dynamic in 2020, so this is a typical Saver that moves with availability and cabin scarcity.

Feed it: 8,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 43,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2) · 52,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)

as of awardwallet.com
Economy

Air France-KLM Flying Blue

~20,000 pts est.

Etihad via AUH (MAA–AUH–BAH), or Oman Air via MCT — Flying Blue partner award (dynamic)

Etihad AirwaysOman Air

No SkyTeam metal touches Chennai — Chennai's own airline table lists no Air France, KLM, Korean, Vietnam, China Eastern, Kenya, Saudia or Delta. Flying Blue's Chennai door is its non-alliance partner Etihad, connecting at Abu Dhabi (or Oman Air via MCT). Only economy and business are bookable with Miles on these partners — no first. Partner awards carry the operating carrier's surcharges (the published Oman Air datapoints run US$190–390 one-way), which Flying Blue does not publish per route.

Estimate Flying Blue is dynamic and prices partner awards PER SEGMENT (One Mile at a Time, 6-Jun-2024: "you're paying the per segment pricing anyway"). No SkyTeam carrier serves Chennai at all, so this row rides Etihad — a Flying Blue redemption partner since 27-Nov-2023 — via AUH: 2,966 km + 452 km banded to 15,000 + 5,000 = 20,000 economy. Bands anchored on published Flying Blue partner datapoints (business one-way: Muscat–Dubai 6,100, Abu Dhabi–Kuwait 9,500, Muscat–Bangkok 42,900, Abu Dhabi–Bangkok 45,000, Muscat–Munich 45,800, Abu Dhabi–Johannesburg 48,000, Abu Dhabi–Washington 87,000); economy is half of business, the one published economy anchor. Dates and demand move the real number. The <=1,200 km rung of those bands was re-fitted on 2026-08-02 as the geometric mean of its own published in-band quotes and now reads 5,000 economy / 11,500 business, up from 4,000 / 8,000 — an unfitted rung that ran about 21% and 31% low. The re-fit removes the bias, not the spread: published one-way business quotes inside the band still run 6,100 (Muscat–Dubai) to 19,500 (Toronto–New York), 3.2x apart, and segment length does not explain the gap, so the short-hop component is the coarsest number on this row.

Feed it: 20,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 10,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 20,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)

as of awardwallet.com
Economy

Aegean Miles+Bonus

20,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Aegean Miles+Bonus

Star Alliance

Aegean Miles+Bonus prices Star partner metal off one region chart published as ROUND TRIPS — its own rule is that a one-way costs exactly half, and the halved figure is what we show. India sits in the "Near East & Central Asia" zone: the Far East is a flat 30k/45k one-way (Tokyo costs the same as Bangkok), Europe 35k/55k, North America 50k/75k. No Indian card feeds it — Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 is the only road in, and awards only display once you hold the full balance.

Feed it: 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 120,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of upgradedpoints.com
Economy

Copa Airlines ConnectMiles

20,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Copa ConnectMiles (fixed region chart)

Star Alliance

Copa ConnectMiles prices Star partner metal off its FIXED region chart (India sits in Copa’s "Central Asia" zone). Standout value — India→Europe 45k business, India→Sub-Saharan Africa 17.5k economy on Ethiopian (Cairo is a dearer 20k Middle East cell) — but NO Indian card feeds ConnectMiles (buy-miles or a US co-brand only), so treat it as a reference benchmark, not a wallet-reachable route.

Feed it: 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 120,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of copaair.com
Economy

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards

25,000 pts

Oman Air via MCT (oneworld partner award), India→the Gulf — Alaska Atmos

Oman AirQatar Airways oneworld

Alaska Atmos bands the TOTAL DISTANCE FLOWN, not the nonstop great circle: the cheapest Atmos routing is Oman Air via MCT, ~2,122 flown miles against a 2,122-mile nonstop, which reads the Asia-Pacific chart's 1,501-3,000 mi band — 25,000 economy / 50,000 business one-way, plus the $20 partner booking fee per person each way (up from $12.50 on 1-Jul-2026). One-way.

Feed it: 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 120,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 40,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of upgradedpoints.com
Economy

Air Canada Aeroplan

30,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (3,415 km)

Star Alliance

Aeroplan prices Star partner awards by total distance flown; this row is the direct great-circle band, and a connecting routing that flies farther can land one band up. A valid Star routing — nonstop, or via a Star hub inside the maximum permitted mileage — is assumed.

Feed it: 15,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 30,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 75,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)

as of aircanada.com
Economy

TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go

60,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — TAP Miles&Go

Star Alliance

The 4 May 2026 chart pulled the Gulf out of TAP's "Asia" zone and gave it a Middle East band of its own: India→Middle East went 40k/60k → 60k/80k one-way, +50% in economy and +33% in business on a short hop. Intra-Asia is now 50k/70k, so Bangkok and Singapore price below Dubai. Heavy fuel surcharges on Lufthansa-group and TAP metal; Turkish, EgyptAir and Ethiopian routings dodge most of the YQ.

Feed it: 150,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.5:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 300,000 RBL Reward Points (5:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 100,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.67:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

Economy

Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles

~60,000 pts est.

Etihad own metal (MAA–AUH–BAH) — Vietnam Lotusmiles partner award

Etihad Airways

Chennai has no SkyTeam service at all — its own airport table lists British Airways, Cathay, Ethiopian, Lufthansa, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, Thai, SriLankan, Oman Air, Etihad, Emirates, Air India and the Indian low-costs, and not one SkyTeam member — so the AF/KLM/Korean/Saudia metal this row used to claim could never lift you out of MAA. Re-metalled onto Etihad 2026-08-01 after the SkyTeam phantom test that purged Air Europa SUMA from the same corridors. Lotusmiles partner awards are not bookable online — Vietnam Airlines takes them through its contact centre — so treat availability as the binding constraint, not the price. Vietnam Airlines' own metal never comes near either end: VN reaches DEL/BOM from Saigon and BLR/HYD from Hanoi, and no Gulf point at all. One-way.

Estimate Etihad is a named Lotusmiles redemption partner (award booking classes I business / N economy on Vietnam Airlines' own partner table) and flies MAA–AUH–BAH end to end on its own metal. Lotusmiles deducts miles PER FLIGHT SEGMENT, so this sums the published Southwest Asia x Middle East cell (35,000 economy / 70,000 business) and the Middle East x Middle East cell (25,000 / 50,000) = 60,000 economy one-way. Estimated on two counts: Lotusmiles publishes its 11-zone table for SkyTeam metal plus China Southern and ANA only, sending non-SkyTeam partners to a separate 10-zone "Award Zone Definition on Other Airlines" whose mileage table it never publishes; and it does not state whether the per-segment rule survives onto that grid. Both zone definitions put India in South West Asia and the Gulf in Middle East, so only the grid, not the cell, is in question.

Feed it: 60,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 60,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 60,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)

as of vietnamairlines.com
Business

American Airlines AAdvantage

the play 30,000 pts

oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT

Qatar AirwaysOman Air oneworld

AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart, so a connection costs no extra miles. A valid oneworld routing — Oman Air via Muscat, Qatar Airways via Doha — is assumed.

Feed it: 90,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 180,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 60,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of aa.com
Business

Avianca LifeMiles

~25,000 pts est.

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Avianca LifeMiles

Star Alliance

LifeMiles prices Star partner metal off an unpublished grid; India→Europe business ~63k is the headline sweet spot (beats Aeroplan). Business is the value cabin here; economy is mediocre. The chart is semi-fixed/unpublished, so some bands are estimates.

Estimate LifeMiles publishes no award chart — Avianca withdrew its public zone table in 2023 and prices Star partner awards off an unpublished internal grid. This level is extrapolated from that historical zone pricing plus dated community booking reports, not a verified chart price.

Feed it: 75,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 150,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 50,000 HDFC Reward Points (2:1)

as of awardtravelfinder.com
Business

Aegean Miles+Bonus

30,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Aegean Miles+Bonus

Star Alliance

Aegean Miles+Bonus prices Star partner metal off one region chart published as ROUND TRIPS — its own rule is that a one-way costs exactly half, and the halved figure is what we show. India sits in the "Near East & Central Asia" zone: the Far East is a flat 30k/45k one-way (Tokyo costs the same as Bangkok), Europe 35k/55k, North America 50k/75k. No Indian card feeds it — Marriott Bonvoy 3:1 is the only road in, and awards only display once you hold the full balance.

Feed it: 75,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.5:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 150,000 RBL Reward Points (5:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 50,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.67:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of upgradedpoints.com
Business

United MileagePlus

~32,500 pts est.

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — United MileagePlus

Star Alliance

United went fully dynamic in 2020 (no fixed chart), so ~32,500 is a typical Saver partner level to the Gulf. But Aeroplan often prices the same Star seat lower, so compare before burning United miles.

Estimate United MileagePlus Saver partner level, India→the Gulf on Star Alliance metal; United went fully dynamic in 2020, so this is a typical Saver that moves with availability and cabin scarcity.

Feed it: 16,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 81,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2) · 67,500 Amex Membership Rewards (2.08:1 via Marriott Bonvoy)

as of awardwallet.com
Business

Copa Airlines ConnectMiles

35,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — Copa ConnectMiles (fixed region chart)

Star Alliance

Copa ConnectMiles prices Star partner metal off its FIXED region chart (India sits in Copa’s "Central Asia" zone). Standout value — India→Europe 45k business, India→Sub-Saharan Africa 17.5k economy on Ethiopian (Cairo is a dearer 20k Middle East cell) — but NO Indian card feeds ConnectMiles (buy-miles or a US co-brand only), so treat it as a reference benchmark, not a wallet-reachable route.

Feed it: 90,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.57:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 180,000 RBL Reward Points (5.14:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 60,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.71:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of copaair.com
Business

Air Canada Aeroplan

40,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (3,415 km)

Star Alliance

Aeroplan prices Star partner awards by total distance flown; this row is the direct great-circle band, and a connecting routing that flies farther can land one band up. A valid Star routing — nonstop, or via a Star hub inside the maximum permitted mileage — is assumed.

Feed it: 20,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 40,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 100,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)

as of aircanada.com
Business

Air France-KLM Flying Blue

~41,500 pts est.

Etihad via AUH (MAA–AUH–BAH), or Oman Air via MCT — Flying Blue partner award (dynamic)

Etihad AirwaysOman Air

No SkyTeam metal touches Chennai — Chennai's own airline table lists no Air France, KLM, Korean, Vietnam, China Eastern, Kenya, Saudia or Delta. Flying Blue's Chennai door is its non-alliance partner Etihad, connecting at Abu Dhabi (or Oman Air via MCT). Only economy and business are bookable with Miles on these partners — no first. Partner awards carry the operating carrier's surcharges (the published Oman Air datapoints run US$190–390 one-way), which Flying Blue does not publish per route.

Estimate Flying Blue is dynamic and prices partner awards PER SEGMENT (One Mile at a Time, 6-Jun-2024: "you're paying the per segment pricing anyway"). No SkyTeam carrier serves Chennai at all, so this row rides Etihad — a Flying Blue redemption partner since 27-Nov-2023 — via AUH: 2,966 km + 452 km banded to 30,000 + 11,500 = 41,500 business. Bands anchored on published Flying Blue partner datapoints (business one-way: Muscat–Dubai 6,100, Abu Dhabi–Kuwait 9,500, Muscat–Bangkok 42,900, Abu Dhabi–Bangkok 45,000, Muscat–Munich 45,800, Abu Dhabi–Johannesburg 48,000, Abu Dhabi–Washington 87,000); economy is half of business, the one published economy anchor. Dates and demand move the real number. The <=1,200 km rung of those bands was re-fitted on 2026-08-02 as the geometric mean of its own published in-band quotes and now reads 5,000 economy / 11,500 business, up from 4,000 / 8,000 — an unfitted rung that ran about 21% and 31% low. The re-fit removes the bias, not the spread: published one-way business quotes inside the band still run 6,100 (Muscat–Dubai) to 19,500 (Toronto–New York), 3.2x apart, and segment length does not explain the gap, so the short-hop component is the coarsest number on this row.

Feed it: 41,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 20,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 41,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)

as of awardwallet.com
Business

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards

50,000 pts

Oman Air via MCT (oneworld partner award), India→the Gulf — Alaska Atmos

Oman AirQatar Airways oneworld

Alaska Atmos bands the TOTAL DISTANCE FLOWN, not the nonstop great circle: the cheapest Atmos routing is Oman Air via MCT, ~2,122 flown miles against a 2,122-mile nonstop, which reads the Asia-Pacific chart's 1,501-3,000 mi band — 25,000 economy / 50,000 business one-way, plus the $20 partner booking fee per person each way (up from $12.50 on 1-Jul-2026). One-way.

Feed it: 120,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.4:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 240,000 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 80,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of upgradedpoints.com
Business

TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go

80,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, India→the Gulf — TAP Miles&Go

Star Alliance

The 4 May 2026 chart pulled the Gulf out of TAP's "Asia" zone and gave it a Middle East band of its own: India→Middle East went 40k/60k → 60k/80k one-way, +50% in economy and +33% in business on a short hop. Intra-Asia is now 50k/70k, so Bangkok and Singapore price below Dubai. Heavy fuel surcharges on Lufthansa-group and TAP metal; Turkish, EgyptAir and Ethiopian routings dodge most of the YQ.

Feed it: 195,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2.44:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 390,000 RBL Reward Points (4.88:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 130,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (1.63:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

Business

Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles

~120,000 pts est.

Etihad own metal (MAA–AUH–BAH) — Vietnam Lotusmiles partner award

Etihad Airways

Chennai has no SkyTeam service at all — its own airport table lists British Airways, Cathay, Ethiopian, Lufthansa, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, Thai, SriLankan, Oman Air, Etihad, Emirates, Air India and the Indian low-costs, and not one SkyTeam member — so the AF/KLM/Korean/Saudia metal this row used to claim could never lift you out of MAA. Re-metalled onto Etihad 2026-08-01 after the SkyTeam phantom test that purged Air Europa SUMA from the same corridors. Lotusmiles partner awards are not bookable online — Vietnam Airlines takes them through its contact centre — so treat availability as the binding constraint, not the price. Vietnam Airlines' own metal never comes near either end: VN reaches DEL/BOM from Saigon and BLR/HYD from Hanoi, and no Gulf point at all. One-way.

Estimate Etihad is a named Lotusmiles redemption partner (award booking classes I business / N economy on Vietnam Airlines' own partner table) and flies MAA–AUH–BAH end to end on its own metal. Lotusmiles deducts miles PER FLIGHT SEGMENT, so this sums the published Southwest Asia x Middle East cell (35,000 economy / 70,000 business) and the Middle East x Middle East cell (25,000 / 50,000) = 120,000 business one-way. Estimated on two counts: Lotusmiles publishes its 11-zone table for SkyTeam metal plus China Southern and ANA only, sending non-SkyTeam partners to a separate 10-zone "Award Zone Definition on Other Airlines" whose mileage table it never publishes; and it does not state whether the per-segment rule survives onto that grid. Both zone definitions put India in South West Asia and the Gulf in Middle East, so only the grid, not the cell, is in question.

Feed it: 120,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 120,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 120,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)

as of vietnamairlines.com
First

American Airlines AAdvantage

the play 40,000 pts

oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT

Qatar AirwaysOman Air oneworld

AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart, so a connection costs no extra miles. A valid oneworld routing — Oman Air via Muscat, Qatar Airways via Doha — is assumed.

Feed it: 120,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 240,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 80,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)

as of aa.com
First

Air Canada Aeroplan

75,000 pts

Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (3,415 km)

Star Alliance

Aeroplan prices Star partner awards by total distance flown; this row is the direct great-circle band, and a connecting routing that flies farther can land one band up. A valid Star routing — nonstop, or via a Star hub inside the maximum permitted mileage — is assumed.

Feed it: 37,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 75,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 187,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)

as of aircanada.com

More corridors

74 from MAA · 13 to BAH

Or take the whole region: every corridor we price into Middle East — 207 of them. Or pick any two hubs — 2,450 corridors priced.