Award route card · one-way
Thai Airways flies MAA–BKK nonstop, and Royal Orchid Plus prices Royal Silk at just 27,500 miles one-way — the standout published business rate on any India corridor, fed by HDFC/Axis/HSBC. Economy is 17,500 but rarely clears ₹0.7/mile against ₹8–14k cash. No Air India metal here, so oneworld routes via Colombo on Avios; the nonstop Royal Silk is the whole point.
The play · business
Feed it: 13,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 27,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 27,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thai Royal Orchid Plus | Thai Airways nonstop (Star Alliance), Royal Silk | 27,500 | — | ₹27,500 | the play |
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | SriLankan business via CMB (oneworld) — Avios partner chart, per-segment | 38,500 | — | ₹38,500 | 1.4× |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | SriLankan business via CMB (oneworld partner award) | 40,000 | — | ₹40,000 | 1.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Thai Airways metal (Star Alliance partner award) | 47,500 | — | ₹47,500 | 1.7× |
The play · economy
Feed it: 8,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 17,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 17,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thai Royal Orchid Plus | Thai Airways nonstop (Star Alliance), zone chart | 17,500 | — | ₹17,500 | the play |
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | SriLankan via CMB (oneworld) — Avios partner chart, per-segment | 19,000 | — | ₹19,000 | 1.1× |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | SriLankan via CMB (oneworld partner award) | 25,000 | — | ₹25,000 | 1.4× |
| IndiGo BluChip | IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced) | 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.
27,500 miles one-way in Royal Silk to TG's own hub — the standout published business rate on any India corridor, and a genuine nonstop from Chennai. HDFC (2:1), Axis (1:2) and HSBC (1:1) feed ROP; mind the hard 3-year expiry.
Feed it: 13,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 27,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 27,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
MAA-CMB (Z1, 14,000 J) + CMB-BKK (Z3, 24,500 J) = 38,500 Avios via Colombo. More than Thai's 27,500 Royal Silk nonstop already here — a completeness row that a Chennai Zone-1 feeder still keeps under Delhi's.
Feed it: 38,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 77,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 38,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
40,000 AA miles business via Colombo — 120,000 Bonvoy at 3:1 (see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage). Above Thai's Royal Silk and the Avios sum; completeness for a Bonvoy-funded flyer.
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)
MAA-BKK's 1,384 miles sit in the 0-2,500-mile Atlantic-Pacific band — 47,500 business, surcharge-free, booking Thai's nonstop. 1.7× Thai's own 27,500 Royal Silk for the same seat; for stranded Aeroplan balances only.
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)
Zone 3 (India) → Bangkok on the direct-flight chart, on TG's own MAA-BKK nonstop. At ₹8-14k cash fares this rarely clears ₹0.7/mile — Royal Silk is where the same chart gets interesting.
Feed it: 8,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 17,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 17,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
MAA-CMB (402 mi, Z1, 6,500) + CMB-BKK (1,486 mi, Z3, 12,500) = 19,000 Avios on SriLankan — cheaper than Delhi's 25,000 because Chennai's Colombo leg is a Zone-1 hop, not a Zone-3. Thai flies the nonstop; this is the oneworld alternative.
Feed it: 19,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 38,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 19,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
25,000 AA miles Indian Subcontinent → Asia Region 2 (Thailand), routed on SriLankan via Colombo — 75,000 Bonvoy at 3:1 (see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage). Thai's nonstop is the answer; AA is the fixed region backstop.
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)
IndiGo's MAA-BKK nonstop, priced off the live fare at ~₹0.40-0.80 per BluChip — no chart, no sweet spot. The program most Chennai flyers already hold, useful for a cheap seat, never aspirational.
Ways in: HSBC Reward Points 1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL) · Axis EDGE Reward Points 5:1 · HDFC Reward Points 3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)