Award route card · one-way
Qatar flies MAA–DOH nonstop, but Chennai sits 42 miles past the 2,000-mile line, so the single Avios segment prices in Zone 4 — 14,500 economy / 43,000 Qsuite, dearer than Delhi's Zone-3 rate. The band cliff is the honest Chennai number. Air India mainline reaches Doha via Mumbai, so Maharaja adds a flat 12,000 economy via a hub; IndiGo runs dynamic BluChip, and the Qsuite on points is the play if you accept the Zone-4 premium.
The play · business
Feed it: 43,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 86,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 43,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | Qatar Airways Qsuite nonstop (oneworld) — Avios partner chart, single segment Zone 4 | 43,000 | — | ₹43,000 | 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 via BOM (MAA–BOM–DOH, AI mainline) — Maharaja Middle East tier | 12,000 | — | ₹9,600 | the play |
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | Qatar Airways nonstop (oneworld) — Avios partner chart, single segment Zone 4 | 14,500 | — | ₹14,500 | 1.5× |
| 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.
The 42-mile band cliff bites hard up front: Zone 4 Qsuite is 43,000 Avios one-way, versus Delhi's 24,500 in Zone 3 for the same seat. Qatar's densest Indian schedule feeds it, but the distance quietly nearly doubles the price. Verify the aircraft carries real Qsuite before booking.
Feed it: 43,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 86,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 43,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
Air India mainline flies both MAA–BOM and BOM–DOH, so the routing is one all-mainline Maharaja award at the flat 12,000 Middle East economy tier (Mumbai is on the way — no backtrack). Undercuts Qatar's Zone-4 14,500 Avios nonstop on points; the Qsuite seat keeps it honest.
Feed it: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
MAA-DOH is 2,042 mi — 42 miles past the 2,000-mile line, so the single Qatar segment prices in Zone 4 at 14,500 Avios, not Delhi's Zone-3 12,500. The band cliff is the honest Chennai number; still a fair economy rate on Qatar's own nonstop.
Feed it: 14,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 29,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 14,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo flies MAA-DOH nonstop, priced off the live fare (~₹0.40-0.80 per BluChip, min 500 chips, own metal only). No chart, no sweet spot — a fare discount on the corridor's cheap end, not an award.
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)