Award flight · one-way
Chennai → Rome on points: 10 options across the alliance backbones our cards can reach. Aeroplan books Star partner metal at a fixed 7,227 km distance band, AAdvantage prices the oneworld routing off its region chart, and Flying Blue — which reaches Chennai on Etihad via Abu Dhabi, not on SkyTeam metal — prices it dynamically. The verified charts crown THE PLAY; the dynamic row is shown as an honest estimate.
The play · economy
Which card mints this?
+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →
One of your cards is in those 7 — see it in the funnel →
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage the play | oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar via DOH, or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT, or British Airways via LHR | 20,000 | — | ₹20,000 | the play |
| Lufthansa Miles & More | Air India via DEL (MAA–DEL–FCO) — Star Alliance partner award, fixed Miles & More chart | 25,000 | — | ₹25,000 | 1.3× |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | Etihad via AUH (MAA–AUH–FCO), or Oman Air via MCT — Flying Blue partner award (dynamic) | ~37,500 est. | — | ₹37,500 | 1.9× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (7,227 km) — or Ethiopian Airlines via ADD, or Lufthansa via FRA, or Air India via DEL | 42,500 | — | ₹42,500 | 2.1× |
The play · business
Which card mints this?
+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →
One of your cards is in those 7 — see it in the funnel →
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage the play | oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar via DOH, or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT, or British Airways via LHR | 42,500 | — | ₹42,500 | the play |
| Lufthansa Miles & More | Air India via DEL (MAA–DEL–FCO) — Star Alliance partner award, fixed Miles & More chart | 62,500 | — | ₹62,500 | 1.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (7,227 km) — or Ethiopian Airlines via ADD, or Lufthansa via FRA, or Air India via DEL | 70,000 | — | ₹70,000 | 1.6× |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | Etihad via AUH (MAA–AUH–FCO), or Oman Air via MCT — Flying Blue partner award (dynamic) | ~75,000 est. | — | ₹75,000 | 1.8× |
The play · first
Which card mints this?
+7 more ways in — the full funnel, ratios and ₹/mile side by side →
One of your cards is in those 7 — see it in the funnel →
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage the play | oneworld partner metal, AAdvantage region award — or Qatar via DOH, or Qatar Airways via DOH, or Oman Air via MCT, or British Airways via LHR | 62,500 | — | ₹62,500 | the play |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star Alliance partner metal, Aeroplan distance-band award (7,227 km) — or Ethiopian Airlines via ADD, or Lufthansa via FRA, or Air India via DEL | 100,000 | — | ₹1,00,000 | 1.6× |
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. Lufthansa Miles & More and Air France-KLM Flying Blue state that a carrier-imposed surcharge is charged on an award. American Airlines AAdvantage makes 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.
Qatar AirwaysOman AirBritish Airways oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. A valid oneworld routing is assumed.
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)
Air India Star Alliance
The same fixed partner chart — the one the 3-Jun-2025 dynamic switch left alone — prices Europe↔India economy at 50,000 miles RETURN, the same band as Europe↔North America. The halving is published, not assumed: Miles & More’s General terms and conditions for Award Flights, §1.1 One-way Award Flight, reads “One-way Award Flights allow you to book an Award Flight for a single leg for 50% fewer miles than a standard Award Flight”, and carves out only Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian metal, where the saving tracks the dynamic online offer. That is 25,000 one-way. Air India carries it via Delhi (MAA–DEL–FCO), all-AI metal at 1.06× the great-circle — inside the on-the-way limit — and the chart’s own footnote says the published amounts “include a continental connecting flight operated by a Miles & More airline partner”, so the MAA–DEL leg is inside the price rather than on top of it. At 25,000 it does NOT win here — American Airlines AAdvantage publishes the same cabin at 20,000. This row is on the board because the board shows every programme’s answer, not because it is the play; what it buys a stranded Miles & More balance is a FIXED, published number on Star metal. The chart is miles-only: the PDF still makes you pay “taxes, fees, airline surcharges payable to the respective airlines”, so the cash bill follows the OPERATING carrier — which is exactly why partner metal escapes the EUR 395–885 one-way that Lufthansa and SWISS own metal carries. On this pair that means Air India’s bill, not Lufthansa’s or SWISS’s.
Feed it: 62,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2) · 25,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1) · 125,000 HDFC Reward Points (5:1 via Wyndham Rewards)
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 + 4,340 km banded to 15,000 + 22,500 = 37,500 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.
Feed it: 37,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 18,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 37,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
Ethiopian AirlinesLufthansaAir India Star Alliance
Aeroplan prices Star partner awards by total distance FLOWN. This row is the direct great-circle band; a connecting routing that flies farther can land in the next band up. A valid Star routing (nonstop or via a Star hub within the maximum permitted mileage) is assumed.
Feed it: 21,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 42,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 106,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Qatar AirwaysOman AirBritish Airways oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. A valid oneworld routing is assumed.
Feed it: 127,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 255,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 85,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Air India Star Alliance
Miles & More’s PARTNER chart is the one thing the 3-Jun-2025 switch to dynamic pricing did not touch, and the official Award Flight chart (correct as of 3 March 2026) gives INDIA its own region, separate from South East Asia and from Central Asia/Far East. Europe↔India in business is 125,000 miles RETURN — the same band as Europe↔North America, not the dearer South East Asia column. The halving is published, not assumed: Miles & More’s General terms and conditions for Award Flights, §1.1 One-way Award Flight, reads “One-way Award Flights allow you to book an Award Flight for a single leg for 50% fewer miles than a standard Award Flight”, and carves out only Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian metal, where the saving tracks the dynamic online offer. That puts this corridor at 62,500 one-way, fixed and published, on PARTNER metal — and the T&Cs say so twice over: §2.1 adds that for “all other Miles & More airline partners” the ask “is calculated on the basis of an outbound and return flight in the selected award zone”. Air India carries it via Delhi (MAA–DEL–FCO), all-AI metal at 1.06× the great-circle — inside the on-the-way limit — and the chart’s own footnote says the published amounts “include a continental connecting flight operated by a Miles & More airline partner”, so the MAA–DEL leg is inside the price rather than on top of it. At 62,500 it does NOT win here — American Airlines AAdvantage publishes the same cabin at 42,500. This row is on the board because the board shows every programme’s answer, not because it is the play; what it buys a stranded Miles & More balance is a FIXED, published number on Star metal. Turkish is the obvious alternate on this chart, but it does not serve MAA at all, so Air India via Delhi is the only partner routing inside the on-the-way limit. Two cells on the same chart row are deliberately NOT on the board. Premium Economy (85,000 return) is carved out by the chart’s own footnote 4 — “Only on flights operated by Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa, Lufthansa City and SWISS” — i.e. never on Air India. And First (215,000 return, 1,07,500 one-way) has no metal: Air India’s only First cabin is the legacy 777-300ER, which in 2026 works Delhi–Melbourne and the Amritsar/Ahmedabad–London Gatwick runs, and no Delhi–Europe sector at all. The chart is miles-only: the PDF still makes you pay “taxes, fees, airline surcharges payable to the respective airlines”, so the cash bill follows the OPERATING carrier — which is exactly why partner metal escapes the EUR 395–885 one-way that Lufthansa and SWISS own metal carries. On this pair that means Air India’s bill, not Lufthansa’s or SWISS’s. Air India releases partner Saver space thinly on the Europe runs — award space, not the price, is the constraint here.
Feed it: 156,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2) · 62,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:1) · 312,500 HDFC Reward Points (5:1 via Wyndham Rewards)
Ethiopian AirlinesLufthansaAir India Star Alliance
Aeroplan prices Star partner awards by total distance FLOWN. This row is the direct great-circle band; a connecting routing that flies farther can land in the next band up. A valid Star routing (nonstop or via a Star hub within the maximum permitted mileage) is assumed.
Feed it: 35,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 70,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 175,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
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 + 4,340 km banded to 30,000 + 45,000 = 75,000 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.
Feed it: 75,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 37,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 75,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
Qatar AirwaysOman AirBritish Airways oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. A valid oneworld routing is assumed.
Feed it: 187,500 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 375,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 125,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Ethiopian AirlinesLufthansaAir India Star Alliance
Aeroplan prices Star partner awards by total distance FLOWN. This row is the direct great-circle band; a connecting routing that flies farther can land in the next band up. A valid Star routing (nonstop or via a Star hub within the maximum permitted mileage) is assumed.
Feed it: 50,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 100,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 250,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Flying back? Rome to Chennai on points (FCO–MAA). Or take the whole region: every corridor we price into Europe — 532 of them. Or pick any two hubs — 2,450 corridors priced.