Award route card · one-way
Cathay flies MAA–HKG nonstop — Chennai is one of its five Indian stations — and Asia Miles prices its own metal at 13,000/33,000 Standard, the best rate on the board even after the May-2026 devaluation. JAL and AA reach the same jet dearer; KrisFlyer detours via Singapore. Air India's Hong Kong service is suspended, so there's no Maharaja seat. Book the moment Standard space opens.
The play · business
Feed it: 66,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 33,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,58,400 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 nonstop (oneworld), Standard award | 33,000 | — | ₹33,000 | the play |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Cathay Pacific business nonstop (oneworld partner award) | 40,000 | — | ₹40,000 | 1.2× |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | Cathay Pacific nonstop (oneworld) via JAL partner chart | 42,000 | — | ₹46,200 | 1.4× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines via SIN (one stop), Saver | 62,000 | — | ₹68,200 | 2.1× |
The play · economy
Feed it: 26,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 13,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 62,401 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 nonstop (oneworld), Standard award | 13,000 | — | ₹13,000 | the play |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Cathay Pacific nonstop (oneworld partner award) | 25,000 | — | ₹25,000 | 1.9× |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | Cathay Pacific nonstop (oneworld) via JAL partner chart | 23,000 | — | ₹25,300 | 1.9× |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines via SIN (one stop), Saver | 25,000 | — | ₹27,500 | 2.1× |
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.
33,000 Standard one-way to Cathay's own hub (type-2 band) — the best rate on the corridor even after the May-2026 devaluation. SBI feeds Asia Miles 1:1; book the moment Standard space opens.
Feed it: 66,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 33,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 1,58,400 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
40,000 AA miles for Cathay business nonstop MAA-HKG — 120,000 Bonvoy at 3:1 (see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage). Dearer than Asia Miles' 33,000 Standard on the same jet; hold only if AAdvantage is where your Bonvoy 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 in JMB's 2,001-4,000 band on the same Cathay nonstop — 9,000 over Asia Miles' 33,000 Standard, but one-ways are allowed and HSBC feeds it 1:1. For existing JMB balances, not new ones.
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)
62,000 Saver for SQ business Zone 6 → Zone 4 via Singapore — nearly double Asia Miles' 33,000 on Cathay's nonstop, and a stop added. Completeness; the Cathay Standard seat is the buy.
Feed it: 62,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 31,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 1,24,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)
13,000 Standard in the 751-2,750-mile "type 2" band — the surcharge Cathay applies to any India route — on CX's own MAA-HKG nonstop (2,307 mi). Charts unpublished since May 2026; Standard space is capped per flight.
Feed it: 26,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 13,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 62,401 RBL Reward Points (4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
25,000 AA miles Indian Subcontinent → Asia Region 2 on Cathay's own MAA-HKG nonstop — 75,000 Bonvoy at 3:1 (see /transfers/to/american-aadvantage). Asia Miles prices its own metal far cheaper; AA is the fixed-chart fallback.
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)
MAA-HKG's 2,307 miles sit in JMB's 2,001-4,000 partner band — 23,000 one-way on Cathay metal, 10,000 over Asia Miles' Standard. HSBC feeds JMB 1:1; the direct-fed fallback when your points can't reach Asia Miles.
Feed it: 11,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 23,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1) · 57,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Hong Kong is Zone 4, and the Zone 6 → Zone 4 cell carries no asterisk, so SQ prices MAA-SIN-HKG at a fixed 25,000 Saver — a Changi detour on a route Cathay flies nonstop, but fed by more Indian issuers than Asia Miles.
Feed it: 25,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 12,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 50,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1)