Award route card · one-way
The Umrah-and-Haj corridor. Saudia's own network lists Chennai but the airport table is silent — treat the nonstop as unverified. The priceable routing is Qatar's Qsuite via Doha, Avios summed per segment: 24,500 economy / 61,500 business, with Chennai's Zone-4 Doha leg making it dearer than Delhi's. No Air India metal; Emirates via Dubai and Flying Blue on SV are both dynamic. Price cash first in Umrah season.
The play · business
Feed it: 61,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 1,23,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 61,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | Qatar Airways Qsuite via DOH (oneworld) — Avios partner chart, per-segment | 61,500 | — | ₹61,500 | the play |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | Saudia nonstop (SkyTeam partner award) — dynamic; MAA-JED nonstop service UNVERIFIED | dynamic | — | — | — |
| Emirates Skywards | Emirates via DXB (MAA-DXB-JED) — Classic Rewards, calculator-priced | dynamic | — | — | — |
The play · economy
Feed it: 24,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 49,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 24,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
| Program | Metal / routing | Points | Surcharge | All-in ₹ | vs play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) | Qatar Airways via DOH (oneworld) — Avios partner chart, per-segment | 24,500 | — | ₹24,500 | the play |
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.
MAA-DOH (Z4, 43,000 J) + DOH-JED (Z2, 18,500 J) = 61,500 Avios, Qsuite on the long leg and a Doha connection. The best cabin to Jeddah on points, but the Zone-4 first segment makes it a heavy toll — for the Qsuite, not the price.
Feed it: 61,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 1,23,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 61,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
Saudia's own network lists Chennai, but the Chennai airport table is silent on it — treat the MAA-JED nonstop as unverified until a live schedule confirms it. Even if it flies, the only Indian-fed program that books SV metal is Flying Blue, dynamically priced with no published India-Jeddah datapoint. A door that may exist, not a price you can plan.
Ways in: HDFC Reward Points 1:1 · Axis EDGE Miles 1:2 · HSBC Reward Points 1:1
Emirates flies MAA-DXB-JED on two sectors, calculator-only and up ~15% on premium since May-2026, plus heavy surcharges and Umrah-season demand. Rarely the math winner against the Qsuite Avios sum; price it before committing.
Ways in: Amex Membership Rewards 2:1 · RBL Reward Points 4.8:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy · Axis EDGE Miles 1:1.25 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy
No Qatar nonstop to the Red Sea; you route through Doha, and Avios sums per segment: MAA-DOH (Z4, 14,500) + DOH-JED (827 mi, Z2, 10,000) = 24,500 Avios. Chennai's Zone-4 Doha leg makes this dearer than Delhi's 19,000 — the honest Umrah-corridor number.
Feed it: 24,500 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 49,000 Amex Membership Rewards (2:1) · 24,500 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)