Award flight · one-way
Chicago → Sydney on points: 10 options across the alliance backbones our cards can reach. Aeroplan's fixed band only applies to partners outside its dynamic Select column, so the Aeroplan row here is ANA via HND, banded on the 11,149 miles that routing actually flies, AAdvantage prices the oneworld routing off its region chart, and Flying Blue covers SkyTeam 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 — via DFW, or Cathay Pacific via HKG, or Japan Airlines via HND | 40,000 | — | ₹40,000 | the play |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | SkyTeam metal, Flying Blue (dynamic) — via LAX, or Korean Air via ICN, or Delta Air Lines via LAX | ~45,000 est. | — | ₹45,000 | 1.1× |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | American Airlines via DFW beyond Qantas' trans-Pacific metal (ORD–DFW–SYD), Qantas Classic Flight Reward table — Zone 9 on 9,382 one-way miles | 58,900 | — | ₹58,900 | 1.5× |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | ANA via HND (Tokyo-Haneda) — the fixed "All other partners" Aeroplan cell, 11,149 mi flown, or Air Canada via YYZ | 70,000 | — | ₹70,000 | 1.8× |
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 — via DFW, or Cathay Pacific via HKG, or Japan Airlines via HND | 80,000 | — | ₹80,000 | the play |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | ANA via HND (Tokyo-Haneda) — the fixed "All other partners" Aeroplan cell, 11,149 mi flown, or Air Canada via YYZ | 115,000 | — | ₹1,15,000 | 1.4× |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | SkyTeam metal, Flying Blue (dynamic) — via LAX, or Korean Air via ICN, or Delta Air Lines via LAX | ~120,000 est. | — | ₹1,20,000 | 1.5× |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | American Airlines via DFW beyond Qantas' trans-Pacific metal (ORD–DFW–SYD), Qantas Classic Flight Reward table — Zone 9 on 9,382 one-way miles | 151,800 | — | ₹1,51,800 | 1.9× |
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 — via DFW, or Cathay Pacific via HKG, or Japan Airlines via HND | 110,000 | — | ₹1,10,000 | the play |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | ANA via HND (Tokyo-Haneda) — the fixed "All other partners" Aeroplan cell, 11,149 mi flown, or Air Canada via YYZ | 150,000 | — | ₹1,50,000 | 1.4× |
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. Air France-KLM Flying Blue states 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. 1 other programme priced here publishes nothing the desk could read.
American AirlinesCathay PacificJapan Airlines oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. A valid oneworld routing is assumed.
Feed it: 120,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 240,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 80,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
Korean AirDelta Air Lines SkyTeam
Flying Blue prices dynamically — no fixed chart. Air France/KLM pass carrier (YQ) surcharges on own metal — typically €90–110 economy / €200–300 business one-way long-haul; intra-region SkyTeam ~€15–40. Typical one-way economy runs 35k–65k; award space and travel date drive the real number.
Estimate Dynamic program — estimate is the typical one-way level for this region-pair (range 35k–65k); not a fixed chart price, and never crowned THE PLAY.
Feed it: 45,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 22,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 45,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
QantasAmerican Airlines oneworld
Qantas has no Chicago route, so this is not the Qantas nonstop the row used to claim. American Airlines is on the QANTAS Classic Flight Reward table — qantas.com lists it verbatim: 'For Classic Flight Rewards with Qantas, Jetstar, Fiji Airways and American Airlines' — so a Qantas long-haul plus an American connection stays on the Qantas table, not the dearer partner one. Summed great-circle sectors: SYD–DFW 8,580 mi + DFW–ORD 802 mi = 9,382 mi, Zone 9 (8,401–9,600 mi). Price unchanged — what was wrong was the claim of a Qantas nonstop. Points exclude taxes, fees and carrier charges; Qantas publishes no surcharge table, so no numeric value is asserted — budget A$150-300 economy, A$400-900 business, indicative not sourced.
Feed it: 47,120 HSBC Reward Points (1:1.25 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 29,450 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 58,900 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
All Nippon AirwaysAir Canada Star Alliance
Re-metalled 2026-08-01. The old row named Air Canada while asserting a fixed chart cell, and Air Canada sits in the DYNAMIC column, so that cell never applied to its metal. Aeroplan's chart prints two rows per band: a dynamic "Starting at" floor for "Air Canada and/or Select Partners" (United Airlines, Emirates, Flydubai, Etihad Airways, Canadian North, Calm Air, Bearskin and PAL), and one fixed number for "All other partners". The only all-fixed-partner itinerary on Chicago–Sydney is ANA via Haneda, and it flies 11,149 miles — 149 past the 11,001-mile line. Air Canada via Vancouver and United via San Francisco or Los Angeles are both dynamic-column metal, so neither can carry the cheaper fixed cell. Priced on the 11,001+-mile North America–Pacific band at the flown distance this routing actually covers, 11,149 mi. That is a band move and we are saying so plainly: economy 65,000 to 70,000, business 102,500 to 115,000, First 140,000 to 150,000. The Air Canada option the old row leaned on is still bookable, but it prices off the dynamic column's "Starting at" floor for the 7,501–11,000-mile band (50,000 economy / 85,000 business / 130,000 First) — a floor that climbs with demand, never a number we can promise.
Feed it: 35,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 70,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 175,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
American AirlinesCathay PacificJapan Airlines oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. A valid oneworld routing is assumed.
Feed it: 240,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 480,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 160,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
All Nippon AirwaysAir Canada Star Alliance
Re-metalled 2026-08-01. The old row named Air Canada while asserting a fixed chart cell, and Air Canada sits in the DYNAMIC column, so that cell never applied to its metal. Aeroplan's chart prints two rows per band: a dynamic "Starting at" floor for "Air Canada and/or Select Partners" (United Airlines, Emirates, Flydubai, Etihad Airways, Canadian North, Calm Air, Bearskin and PAL), and one fixed number for "All other partners". The only all-fixed-partner itinerary on Chicago–Sydney is ANA via Haneda, and it flies 11,149 miles — 149 past the 11,001-mile line. Air Canada via Vancouver and United via San Francisco or Los Angeles are both dynamic-column metal, so neither can carry the cheaper fixed cell. Priced on the 11,001+-mile North America–Pacific band at the flown distance this routing actually covers, 11,149 mi. That is a band move and we are saying so plainly: economy 65,000 to 70,000, business 102,500 to 115,000, First 140,000 to 150,000. The Air Canada option the old row leaned on is still bookable, but it prices off the dynamic column's "Starting at" floor for the 7,501–11,000-mile band (50,000 economy / 85,000 business / 130,000 First) — a floor that climbs with demand, never a number we can promise.
Feed it: 57,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 115,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 287,500 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Korean AirDelta Air Lines SkyTeam
Flying Blue prices dynamically — no fixed chart. Air France/KLM pass carrier (YQ) surcharges on own metal — typically €90–110 economy / €200–300 business one-way long-haul; intra-region SkyTeam ~€15–40. Typical one-way business runs 90k–160k; award space and travel date drive the real number.
Estimate Dynamic program — estimate is the typical one-way level for this region-pair (range 90k–160k); not a fixed chart price, and never crowned THE PLAY.
Feed it: 120,000 HDFC Reward Points (1:1) · 60,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 120,000 HSBC Reward Points (1:1)
QantasAmerican Airlines oneworld
Qantas has no Chicago route, so this is not the Qantas nonstop the row used to claim. American Airlines is on the QANTAS Classic Flight Reward table — qantas.com lists it verbatim: 'For Classic Flight Rewards with Qantas, Jetstar, Fiji Airways and American Airlines' — so a Qantas long-haul plus an American connection stays on the Qantas table, not the dearer partner one. Summed great-circle sectors: SYD–DFW 8,580 mi + DFW–ORD 802 mi = 9,382 mi, Zone 9 (8,401–9,600 mi). Price unchanged — what was wrong was the claim of a Qantas nonstop. Points exclude taxes, fees and carrier charges; Qantas publishes no surcharge table, so no numeric value is asserted — budget A$150-300 economy, A$400-900 business, indicative not sourced.
Feed it: 121,440 HSBC Reward Points (1:1.25 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 75,900 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 151,800 SBI Travel Credits (1:1)
American AirlinesCathay PacificJapan Airlines oneworld
AAdvantage prices partner awards on a fixed region-to-region chart. A valid oneworld routing is assumed.
Feed it: 330,000 Amex Membership Rewards (3:1 via Marriott Bonvoy) · 660,000 RBL Reward Points (6:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy) · 220,000 RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) (2:1 via Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy)
All Nippon AirwaysAir Canada Star Alliance
Re-metalled 2026-08-01. The old row named Air Canada while asserting a fixed chart cell, and Air Canada sits in the DYNAMIC column, so that cell never applied to its metal. Aeroplan's chart prints two rows per band: a dynamic "Starting at" floor for "Air Canada and/or Select Partners" (United Airlines, Emirates, Flydubai, Etihad Airways, Canadian North, Calm Air, Bearskin and PAL), and one fixed number for "All other partners". The only all-fixed-partner itinerary on Chicago–Sydney is ANA via Haneda, and it flies 11,149 miles — 149 past the 11,001-mile line. Air Canada via Vancouver and United via San Francisco or Los Angeles are both dynamic-column metal, so neither can carry the cheaper fixed cell. Priced on the 11,001+-mile North America–Pacific band at the flown distance this routing actually covers, 11,149 mi. That is a band move and we are saying so plainly: economy 65,000 to 70,000, business 102,500 to 115,000, First 140,000 to 150,000. The Air Canada option the old row leaned on is still bookable, but it prices off the dynamic column's "Starting at" floor for the 7,501–11,000-mile band (50,000 economy / 85,000 business / 130,000 First) — a floor that climbs with demand, never a number we can promise. ANA's Haneda–Sydney leg is 787 metal with no First, so the chart First cell is a mixed-cabin price at best.
Feed it: 75,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 150,000 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 375,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Flying back? Sydney to Chicago on points (SYD–ORD). Or take the whole region: every corridor we price into Oceania — 147 of them. Or pick any two hubs — 2,450 corridors priced.