Economy the play 7,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
718 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published “All other partners” cell is 7,500 economy — read first-hand off Air Canada's own Flight Reward Chart PDF on 2026-08-29, page “Within Atlantic zone”. Air India is one of those partners: it is a Star Alliance member on fixed-price partner metal, not one of the Select carriers Aeroplan prices dynamically. Air India's own calculator samples the same seat at 6,000 — ₹4,800 of Maharaja Points against ₹7,500 of Aeroplan — but that is an estimate off a programme with no published chart, so the crown stays here. Watch the band edge — a connecting itinerary that flies past 1,000 miles lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000 / 22,500, and Aeroplan bands the distance actually FLOWN, not the great circle. A flat CA$39 partner booking fee applies per ticket.
Feed it: 3,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 7,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 18,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air India mainline nonstop, plus Air India Express on the same pair — both redeemable with Maharaja Points
Air IndiaAir India Express
The Value cell of a route that got MORE expensive in April 2026 — the full route-level pull prints "DEL,PNQ, old 5,000-9,500, new 6,000-12,500", a 20% rise against a chart whose domestic average fell 28%. Delhi-Pune is one of the few Indian trunks Air India priced UP. 6,000 is the Value floor, ₹4,800 at the ₹0.80 house value against a ₹4-6k cash fare, and Air India Express seats on the same pair have been redeemable with Maharaja Points since 21-May-2026, so either group metal books at this cell. Government taxes and passenger service fees are cash on top.
Estimate Air India publishes no award chart. Its own Points Calculator states that “Fares indicated above are dependent on the time of booking and seat availability”, and Maharaja Club prices every award either as a Value fare (the discounted rate for booking well in advance) or as a higher Prime fare closer to departure. This number is the Value-fare floor as sampled after the April-2026 repricing — not a published chart cell: Value space is not always available on a given flight, and the same seat prices higher once it is gone. Pricing model re-verified against Air India’s Maharaja Club T&C and Points Calculator on 2026-08-09.
Feed it: 6,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 3,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 6,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced)
IndiGo
IndiGo runs the densest schedule on the corridor, but BluChip has no award chart — redemptions track the live fare at a dynamic ₹0.40-0.60 per BluChip, minimum 500, and BluChips cannot be applied to taxes or convenience fees. On the busiest domestic pair India flies, the "award" is the cash ticket in points clothing; it is useful only for bleeding an expiring balance onto a fare you were going to pay anyway.
Estimate IndiGo BluChip is a revenue-linked rupee offset worth ~Rs0.50/BluChip (Card Insider pegs Rs0.40-0.60, 500 BluChip minimum, and states the value “is dynamic”); this row divides a typical one-way IndiGo economy fare for a ~718 mi domestic sector by Rs0.50, on the same fare-per-mile ladder every other BluChip row on this board reads. There is no chart: it moves 1:1 with the live fare.
Feed it: 15,600 HSBC Reward Points (1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 52,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:1) · 31,200 HDFC Reward Points (3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Business the play 12,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
718 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published “All other partners” cell is 12,500 business — read first-hand off Air Canada's own Flight Reward Chart PDF on 2026-08-29, page “Within Atlantic zone”. Air India is one of those partners: it is a Star Alliance member on fixed-price partner metal, not one of the Select carriers Aeroplan prices dynamically. Air India's own calculator wants 23,000 for the same seat — ₹18,400 against ₹12,500 — so the Canadian chart is cheaper in both currencies here. Watch the band edge — a connecting itinerary that flies past 1,000 miles lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000 / 22,500, and Aeroplan bands the distance actually FLOWN, not the great circle. A flat CA$39 partner booking fee applies per ticket.
Feed it: 6,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 31,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Business ~23,000 pts est. Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier — Air India Express has no business cabin
Air India Star Alliance
Cut 14.8% in April 2026, 27,000 → 23,000, and still the most expensive domestic business cell in this batch — ₹18,400 of Maharaja Points for a two-hour narrowbody recliner. Aeroplan sells the identical Air India seat out of its floor band for 12,500, ₹12,500, and that one is a published number. Read this row as chart completeness: if you are burning a stranded Maharaja balance up front it is bookable, but the Canadian chart is 10,500 points and ₹5,900 cheaper for the same aeroplane. Air India Express has no business cabin, so mainline is the only metal this cell buys.
Estimate Air India publishes no award chart. Its own Points Calculator states that “Fares indicated above are dependent on the time of booking and seat availability”, and Maharaja Club prices every award either as a Value fare (the discounted rate for booking well in advance) or as a higher Prime fare closer to departure. This number is the Value-fare floor as sampled after the April-2026 repricing — not a published chart cell: Value space is not always available on a given flight, and the same seat prices higher once it is gone. Pricing model re-verified against Air India’s Maharaja Club T&C and Points Calculator on 2026-08-09.
Feed it: 23,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 11,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 23,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)