Case Study: How to Book a Chennai/Delhi to London Flight Using 6000 Points

In our last guide, we covered the theory of how credit card points work. Now, let’s have some real fun.

We’re going to put that knowledge to the test and book a real international trip. Our destination? The vibrant, bustling city of London, United Kingdom, is flying directly from [Chennai/Delhi].

This isn’t just a hypothetical exercise. In this guide, I will walk you through the exact, step-by-step process I use to find and book an award flight on a world-class airline like British Airways, Etihad, and Virgin Atlantic. You’ll see how to search for available seats, how to transfer your points, and the final ‘proof’ of how much money this system can save you.

By the time you finish this case study, you will have a practical blueprint to follow for booking your own international getaway on points.

Let’s get started.

The “Ingredients”: What You’ll Need to Book This Flight

Before we jump into the search, it’s important to understand where the Avios & Virgin points for this booking come from. To follow along and book this award flight, you need to have access to points through one of two main pathways:

Pathway 1: Co-Branded Credit Cards

This is the most direct route. You use a credit card that is directly partnered with Avios or Virgin Points, and every rupee you spend earns you those points that are automatically deposited into your Airline Loyalty Account.

Popular Examples in India: The Indusind Avios Visa Infinite Card

Pathway 2: Bank Point Transfer Partners

This is the more flexible and powerful route for most travel hackers. You use a premium bank credit card that earns its own points (like HDFC Reward Points or Amex Membership Rewards or AXIS Edge Rewards), which you can then convert into CV points when you’re ready to book.

• Popular Examples in India: The HDFC Infinia / Diners Club Black, American Express Platinum / Gold Card, and Axis Bank Magnus / Atlas. These are perfect for this strategy.

For this guide, we’ll assume you have accumulated points through one of these two methods. Now, let’s go find our seats!

Step 1: Finding the “Free” Seats (Award Availability)

The most important thing to understand about booking with points is that airlines only make a limited number of “award seats” available on each flight. Our first and most critical step is to find a flight that has these seats available for our desired dates.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to the British Airways/Virgin Atlantic Website. Navigate to ba.com or Virginatlantic.com. You will see the main flight search box.

2. Enter Your Flight Details. Fill in your travel information. For our case study, we’ll use:

• Origin 1: Chennai (MAA) in BA
• Destination: London (LHR)
• Select your travel dates. It’s a good idea to be a little flexible here.
• Passengers: 1

• Origin 2: Delhi(DEL) in Virgin Atlantic
• Destination: London (LHR)
• Select your travel dates. It’s a good idea to be a little flexible here.
• Passengers: 1

3. Check the Magic Box. This is the most important part of the search. You must select the box labeled “Redeem Flights” or “Pay with Points.” This tells the website to show you the price in points, not in cash.

4. Analyze the Results. Click “Search Flights.” The website will now show you a calendar or a list of flights for the dates you selected. Instead of a price in Rupees, you will see the price listed in CV Points + Taxes.

Look for the flights with the lowest point requirements. For an economy class ticket from Chennai to London, you are typically looking for availability around 15217 Etihad Points for a one-way flight, plus the tax Amount is around Rs. 15700.

Look for the flights with the lowest point requirements. For an economy class ticket from Delhi to London, you are typically looking for availability around 6000 VA Flying Club Points for a one-way flight, plus the tax Amount is around Rs. 8300.

Once you have identified a flight that has award seat availability for a reasonable number of points, you’ve completed the hardest part! You’ve confirmed a “free” seat exists.

Step 2: Transferring Your Points (If Necessary)

This step is for those using Pathway 2 (Bank Point Transfer Partners), which we discussed earlier. If you have a co-branded card and your CV points are already in your Avios account, you can skip ahead to Step 3!

If your points are currently sitting in your bank’s reward portal (like HDFC NetBanking, the American Express portal, or Axis Edge Reward Points), you now need to transfer them to your Avios account.

The Process is Simple:

1. Log in to your bank’s credit card or rewards portal.
2. Navigate to the “Points Transfer” or “Airline Partners” section.
3. Select Virgin Atlantic or Finnair or Qatar as the transfer partner.
4. Enter the number of points you want to transfer (e.g., 20,000 points) and your Airline Loyalty ID.
5. Confirm the transfer.

Crucial Tip: You can transfer between Finnair, BA, Qatar, and Iberia easily and free of cost as they all use Avios as their Currency for Points. Be aware that these transfers are not always instant. They can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Always confirm that award seats are available (Step 1) before you transfer your points, as bank points transfers are a one-way street and cannot be reversed.

Step 3: The Final Booking

Once your points have arrived in your Loyalty account, you’re ready to book!

Go back to the website and perform your award search again, exactly as you did in Step 1.

1. Select your desired flight with the correct point value.
2. Proceed to the next page, where you will confirm your passenger details.
3. You will be taken to the final payment page. Here, you will see a summary: the total CV Points being deducted and the small amount for taxes and fees that must be paid with cash.
4. Enter your credit card details to pay these mandatory taxes (usually between ₹1,000 – ₹50,000 for an international flight like this), depending on the class you book.
5. Confirm the booking.

And that’s it! You will receive an email confirmation for your ticket. You have successfully booked an international flight using your points.

The Final Math: Was It Worth It?

So, after all those steps, what did we actually save? Let’s break it down.

Booking a standard economy ticket from Chennai to London on Avios a few weeks in advance would typically cost around ₹25,000.

Booking a standard economy ticket from Delhi to London on Avios a few weeks in advance would typically cost around ₹34000.

Here’s what we paid using points: Taking American Express Memebership Points:

Item	Cost in Cash	Cost in Points
Flight Ticket	₹34,000	12,000 MR Points
Taxes & Fees	NA	₹8,300 (Paid with cash)
Total Paid	₹34,000	12,000 CV Points + ₹8300

Item	Cost in Cash	Cost in Points
Flight Ticket	₹25,000	32000 MR Points
Taxes & Fees		₹15700 (Paid with cash)
Total Paid	₹25,000	32,000 CV Points + ₹15700

This means that for this booking, we got a value of ₹2.14 for every single point! In the DEL-LHR Sector and for the MAA-LHR Sector, we got ₹0.372 for every single point!

You can see a huge difference in both the sectors and the value we got for our Economy Ticket. But if we consider Premium Economy or Business Class, the Value will increase exponentially for both sectors.

That is an incredible return, far greater than the value you might get from redeeming for a shopping voucher. This case study proves that using your points for high-value travel is the smartest way to redeem your credit card rewards.

Conclusion: You Can Do This Too!

And there you have it: a real-world, step-by-step walkthrough of how to turn your credit card points into an international flight ticket.

We’ve moved from theory to practice. You’ve seen the exact process of finding an award seat, transferring points, and completing the booking. Most importantly, you’ve seen the math that proves just how powerful this system is.

The world of travel hacking isn’t some exclusive club; it’s a skill that you can learn. Your own “free” flight is just a few smart steps away.