Hi All, relatively new to the points game and would love some advice from the experts here (BTW if this is not the right forum to post pls direct me to the appropriate forum - thx).

I am planning travel for 4 from SFO - BOM in late Dec returning back early Jan. Would really love to fly Business (or prem economy). Bet Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One I have ~375k points
- I know by itself it's not enough but are there any other strategies I should use ? cash + miles or cheaper partner redemption or upgrade etc ?
- As of today only Air India has opened availability (and I dont think they have opened up their entire inventory - esp to their partner frequent programs). Given this is peak travel time should I purchase / lock in right now or should I wait ?

Would appreciate any recommendations. Thanks!

it will be exceedingly difficult to find four seats on the same flights during the busiest travel time of the year. If you have four Air India seats available, I would absolutely book those.

Definitely going to be nearly impossible to find four seats on one flight around that time of year (even for other times of year, I rarely see more than 3 seats available on Air India). Your best bet to maximize the value of the Chase UR/Capital One will be waiting for a transfer bonus to a Star Alliance carrier (e.g., Air Canada just had one end) given that you can't transfer to Air India directly.

This will be tough, but not impossible. Even so, the 375k won't be nearly enough for a RT (the cheapest I have seem from US would be ~60k per person per direction, but I'd expect you may need 75k per person just to be safe - meaning a total of 600k round trip). To stockpile, I'd just be strategic on your spending and see if it makes sense to open a new card for a lucrative bonus sooner rather than later.

Check the price with Chase pay with points. It might offer many more options and if you have a Sapphire reserve or preferred you get a discount. 375k points could be worth $5500+