ICICI Times Black vs IDFC FIRST Mayura (2026)
IDFC FIRST Mayura vs ICICI Times Black: which wins?
₹1,50,977ranking value a year at ₹3L a month, to IDFC FIRST Mayura
Skip the duel — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
₹20,000 of invite-only metal vs ₹5,999 of portal multipliers — Mayura edges Times Black ₹33,763 to ₹34,000 at ₹1L a month — a dead heat, decided on perks.
IDFC FIRST Mayura out-earns ICICI Times Black at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
Every metric, row by row — 12 compared
Head to head
| ICICI Times Black | Metric | IDFC FIRST Mayura |
|---|---|---|
| #28 | Our rank | #10 — wins this row |
| ₹20,000/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹5,999/yr — wins this row |
| ₹25,00,000 spend | Fee waiver | None |
| 1.49% + GST (card-specific carve-out in the MITC; standard ICICI rate is 3.5%) | Forex markup | Nil — 0% markup on foreign currency and DCC transactions — wins this row |
| 3.75%/mo (45%/yr) | APR | Dynamic 0.71%–3.85%/mo (8.5%–46.2%/yr); overdue rate 3.99%/mo (47.88%/yr) on MAD non-payment |
| 2.0% — wins this row | Headline earn rate | 1.7% |
| ICICI Reward Points | Currency | IDFC FIRST Reward Points |
| ₹1.00/pt | House value | ₹0.25/pt † |
| ₹12,000 Lohono / ₹10,000 EaseMyTrip stay voucher + ₹10,000 visa-services wallet (Atlys/OneVasco) + Toni&Guy ₹3,000 + Interflora ₹1,000 + Zomato Gold — application windows via timesblack.com | Welcome benefit | 12,000 RP — 4,000 on fee payment + 4,000 each on ₹20k in cycles 2 and 3 (once per customer) |
| 739 of 793 — wins this row | Lounge doors opened | 129 of 793 |
| ₹2,00,000+/month (official product page, seen 2026-08-01 — was community-reported only) | Income — salaried | ~₹25L+/yr (community) |
| ₹24,00,000+/yr (official product page) | Income — self-employed | ~₹25L+/yr (community) |
† IDFC FIRST Mayura: Mayura is one of only two IDFC cards that reach ₹0.50 a point, and only on flight and hotel bookings made through the Travel & Shop section of the FIRST app — its own rewards T&C is explicit that it is "₹0.25 everywhere else", the house value. So the rate below is DOUBLE what these points fetch as vouchers, goods or pay-with-points; earn.base marks them up to the ₹0.50 travel rung and assumes you actually book there. Points cover at most 70% of a booking, redemptions are capped at 1,50,000 points a month, and each one costs ₹99 + GST.
Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →
The ₹ face-off at ₹1L/₹3L/₹5L a month
Ranking-value face-off
Everyday spend at each card's base rate plus a realistic ~20% at its best accelerator (less for narrow or capped boosters) — milestones, fee waivers and the redemption haircut all at our house ₹/point. That's why the biggest headline rate doesn't automatically win. This is the ranking model, the one that orders the board; each card page prints the earn-rate-only net annual value instead, which reads lower for any card with an accelerator (both models, side by side). Tune it to your own spend in the calculator.
IDFC FIRST Mayura out-earns ICICI Times Black at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
How the gap moves with spend — a 20-step sweep from ₹0.25L to ₹5L/month
How the gap moves with spend
IDFC FIRST Mayura leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹6,645 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹80,291 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹80,291).
ICICI Times Black draws above the line, IDFC FIRST Mayura below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | ICICI Times Black | IDFC FIRST Mayura | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | −₹3,850 | ₹2,795 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹6,645 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹12,300 | ₹15,584 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹3,284 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹18,450 | ₹32,123 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹13,673 |
| ₹1L | ₹34,600 | ₹44,912 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹10,312 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹40,750 | ₹61,452 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹20,702 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹46,900 | ₹74,241 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹27,341 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹73,050 | ₹87,031 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹13,981 |
| ₹2L | ₹79,200 | ₹99,819 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹20,619 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹1,05,350 | ₹1,12,609 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹7,259 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹1,11,500 | ₹1,25,398 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹13,898 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹1,17,650 | ₹1,38,188 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹20,538 |
| ₹3L | ₹1,23,800 | ₹1,50,977 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹27,177 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹1,29,950 | ₹1,63,766 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹33,816 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹1,36,100 | ₹1,76,555 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹40,455 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹1,42,250 | ₹1,89,345 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹47,095 |
| ₹4L | ₹1,48,400 | ₹2,02,134 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹53,734 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹1,54,550 | ₹2,14,924 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹60,374 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹1,60,700 | ₹2,27,712 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹67,012 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹1,66,850 | ₹2,40,502 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹73,652 |
| ₹5L | ₹1,73,000 | ₹2,53,291 | IDFC FIRST Mayura by ₹80,291 |
Transfer reach — 2 vs 0 live routes
Transfer reach
0 shared routes · 2 only ICICI Times Black · 0 only IDFC FIRST Mayura — the full partner lists
Only ICICI Times Black
- Air India Maharaja Club
- iShop travel portal
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
What to watch out for — 6 points
What to watch out for
ICICI Times Black · 3 more →
- ₹20,000 + GST fee needs ₹25L spend to waive
- One transfer partner — this is not a miles card
- Emeralde Private out-earns it at a third of the fee
IDFC FIRST Mayura · 1 more →
- Closed loop: no airline/hotel transfer partners at all
- ₹0.25/pt outside app travel bookings — half the value
- Lounge and movie perks need ₹20k spend the previous month
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, IDFC FIRST Mayura nets ₹44,912 against ₹34,600 — a ₹10,312 gap. At ₹5L/month, IDFC FIRST Mayura nets ₹2,53,291 against ₹1,73,000 — a ₹80,291 gap. Lounge chasers: ICICI Times Black opens 739 of 793 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Mayura's 129.
Our standing verdicts: ICICI Times Black — Keep; IDFC FIRST Mayura — Keep. IDFC FIRST Mayura takes 6 of the 8 rounds we can score — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →
Common questions — 5 answered
Straight answers
Which is better, ICICI Times Black or IDFC FIRST Mayura?
IDFC FIRST Mayura. IDFC FIRST Mayura takes 6 of the 8 rounds we can score. IDFC FIRST Mayura out-earns ICICI Times Black at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
ICICI Times Black or IDFC FIRST Mayura — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, IDFC FIRST Mayura nets ₹1,50,977 against ₹1,23,800 — a ₹27,177 gap. Those are ranking-value figures: everyday spend at the card's base rate plus a realistic slice at its best accelerator, net of the fee.
Which costs less to hold, ICICI Times Black or IDFC FIRST Mayura?
IDFC FIRST Mayura — ₹5,999/yr against ₹20,000/yr. ICICI Times Black waives its fee at ₹25,00,000 of spend; IDFC FIRST Mayura at no spend level — there is no waiver.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, ICICI Times Black or IDFC FIRST Mayura?
Lounge chasers: ICICI Times Black opens 739 of 793 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Mayura's 129. Visit quotas, guest charges and spend gates are per card — the lounge map carries each one.
How current is this comparison?
Card records last re-verified against their issuers' own documents: ICICI Times Black on 2026-09-13, IDFC FIRST Mayura on 2026-09-03. Every figure on this page — the ranking values, the fee rows, the lounge counts, the transfer ratios — is recomputed from those records each time the site builds, so a devaluation changes the call the day we log it.
Verified against ICICI Bank and IDFC FIRST Bank's own documents on · the ranking model, at our house ₹/point
Every document behind this page — 13 of them, each with the day we read it
- official Product page — ₹20,000 joining + ₹20,000 annual (waived at ₹25L), 2% domestic / 2.5% international, 1.49% forex
- official Additional T&C PDF — 2% domestic / 2.5% international RP; 5,000 RP/cycle cap on utilities+insurance+education+government; "Value of 1 ICICI Bank reward point is up to ₹ 1"
- official MITC (last updated 2 Aug 2026) — ₹20,000 joining + ₹20,000 annual, fee reversal at ₹25,00,000; 1.49% forex mark-up (named exception to ICICI's 3.50%)
- community CardExpert review — corroborates the ₹0.40/point statement-credit rate vs ~₹1/point on vouchers/iShop
- official Launch announcement (with Times Internet and Visa)
- community TechnoFino — application-window + video-KYC experience; fast approvals for ICICI customers
- official Domestic lounge list — the 48 rooms the four quarterly visits can be spent at, addresses and terminals included
- official Product page + FAQs — (₹5,999 joining and annual, no spend waiver; 0% forex; welcome 4,000+4,000+4,000 RP once per customer; milestone ₹8L → 7,500 RP OR ₹15L → 15,000 RP)
- official Rewards T&C PDF (bonus is ADDITIVE — Base (A) 10 + Bonus (B) 30/15 = Total (A+B) 40/25 RP per ₹150 app hotel/flight)
- official Jun-2026 change notice PDF (18-Jun-2026 app bonus 20%/10% = 30/15 RP per ₹150)
- official Bank-wide MITC (₹5,999/₹5,999 with NO spend waiver; NIL forex; add-on ₹4,000 metal / ₹3,000 plastic joining and ₹2,000 annual; ₹199 cash advance; ₹99 redemption fee; ₹3,500)
- community CardInsider review
- official FIRST Digital RuPay add-on (UPI) page