ICICI Times Black vs IDFC FIRST Mayura (2026)
₹20,000 of invite-only metal vs ₹5,999 of portal multipliers — Mayura nets ₹33,763 to Times Black's ₹4,000 at ₹1L a month.
Head to head
| Metric | ICICI Times Black | IDFC FIRST Mayura |
|---|---|---|
| Our rank | #18 | #11 |
| Annual fee | ₹20,000 + GST | ₹5,999 + GST |
| Fee waiver | ₹25,00,000 spend | None |
| Forex markup | 1.49% + GST (card-specific carve-out in the MITC; standard ICICI rate is 3.5%) | Nil — 0% markup on foreign currency and DCC transactions |
| APR | 3.75%/mo (45%/yr) | Dynamic 0.71%–3.85%/mo (8.5%–46.2%/yr); overdue rate 3.99%/mo (47.88%/yr) on MAD non-payment |
| Effective reward rate | 2.0% | 1.7% |
| Currency | ICICI Reward Points | IDFC FIRST Reward Points |
| House value | ₹1.00/pt | ₹0.50/pt |
| Welcome benefit | ₹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 | 12,000 RP — 4,000 on fee payment + 4,000 each on ₹20k in cycles 2 and 3 |
| Lounge doors opened | 581 of 644 | 128 of 644 |
| Income — salaried | Invite-led; ~₹2L+/month reported (community) | ~₹25L+/yr (community) |
| Income — self-employed | ~ITR ₹24L+/yr reported (community) | ~₹25L+/yr (community) |
Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →
Net annual 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. 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.
Transfer reach
Only ICICI Times Black
- Air India Maharaja Club
- iShop travel portal
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, IDFC FIRST Mayura nets ₹44,933 against ₹34,000 — a ₹10,933 gap. At ₹5L/month, IDFC FIRST Mayura nets ₹2,53,441 against ₹1,70,000 — a ₹83,441 gap. Lounge chasers: ICICI Times Black opens 581 of 644 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Mayura's 128.
Our standing verdicts: ICICI Times Black — Keep; IDFC FIRST Mayura — Keep. On our board, IDFC FIRST Mayura sits at #11 to ICICI Times Black's #18 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →