IDFC FIRST Ashva versus Kotak Air+, metric by metric. The metric runs down the centre; each card's values face it from its own side, and a gold edge on the centre line marks the round winner.
IDFC FIRST Ashva	Metric	Kotak Air+
#20 — wins this row	Our rank	#21
₹2,999/yr — wins this row	Fee — joining · annual (+ GST)	₹3,000/yr
None	Fee waiver	₹4,00,000 spend
1% + GST (Ashva-specific carve-out in the bank-wide MITC) — wins this row	Forex markup	2% + GST
Dynamic 0.71%–3.85%/mo (8.5%–46.2%/yr); overdue rate 3.99%/mo (47.88%/yr) on MAD non-payment	APR	3.5%/mo (42%/yr)
1.3%	Headline earn rate	2.0% — wins this row
IDFC FIRST Reward Points	Currency	Kotak Air Miles
₹0.50/pt †	House value	₹1.00/pt
7,500 RP — 2,500 on fee payment + 2,500 each on ₹20k in cycles 2 and 3 (once per customer)	Welcome benefit	2,500 Air Miles (₹2,500) on joining + 2,500 Air Miles at every renewal
93 of 789	Lounge doors opened	731 of 789 — wins this row

† IDFC FIRST Ashva: Ashva redeems the same IDFC points at ₹0.40 on app travel bookings and ₹0.25 everywhere else — a 20% haircut on Mayura's ₹0.50 house value that earn.base already bakes in.

Neither issuer publishes an income floor for these two, and the door is the same on both sides: IDFC FIRST Ashva and Kotak Air+ are both open to a direct application. How people actually get Kotak Air+ is on its card page.

Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →

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 Ashva Kotak Air+

at ₹1L/month

₹37,779 wins

₹29,400

at ₹3L/month

₹1,19,720 wins

₹88,200

at ₹5L/month

₹2,01,661 wins

₹1,47,000

Kotak Air+ wins under ₹0.75L/month; IDFC FIRST Ashva takes over above it.

Where the lead changes hands

The lead changes hands at ₹0.75L a month: Kotak Air+ is ahead by ₹298 at ₹0.25L, IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹54,661 at ₹5L.

IDFC FIRST Ashva pays one annual spend milestone, at ₹8,00,000 a year, and Kotak Air+ pays none.

IDFC FIRST Ashva draws above the line, Kotak Air+ below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step

Ranking value for each card at every ₹25,000 step of monthly spend, with the gap between them and the card in front at that level.
Monthly spend	IDFC FIRST Ashva	Kotak Air+	In front
₹0.25L	₹4,052	₹4,350	Kotak Air+ by ₹298
₹0.5L	₹14,294	₹14,700	Kotak Air+ by ₹406
₹0.75L	₹27,537	₹22,050	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹5,487
₹1L	₹37,779	₹29,400	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹8,379
₹1.25L	₹48,022	₹36,750	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹11,272
₹1.5L	₹58,265	₹44,100	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹14,165
₹1.75L	₹68,507	₹51,450	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹17,057
₹2L	₹78,750	₹58,800	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹19,950
₹2.25L	₹88,992	₹66,150	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹22,842
₹2.5L	₹99,235	₹73,500	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹25,735
₹2.75L	₹1,09,478	₹80,850	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹28,628
₹3L	₹1,19,720	₹88,200	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹31,520
₹3.25L	₹1,29,963	₹95,550	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹34,413
₹3.5L	₹1,40,205	₹1,02,900	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹37,305
₹3.75L	₹1,50,448	₹1,10,250	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹40,198
₹4L	₹1,60,691	₹1,17,600	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹43,091
₹4.25L	₹1,70,933	₹1,24,950	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹45,983
₹4.5L	₹1,81,176	₹1,32,300	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹48,876
₹4.75L	₹1,91,418	₹1,39,650	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹51,768
₹5L	₹2,01,661	₹1,47,000	IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹54,661

Transfer reach

live transfer routes from IDFC FIRST Reward Points — no transfers; its own redemption value is the ceiling

IDFC FIRST Ashva

live transfer routes from Kotak Air Miles

Kotak Air+

Only Kotak Air+

Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios)
The British Airways Club (Avios)
Air France-KLM Flying Blue

Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →

What to watch out for

IDFC FIRST Ashva · 1 more →

₹0.40/pt is the ceiling — Ashva points are worth 20% less than Mayura's, ₹0.25 outside app travel
Closed loop: no airline or hotel transfer partners at all
Lounge, golf and movie perks all need ₹20k spend the previous month

Kotak Air+ · 3 more →

Zero Air Miles on international spends — the low 2% markup buys cheap swipes, not miles
Airline transfers run 2:1, Marriott 3:1 — worse than Solitaire's 1:1, and worse than the ₹1 flat Unbox redemption
Air India Maharaja Club is NOT an Air+ partner — that route belongs to the ₹999 Kotak Air

The call

For the ₹1L/month spender, IDFC FIRST Ashva nets ₹37,779 against ₹29,400 — a ₹8,379 gap. At ₹5L/month, IDFC FIRST Ashva nets ₹2,01,661 against ₹1,47,000 — a ₹54,661 gap. Lounge chasers: Kotak Air+ opens 731 of 789 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Ashva's 93.

Our standing verdicts: IDFC FIRST Ashva — Keep; Kotak Air+ — Keep. On our board, IDFC FIRST Ashva sits at #20 to Kotak Air+'s #21 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →

Straight answers

Which is better, IDFC FIRST Ashva or Kotak Air+?

IDFC FIRST Ashva. It sits at #20 on our board to Kotak Air+'s #21. IDFC FIRST Ashva takes 6 of the 8 rounds we can score. Kotak Air+ wins under ₹0.75L/month; IDFC FIRST Ashva takes over above it.

IDFC FIRST Ashva or Kotak Air+ — which earns more at ₹3L a month?

At ₹3L a month, IDFC FIRST Ashva nets ₹1,19,720 against ₹88,200 — a ₹31,520 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, IDFC FIRST Ashva or Kotak Air+?

IDFC FIRST Ashva — ₹2,999/yr against ₹3,000/yr. IDFC FIRST Ashva waives its fee at no spend level — there is no waiver; Kotak Air+ at ₹4,00,000 of spend.

Which gets you into more airport lounges, IDFC FIRST Ashva or Kotak Air+?

Lounge chasers: Kotak Air+ opens 731 of 789 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Ashva's 93. 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: IDFC FIRST Ashva on 2026-08-01, Kotak Air+ on 2026-07-26. 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.