IDFC FIRST Ashva vs Kotak Air+ (2026)
Kotak Air+ vs IDFC FIRST Ashva: which wins?
₹1,19,805ranking value a year at ₹3L a month, to IDFC FIRST Ashva
Skip the duel — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
The answer flips at ₹0.75L a month: Kotak Air+ below it, IDFC FIRST Ashva above.
Kotak Air+ wins under ₹0.75L/month; IDFC FIRST Ashva takes over above it.
Every metric, row by row — 10 compared
Head to head
| IDFC FIRST Ashva | Metric | Kotak Air+ |
|---|---|---|
| #14 — wins this row | Our rank | #16 |
| ₹2,999/yr — wins this row | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹3,000/yr |
| None | Fee waiver | ₹4,00,000 spend |
| Nil — bank-wide MITC dated 9 Sep 2026 prints NIL on foreign-currency and DCC/SCC transactions — 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 |
| ₹0.25/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 |
| 129 of 793 | Lounge doors opened | 735 of 793 — wins this row |
† IDFC FIRST Ashva: Ashva redeems the same IDFC points at ₹0.40 on app travel bookings and ₹0.25 — the house value — everywhere else. It is the shallowest rung on IDFC's travel ladder: Mayura and WOW! Black get ₹0.50, Gaj and FIRST Private a full rupee. earn.base marks the points up to that ₹0.40, so the rate below assumes you book travel in the app.
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 →
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.
Kotak Air+ wins under ₹0.75L/month; IDFC FIRST Ashva takes over above it.
Where the lead changes hands — a 20-step sweep from ₹0.25L to ₹5L/month
Where the lead changes hands
The lead changes hands at ₹0.75L a month: Kotak Air+ is ahead by ₹302 at ₹0.25L, IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹54,811 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
| Monthly spend | IDFC FIRST Ashva | Kotak Air+ | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹4,048 | ₹4,350 | Kotak Air+ by ₹302 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹14,298 | ₹14,700 | Kotak Air+ by ₹402 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹27,550 | ₹22,050 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹5,500 |
| ₹1L | ₹37,800 | ₹29,400 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹8,400 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹48,051 | ₹36,750 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹11,301 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹58,301 | ₹44,100 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹14,201 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹68,552 | ₹51,450 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹17,102 |
| ₹2L | ₹78,803 | ₹58,800 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹20,003 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹89,054 | ₹66,150 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹22,904 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹99,304 | ₹73,500 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹25,804 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹1,09,555 | ₹80,850 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹28,705 |
| ₹3L | ₹1,19,805 | ₹88,200 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹31,605 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹1,30,057 | ₹95,550 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹34,507 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹1,40,307 | ₹1,02,900 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹37,407 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹1,50,558 | ₹1,10,250 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹40,308 |
| ₹4L | ₹1,60,808 | ₹1,17,600 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹43,208 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹1,71,059 | ₹1,24,950 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹46,109 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹1,81,310 | ₹1,32,300 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹49,010 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹1,91,561 | ₹1,39,650 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹51,911 |
| ₹5L | ₹2,01,811 | ₹1,47,000 | IDFC FIRST Ashva by ₹54,811 |
Transfer reach — 0 vs 9 live routes
Transfer reach
0 shared routes · 0 only IDFC FIRST Ashva · 3 only Kotak Air+ — the full partner lists
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 — 6 points
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 ₹37,800 against ₹29,400 — a ₹8,400 gap. At ₹5L/month, IDFC FIRST Ashva nets ₹2,01,811 against ₹1,47,000 — a ₹54,811 gap. Lounge chasers: Kotak Air+ opens 735 of 793 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Ashva's 129.
Our standing verdicts: IDFC FIRST Ashva — Keep; Kotak Air+ — Keep. IDFC FIRST Ashva 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, IDFC FIRST Ashva or Kotak Air+?
IDFC FIRST Ashva. 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 ₹1,19,805 against ₹88,200 — a ₹31,605 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 735 of 793 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Ashva'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: IDFC FIRST Ashva on 2026-09-25, 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.
Verified against IDFC FIRST Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank's own documents on · the ranking model, at our house ₹/point
Every document behind this page — 14 of them, each with the day we read it
- official Product page + FAQs — ₹2,999 joining and annual, no spend waiver; forex superseded to 0% by 9-Sep-2026 MITC + 10-Sep-2026 brochure; Cancel for Any Reason ₹25,000 twice a year
- official Lounge programme T&C — the Indian leg runs on EliteAssist and you present the Ashva card; the global leg runs on DreamFolks and you present the DreamFolks card
- official Rewards T&C PDF (bonus is ADDITIVE — Base (A) 10 + Bonus (B) 30/15 = Total (A+B) 40/25 RP per ₹150)
- official Bank-wide MITC (9 Sep 2026) — ₹2,999 joining and annual; forex NIL on foreign currency and DCC
- official Ashva brochure PDF (ModDate 10-Sep-2026) — Zero Forex Mark-Up / "Zero Markup fee on international spends"; fees ₹2,999; 2X on international spends; birthday 10X restored in copy
- official Jun-2026 change notice PDF (18-Jun-2026 app 20%/10% Bonus = 40/25 RP per ₹150; ₹0.40 travel value; rewards capped at credit limit; ₹20k prev-month movie gate)
- community CardInsider review
- official FIRST Digital RuPay add-on (UPI) page
- official Key Fact Statement — Kotak Air+ Credit Card (version KFSA+12032026) — joining ₹3,000, annual ₹3,000, joining-fee waiver NA
- official Kotak Air+ Detailed T&C PDF — joining ₹3,000 / annual ₹3,000, 2,500 welcome Air Miles within 120 days + 2,500 renewal
- official Air Miles Transfer Ratio for Kotak Air+ Credit Card — Air Canada, Air France, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airlines and United Airlines all 2:1
- official Kotak Air+ official product page — 5/2 Air Miles per ₹100, 2 international (Priority Pass) + 4 domestic lounge visits, 2% foreign-currency markup
- community CardInsider (28 May 2026) — claims a ₹5,000 travel voucher per ₹1.5 lakh a quarter, up to ₹20,000/yr
- community CardInsider — claims Kotak Air+ Air Miles convert 2:1 to Air India Maharaja Club