IDFC FIRST Gaj vs Kotak Air+ (2026)
IDFC FIRST Gaj marks foreign spend up 0.0% against Kotak Air+'s 2.0% — 2.0pp on every rupee you spend abroad, before either card earns a point on it.
Head to head
| IDFC FIRST Gaj | Metric | Kotak Air+ |
|---|---|---|
| #15 — wins this row | Our rank | #21 |
| ₹12,500/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹3,000/yr — wins this row |
| ₹10,00,000 spend | Fee waiver | ₹4,00,000 spend |
| Nil — 0% markup on foreign currency, DCC and static-currency-conversion 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) |
| 3.3% — wins this row | Headline earn rate | 2.0% |
| IDFC FIRST Reward Points | Currency | Kotak Air Miles |
| ₹0.50/pt † | House value | ₹1.00/pt |
| 12,500 RP on joining-fee payment (₹12,500 at the ₹1 travel value) + a 25%-off 5-star hotel voucher worth up to ₹5,000 on ₹1L spent in 60 days — once per customer | Welcome benefit | 2,500 Air Miles (₹2,500) on joining + 2,500 Air Miles at every renewal |
| 155 of 789 | Lounge doors opened | 731 of 789 — wins this row |
† IDFC FIRST Gaj: Gaj redeems the IDFC point at ₹1.00 on flight and hotel bookings in the app's Travel & Shop section — DOUBLE the ₹0.50 house value and 2.5× Ashva's ₹0.40 — and ₹0.25 on vouchers, products or "pay with points". earn.base is scaled UP to that ₹1.00 reality; points can only cover 70% of a booking, and 1.5L a month / 3L a year of them.
Neither issuer publishes an income floor for these two, and the door is the same on both sides: IDFC FIRST Gaj and Kotak Air+ are both open to a direct application. How people actually get each one 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 Gaj out-earns Kotak Air+ at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
How the gap moves with spend
IDFC FIRST Gaj leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹12,847 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹1,96,932 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹1,96,932).
IDFC FIRST Gaj pays a renewal bonus whatever you spend, and Kotak Air+ pays nothing to stay.
IDFC FIRST Gaj draws above the line, Kotak Air+ below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | IDFC FIRST Gaj | Kotak Air+ | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹17,197 | ₹4,350 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹12,847 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹34,393 | ₹14,700 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹19,693 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹51,590 | ₹22,050 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹29,540 |
| ₹1L | ₹68,786 | ₹29,400 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹39,386 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹85,983 | ₹36,750 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹49,233 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹1,03,180 | ₹44,100 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹59,080 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹1,20,376 | ₹51,450 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹68,926 |
| ₹2L | ₹1,37,573 | ₹58,800 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹78,773 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹1,54,769 | ₹66,150 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹88,619 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹1,71,966 | ₹73,500 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹98,466 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹1,89,163 | ₹80,850 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,08,313 |
| ₹3L | ₹2,06,359 | ₹88,200 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,18,159 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹2,23,556 | ₹95,550 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,28,006 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹2,40,752 | ₹1,02,900 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,37,852 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹2,57,949 | ₹1,10,250 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,47,699 |
| ₹4L | ₹2,75,146 | ₹1,17,600 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,57,546 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹2,92,342 | ₹1,24,950 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,67,392 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹3,09,539 | ₹1,32,300 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,77,239 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹3,26,735 | ₹1,39,650 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,87,085 |
| ₹5L | ₹3,43,932 | ₹1,47,000 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,96,932 |
Transfer reach
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 Gaj · 4 more →
- Invite-only for private-banking clients — there is no public route that gets you approved
- Closed loop: zero airline or hotel transfer partners, like every other IDFC card
- The ₹1 is portal-locked and pays at most 70% of a booking; cash out and it's ₹0.25
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 Gaj nets ₹68,786 against ₹29,400 — a ₹39,386 gap. At ₹5L/month, IDFC FIRST Gaj nets ₹3,43,932 against ₹1,47,000 — a ₹1,96,932 gap. Lounge chasers: Kotak Air+ opens 731 of 789 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Gaj's 155.
Our standing verdicts: IDFC FIRST Gaj — Keep; Kotak Air+ — Keep. On our board, IDFC FIRST Gaj sits at #15 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 Gaj or Kotak Air+?
IDFC FIRST Gaj. It sits at #15 on our board to Kotak Air+'s #21. IDFC FIRST Gaj takes 6 of the 8 rounds we can score. IDFC FIRST Gaj out-earns Kotak Air+ at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
IDFC FIRST Gaj or Kotak Air+ — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, IDFC FIRST Gaj nets ₹2,06,359 against ₹88,200 — a ₹1,18,159 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 Gaj or Kotak Air+?
Kotak Air+ — ₹3,000/yr against ₹12,500/yr. IDFC FIRST Gaj waives its fee at ₹10,00,000 of spend; Kotak Air+ at ₹4,00,000 of spend.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, IDFC FIRST Gaj or Kotak Air+?
Lounge chasers: Kotak Air+ opens 731 of 789 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Gaj's 155. Visit quotas, guest charges and spend gates are per card — the lounge map carries each one.
How current is this comparison?
Both card records were last re-verified against their issuers' own documents 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.