IDFC FIRST Gaj vs RBL Nova (2026)
The answer changes hands 2 times between ₹0.25L and ₹5L a month — this pair is decided by your spend, not by the board.
Head to head
| IDFC FIRST Gaj | Metric | RBL Nova |
|---|---|---|
| #15 — wins this row | Our rank | #19 |
| ₹12,500/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹12,500/yr |
| ₹10,00,000 spend | Fee waiver | ₹10,00,000 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 | not published |
| 3.3% — wins this row | Headline earn rate | 2.0% |
| IDFC FIRST Reward Points | Currency | RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) |
| ₹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 | ₹12,500 Taj Experiences or Luxe gift card on joining-fee payment — refunds the fee in year one |
| 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 RBL Nova 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.
It swings with spend: RBL Nova at ₹1L/month, IDFC FIRST Gaj at ₹3L/month, IDFC FIRST Gaj at ₹5L/month.
Where the lead changes hands
The lead changes hands at ₹1L and ₹1.25L a month: IDFC FIRST Gaj is ahead by ₹21,897 at ₹0.25L, IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,47,932 at ₹5L.
IDFC FIRST Gaj pays a renewal bonus whatever you spend, and RBL Nova pays nothing to stay.
IDFC FIRST Gaj draws above the line, RBL Nova below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | IDFC FIRST Gaj | RBL Nova | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹17,197 | −₹4,700 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹21,897 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹34,393 | ₹3,100 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹31,293 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹51,590 | ₹10,900 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹40,690 |
| ₹1L | ₹68,786 | ₹71,200 | RBL Nova by ₹2,414 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹85,983 | ₹79,000 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹6,983 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹1,03,180 | ₹86,800 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹16,380 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹1,20,376 | ₹94,600 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹25,776 |
| ₹2L | ₹1,37,573 | ₹1,02,400 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹35,173 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹1,54,769 | ₹1,10,200 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹44,569 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹1,71,966 | ₹1,18,000 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹53,966 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹1,89,163 | ₹1,25,800 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹63,363 |
| ₹3L | ₹2,06,359 | ₹1,33,600 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹72,759 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹2,23,556 | ₹1,41,400 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹82,156 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹2,40,752 | ₹1,49,200 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹91,552 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹2,57,949 | ₹1,57,000 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,00,949 |
| ₹4L | ₹2,75,146 | ₹1,64,800 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,10,346 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹2,92,342 | ₹1,72,600 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,19,742 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹3,09,539 | ₹1,80,400 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,29,139 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹3,26,735 | ₹1,88,200 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,38,535 |
| ₹5L | ₹3,43,932 | ₹1,96,000 | IDFC FIRST Gaj by ₹1,47,932 |
Transfer reach
Only RBL Nova
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios)
- Air India Maharaja Club
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
RBL Nova · 2 more →
- 2:1 airline transfers (₹0.50/mile) are worse than redeeming points at the flat ₹1 — transfer only for a specific award
- The ₹40,000 milestone needs ₹3 lakh EVERY calendar quarter (₹12L/year); miss a quarter, lose that ₹10,000
- Base earn is a flat 2% — ordinary once the year-one welcome is spent
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, RBL Nova nets ₹71,200 against ₹68,786 — a ₹2,414 gap. At ₹5L/month, IDFC FIRST Gaj nets ₹3,43,932 against ₹1,96,000 — a ₹1,47,932 gap. Lounge chasers: RBL Nova opens 731 of 789 tracked doors to IDFC FIRST Gaj's 155.
Our standing verdicts: IDFC FIRST Gaj — Keep; RBL Nova — Keep. On our board, IDFC FIRST Gaj sits at #15 to RBL Nova's #19 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →
Straight answers
Which is better, IDFC FIRST Gaj or RBL Nova?
IDFC FIRST Gaj. It sits at #15 on our board to RBL Nova's #19. IDFC FIRST Gaj takes 5 of the 7 rounds we can score. It swings with spend: RBL Nova at ₹1L/month, IDFC FIRST Gaj at ₹3L/month, IDFC FIRST Gaj at ₹5L/month.
IDFC FIRST Gaj or RBL Nova — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, IDFC FIRST Gaj nets ₹2,06,359 against ₹1,33,600 — a ₹72,759 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 RBL Nova?
They cost the same to get: ₹12,500/yr. IDFC FIRST Gaj waives its fee at ₹10,00,000 of spend; RBL Nova at ₹10,00,000 of spend.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, IDFC FIRST Gaj or RBL Nova?
Lounge chasers: RBL Nova 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?
Card records last re-verified against their issuers' own documents: IDFC FIRST Gaj on 2026-07-26, RBL Nova on 2026-08-05. 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.