Kotak Air+ Prime vs Kotak Solitaire (2026)
Kotak Solitaire vs Kotak Air+ Prime: which wins?
₹1,20,800ranking value a year at ₹3L a month, to Kotak Solitaire
Skip the duel — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
The same Air Miles from a ₹3,000 card and a ₹25,000 one — Solitaire transfers at 1:1 where Prime pays a 2:1 toll, and that ratio, not the earn rate, is the entire argument for the fee.
Kotak Air+ Prime wins under ₹1.5L/month; Kotak Solitaire takes over above it.
Every metric, row by row — 10 compared
Head to head
| Kotak Air+ Prime | Metric | Kotak Solitaire |
|---|---|---|
| #15 — wins this row | Our rank | #76 |
| ₹3,000/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹0 joining, then ₹25,000/yr — wins this row |
| ₹4,00,000 spend | Fee waiver | By relationship |
| 2% + GST; dynamic-currency-conversion markup also 2% | Forex markup | 0% (zero forex markup) — wins this row |
| 3.5%/mo (42%/yr) | APR | 3.5%/mo (42%/yr) |
| 2.0% | Headline earn rate | 3.0% — wins this row |
| Kotak Air Miles | Currency | Kotak Air Miles |
| ₹1.00/pt | House value | ₹1.00/pt |
| 3,000 Air Miles (₹3,000) on joining-fee payment, credited within 120 days — plus 3,000 Air Miles within 30 days of every annual-fee payment | Welcome benefit | None — no joining bonus; the standing value is 10x Air Miles on travel and zero forex |
| 728 of 793 | Lounge doors opened | 735 of 793 — wins this row |
Neither issuer publishes an income floor for these two, and the door is the same on both sides: Kotak Air+ Prime and Kotak Solitaire 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 →
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+ Prime wins under ₹1.5L/month; Kotak Solitaire 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 ₹1.5L a month: Kotak Air+ Prime is ahead by ₹17,200 at ₹0.25L, Kotak Solitaire by ₹71,000 at ₹5L.
Kotak Solitaire costs nothing to get and ₹25,000 a year to keep.
Kotak Air+ Prime draws above the line, Kotak Solitaire below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | Kotak Air+ Prime | Kotak Solitaire | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹4,350 | −₹12,850 | Kotak Air+ Prime by ₹17,200 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹14,700 | −₹700 | Kotak Air+ Prime by ₹15,400 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹22,050 | ₹11,450 | Kotak Air+ Prime by ₹10,600 |
| ₹1L | ₹29,400 | ₹23,600 | Kotak Air+ Prime by ₹5,800 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹36,750 | ₹35,750 | Kotak Air+ Prime by ₹1,000 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹44,100 | ₹47,900 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹3,800 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹51,450 | ₹60,050 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹8,600 |
| ₹2L | ₹58,800 | ₹72,200 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹13,400 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹66,150 | ₹84,350 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹18,200 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹73,500 | ₹96,500 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹23,000 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹80,850 | ₹1,08,650 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹27,800 |
| ₹3L | ₹88,200 | ₹1,20,800 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹32,600 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹95,550 | ₹1,32,950 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹37,400 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹1,02,900 | ₹1,45,100 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹42,200 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹1,10,250 | ₹1,57,250 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹47,000 |
| ₹4L | ₹1,17,600 | ₹1,69,400 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹51,800 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹1,24,950 | ₹1,81,550 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹56,600 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹1,32,300 | ₹1,93,700 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹61,400 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹1,39,650 | ₹2,05,850 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹66,200 |
| ₹5L | ₹1,47,000 | ₹2,18,000 | Kotak Solitaire by ₹71,000 |
Transfer reach — 10 shared live routes
Transfer reach
Both cards earn Kotak Air Miles, so the partner list is identical — 10 live transfer routes each. The fight is decided on earn and fees, not reach.
3 shared routes · 1 only Kotak Air+ Prime · 0 only Kotak Solitaire — the full partner lists
Both reach
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios) 2:1
- The British Airways Club (Avios) 2:1
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue 2:1
Only Kotak Air+ Prime
- Air Canada Aeroplan
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
Kotak Air+ Prime · 6 more →
- Zero Air Miles on international spends — the 2% markup buys cheap swipes, not miles
- Every airline transfer runs 2:1 and Marriott 3:1 — strictly worse than redeeming at ₹1 on Unbox
- Only 4 domestic lounge visits a year (max 2 per quarter, ₹2 charged at the door) + 2 international
Kotak Solitaire · 3 more →
- International spend earns ZERO Air Miles — the 0% forex markup is the whole overseas story (official T&C, 07-04-2026)
- ₹25,000 fee if you're not on the Solitaire banking programme
- No welcome bonus — nothing to unwrap on activation
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, Kotak Air+ Prime nets ₹29,400 against ₹23,600 — a ₹5,800 gap. At ₹5L/month, Kotak Solitaire nets ₹2,18,000 against ₹1,47,000 — a ₹71,000 gap. Lounge chasers: Kotak Solitaire opens 735 of 793 tracked doors to Kotak Air+ Prime's 728.
Our standing verdicts: Kotak Air+ Prime — Keep; Kotak Solitaire — Keep. Kotak Solitaire 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, Kotak Air+ Prime or Kotak Solitaire?
Kotak Solitaire. Kotak Solitaire takes 6 of the 8 rounds we can score. Kotak Air+ Prime wins under ₹1.5L/month; Kotak Solitaire takes over above it.
Kotak Air+ Prime or Kotak Solitaire — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, Kotak Solitaire nets ₹1,20,800 against ₹88,200 — a ₹32,600 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, Kotak Air+ Prime or Kotak Solitaire?
Kotak Solitaire — ₹0 joining, then ₹25,000/yr against ₹3,000/yr. Kotak Air+ Prime waives its fee at ₹4,00,000 of spend; Kotak Solitaire at no spend level — the waiver rides the banking relationship, not the swipe.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, Kotak Air+ Prime or Kotak Solitaire?
Lounge chasers: Kotak Solitaire opens 735 of 793 tracked doors to Kotak Air+ Prime's 728. 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: Kotak Air+ Prime on 2026-08-15, Kotak Solitaire on 2026-09-03. 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 Kotak Mahindra Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank's own documents on · the ranking model, at our house ₹/point
Every document behind this page — 12 of them, each with the day we read it
- official Key Fact Statement — Kotak Air+ Prime Credit Card (version KFSA+P24042026) — joining ₹3,000, annual ₹3,000, joining-fee waiver NA, annual fee waived at ₹4,00,000 retail spend
- official Kotak Air+ Prime Detailed T&C PDF — 3,000 welcome + 3,000 renewal Air Miles, 5/₹100 on Unbox travel and auto dealers, 2/₹100 elsewhere, and the ten-partner transfer table
- official Air Miles Transfer Ratio for Kotak Air+ Prime — Air India, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Air France, United, Qatar, Air Canada and Etihad all 2:1; Accor 2:1, Marriott 3:1
- official Kotak Air+ Prime official product page — 5/5/2 Air Miles per ₹100, 4 domestic + 2 international lounge visits, 2% foreign-currency markup, 3,000 welcome + renewal Air Miles
- official Kotak credit-card list — Air+ Prime live alongside Kotak Air and Kotak Air+
- official Product page — Visa Infinite, unlimited lounge, zero forex, ₹25,000 fee (Nil for Solitaire programme)
- official Rewards page — 10 Air Miles/₹100 on Unbox travel, 3/₹100 else, 1,00,000/cycle cap, transfer partners + ratios, ₹1 travel / ₹0.5 voucher redemption
- official Detailed T&C PDF (07-04-2026) — joining Nil / annual Nil (₹25,000 if downgraded from the Solitaire Program)
- official Transfer-ratio PDF (01-09-2025) — the nine partners at our-miles:partner-miles — Etihad, Qatar, British Airways, United MileagePlus, Cathay Pacific
- official Key Fact Statement — joining NIL, annual ₹25,000, add-on NIL, annual-fee waiver condition "Cardholder should be a part of the Solitaire Program"; 3.50%/month (42% APR)
- community CardInsider — ₹75L Solitaire relationship for LTF, 9 transfer partners (Etihad/Qatar/BA/United/Cathay/AF-KLM/Accor 2:1, Air India 1:1, Marriott 3:1)
- community Paisabazaar — up to 10% reward on travel, zero forex, 4 guest lounge visits/yr