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IDFC FIRST Classic's movie discount now needs a swipe the month before

IDFC's May-2026 notice for FIRST Classic, effective 18 June 2026, keeps the 25%-off movie discount (up to ₹100, once a month) only for cardholders who are 'spend-active with any transaction in the previous calendar month' — a July ticket needs a June swipe. The same notice drops the ₹20,000 gate on 10X, which now applies from the first dining, travel and international transaction, and stops reward points on spends beyond the credit limit in a billing cycle. The card stays lifetime free.

What changed

Worse for you

Devaluation · IDFC FIRST Bank

Before

25% off movie tickets up to ₹100 every month; 10X unlocked after ₹20,000 in a cycle; points on all spends

After

Movie discount only after a transaction in the previous calendar month; 10X from the first transaction; points only on spends up to the credit limit

See it with every other change

Cards this affects

IDFC FIRST Classic

IDFC FIRST Bank

₹2,900 a year at ₹75,000 a month

Keep

IDFC FIRST Millennia

IDFC FIRST Bank

₹2,900 a year at ₹75,000 a month

Keep

IDFC FIRST EA₹N

IDFC FIRST Bank

₹4,500 a year at ₹75,000 a month

Downgrade

Also: IDFC FIRST HPCL Power+

IDFC FIRST Classic’s movie perk was never large — 25% off a ticket, capped at ₹100, once a calendar month — but it used to come with no strings. IDFC’s May 2026 notice for the card, effective 18 June 2026, attaches one: “Continue enjoying 25% off up to ₹100 on movie tickets every month when you stay spend-active with any transaction in the previous calendar month.” The notice’s own example spells it out: to use the discount in July, you need a transaction in June.

It is the lightest gate IDFC has put on a movie benefit this year — any transaction counts, where the premium cards’ buy-one-get-one now needs ₹20,000 of previous-month spend — but a sock-drawer Classic loses the perk outright.

The same notice moves two other levers. The 10X tier on dining, travel and international spends no longer waits for ₹20,000 in a billing cycle; it applies from the first eligible transaction. And reward points now stop at your credit limit: spend past it in a cycle and the excess earns nothing. The card stays lifetime free.

Classic was not singled out. IDFC’s May 2026 notices for FIRST Millennia, the FD-backed FIRST EA₹N and FIRST WOW! Black carry the same sentence and the same July-needs-June example, and the HPCL FIRST Power+ product page states it from the same date. On FIRST Wealth the gate is the premium one: its buy-one-get-one needs ₹20,000 of spend the month before.

At most the discount is worth ₹1,200 a year. Keep one small swipe a month on the card if you use it; otherwise it does not change the case for Classic.

Source: IDFC FIRST Bank’s May 2026 notice for FIRST Classic.

Comparisons this changes

IDFC FIRST Millennia vs IDFC FIRST Select

IDFC's two lifetime-free cards on one reward engine: 10X on dining, travel, international and birthday spends, 1.25% at ₹0.25 a point, 25 points per ₹100 on hotels and 15 on flights booked in IDFC's app, and about 0.38% on everything else. The page's value model scores the two level at every spend level it tests, so the lounge decides it. Millennia opens four railway lounge visits a quarter and no airport lounge; Select one domestic airport visit and four railway visits a quarter, and both only after ₹20,000 of spend in the previous month.

IDFC FIRST HPCL Power+ vs ICICI Bank HPCL Super Saver

HPCL's two co-brands, IDFC's and ICICI's, ₹499 against ₹500 and both waived at ₹1,50,000 of spend. Power+ pays 30X at HPCL pumps, 5% at ₹0.25 a point, on up to ₹12,000 of pump spend a statement cycle, the same 5% on ₹2,000 of grocery and utilities a cycle, and up to 28.7 points per ₹100 on hotels booked in IDFC's app; Super Saver pays 4% cashback at HPCL and the HP Pay app, capped at ₹200 a month, 5% on utilities, groceries, telecom and departmental stores up to 400 points a statement cycle, and 0.5% elsewhere. Super Saver out-earns Power+ at every spend level the page tests, so Power+'s case is a large HPCL fuel bill, which its ₹12,000 ceiling rewards and Super Saver's ₹200 cap does not. Power+ opens one domestic airport lounge visit a quarter on ₹20,000 of the previous month's spend; Super Saver one a quarter.

More on this story

  1. IDFC FIRST reverses reward points cut — 26 Oct 2026 no longer applies

  2. IDFC FIRST Ashva cuts travel multipliers — 33% less on hotels, 37% less on flights

  3. IDFC FIRST Wealth app-travel bonus falls — 33% to 20%

  4. IDFC FIRST Gaj caps rewards at credit limit — a 100% earn cut past limit

  5. IDFC FIRST ends lifetime points — 24-month expiry lands

  6. IDFC FIRST Select cuts rewards — high spenders lose ~39%

IDFC FIRST Bank transfer partners

Sources

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