IDFC FIRST Mayura Credit Card Review

Metal credit cards in India have multiplied. Most carry lounge access, some waive forex, and most offer rewards acceleration on travel bookings. The Mayura's value proposition narrows to a specific profile: someone who books flights and hotels through the IDFC First Bank app at least a few times a year and makes a portion of their monthly spending in foreign currency.

The Rs. 25 lakh income threshold reflects the target accurately. Salaried professionals and self-employed applicants both qualify. The Mayura is built for users who hold a travel-oriented card as a dedicated wallet slot rather than an everyday swipe card. Cardholders running one hotel booking and one international transaction a month through the card will extract consistent surplus over the annual fee. For cardholders without regular forex exposure who depend primarily on domestic spend, the 5X standard earn rate and non-waivable Rs. 5,999 annual fee make the card difficult to justify relative to peers at the same price tier.

The Mayura structures its earn across four distinct tiers with meaningful spread between them.

Base earn is 5 reward points per Rs. 150 on standard retail transactions up to Rs. 20,000 per statement cycle. At Rs. 0.25 per point under standard redemption, that works out to 0.83%. Redeem the same points for hotel and flight bookings via the bank's First Rewards Gallery section in the app, and the rate doubles: travel redemption values each point at Rs. 0.50, lifting the effective return to 1.67%. The 5X tier is serviceable but unremarkable for a Rs. 5,999 card on general spending.

Above Rs. 20,000 in a statement cycle, earn steps up to 10X per Rs. 150, giving 1.67% at standard redemption and 3.33% on travel redemption. Birthday transactions also earn at 10X. Cardholders whose monthly card spend regularly crosses Rs. 20,000 capture noticeably stronger returns on every rupee above that threshold.

The headline rate is up to 60X on hotel and flight bookings made through the IDFC First Bank app. To illustrate: a Rs. 20,000 hotel booking at the top earn tier, redeemed for travel credits at Rs. 0.50 per point, generates approximately Rs. 2,000 in value from a single transaction, covering roughly 28% of the annual fee.

Below the base rate: rent, government services, wallet loads, and education earn at 3X per Rs. 150. Insurance and utility payments fall to a flat 1X.

Milestone rewards add a structured yield layer: 7,500 bonus reward points on annual spend of Rs. 8 lakh (worth Rs. 3,750 at travel redemption) and 15,000 points at Rs. 15 lakh (worth Rs. 7,500). Both credits require payment of the next annual fee.

Note: IDFC First Bank announced changes effective June 18, 2026, including a revision to reward points validity and the spend threshold for the BOGO movie benefit. Verify the current structure at the bank's product page before applying.

Joining fee and annual fee are both Rs. 5,999 plus 18% GST, bringing the effective annual cost to approximately Rs. 7,079. There is no waiver threshold at any spend level. The fee applies regardless of card activity, setting the Mayura apart from most Indian premium cards that tie renewal to a spend milestone.

The case for the fee rests on two specific return streams. First, zero forex markup: against the 3.5% standard charged by most Indian issuers, a cardholder transacting Rs. 2 lakh in foreign currency annually recovers Rs. 7,000 from forex savings alone, covering the effective annual fee outright. Second, travel redemption uplift: points redeemed for hotel and flight bookings yield Rs. 0.50 each rather than Rs. 0.25, doubling the return on accumulated rewards for the card's target user.

For a cardholder combining Rs. 2 lakh in annual foreign-currency spend with Rs. 8 lakh in total annual card spend, the combined value from forex savings and milestone rewards reaches approximately Rs. 10,750 before any regular earn, a meaningful surplus over the Rs. 7,079 annual cost.

Finance charges sit at IDFC First Bank's standard rate, among the more competitive in the private-sector market. Cash advance fee is Rs. 199 plus GST per transaction, with a 45-day interest-free window that few peers extend to cash withdrawals. Add-on cards require Rs. 1.2 lakh in annual primary card spend to maintain.