Do IDFC FIRST cards earn points on international spends?

The IDFC FIRST Classic, Millennia, Select and Wealth cards earn 10X on international purchases, 10 reward points for every ₹200, until 25 October 2026. From 26 October 2026 those purchases earn no points at all. The zero forex markup on all four cards stays in place, so a foreign transaction still costs you no markup after that date.

Dining, travel and birthday spends keep their 10X, and the other rates on these cards do not move.

How the four cards earn today

The four catalog records carry the same reward structure. The base rate is 3 points per ₹200 on eligible spends. Dining, flights and hotels earn 10 points per ₹200, which the cards label 10X. Utility bills, insurance premiums, railway spends and FASTag recharges earn 1X, or one point per ₹200. Fuel, EMI transactions and cash withdrawals earn nothing.

Spends on your birthday and international purchases also sit in the 10X group for now. Birthday spends stay there. International purchases leave it after 25 October 2026.

The issuer’s card pages print a point value of ₹0.25. At that value, 10 points per ₹200 returns 1.25% of what you spend, and the base rate of 3 points per ₹200 returns a little under a third of that.

What changes on 26 October

From that date international purchases join fuel, EMI and cash on the list of spends that earn nothing. All four records state this twice, once in the exclusion notes and once in the forex notes.

The forex terms stay as they are. All four cards charge 0% markup on international transactions, and the records say that covers transactions billed in rupees too.

Take an assumed ₹50,000 of international spend in one billing cycle. Up to 25 October it earns 2,500 points, which comes to ₹625 at the issuer’s printed value. From 26 October the same spend earns 0 points. Put ₹50,000 on an ordinary eligible category in India instead and it earns 750 points, or ₹187.50, at the base rate. Before the change a foreign purchase earned more than three times what a domestic one did; after it, a foreign purchase earns less than the domestic one.

When read on 15 September 2026, the issuer’s card pages still listed international purchases at 10X next to dining and travel. The end date is in the catalog record but not yet in the pages’ reward panel, so the wording there may change after 26 October.

The fine print on any given transaction

Some conditions in the records apply to every point these cards earn, before and after the change.

Points accrue only on spends up to your credit limit in a billing cycle. If a trip pushes one cycle’s spending past the limit, the excess earns nothing in any category.

Points expire 24 months after they are credited.

Each redemption carries a convenience charge of ₹99 plus GST, as printed on the issuer’s pages. On a small balance that charge takes a noticeable share of the points’ value, so several small redemptions cost more than one large one.

The records leave one case open: a spend that is both travel and international. A hotel abroad, or a ticket bought on a foreign airline’s website, could fall under the 10X travel rule or under the new international exclusion. The catalog carries both lines and says nothing about which one applies first. Your statement will show which way the bank reads it, and the first foreign travel booking after 26 October is where it will appear.

A foreign merchant that bills you in rupees is a similar case. The records say the zero markup covers those transactions. They do not say whether the bank tags them as international for rewards. If a website based abroad charges you in rupees, look at the rate its points line shows.

The benefits that stay

The change is limited to reward points. All four cards carry four railway lounge visits a quarter. Select and Wealth add one domestic airport lounge visit a quarter, and Wealth also has one international lounge visit a quarter through DreamFolks. Each of those needs ₹20,000 of spend in the current calendar month to open the benefit for the next month.

The records do not say whether international purchases count toward that ₹20,000 after 26 October. They do not list international spends as excluded from it, and they do not confirm that they count either. If you rely on a foreign month to reach the threshold, check that the next month’s visits actually open.

What to check on your own statement

Start with the reward points shown against each foreign transaction dated on or after 26 October 2026. On these four cards the record says it should read zero. A line showing 10 points per ₹200 means the bank has not applied the change to that transaction.

Next, compare a hotel or flight booked abroad with a domestic booking on the same statement. The difference in points tells you whether the bank puts foreign travel under the travel rule or under the international exclusion.

Last, look for any markup or cross-currency charge beside a foreign transaction. The records carry 0% for all four cards, so a charge there does not match the card’s terms.

Krediit keeps these four records, 26 October date included, and uses them when it compares what each card in your wallet earns on a purchase.