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The Mastercard® Black Card™ has been on my radar lately, thanks to Chase's devaluation of its Priority Pass membership. In an attempt to find another card that'll let me eat at airport restaurants, I stumbled across the Mastercard® Black Card™. No one is talking about it, but they should be.
Let's take a look at the benefits of the Mastercard® Black Card™, how you can redeem rewards, and cards that compete with the Mastercard® Black Card™.
Page Contents
Mastercard® Black Card™ Pros
- Unlimited guests with its Priority Pass™ membership — including credits at select airport restaurants for the cardholder and up to one guest.
- Points are worth 2 cents each toward airfare.
- Offers complimentary travel accident insurance.
Mastercard® Black Card™ Cons
- Only earns 1x point per $1 spent, no matter what.
- No transfer partners.
- High $495 annual fee.
Mastercard® Black Card™ Welcome Offer
The Mastercard® Black Card™ doesn't provide a welcome offer, but it does have a special balance transfer promotion: 0% introductory APR for the first fifteen billing cycles following each balance transfer that posts to your account within 45 days of account opening. After that, (and for balance transfers that do not post within 45 days of account opening) the APR will be 20.24% to 28.24% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers, based on your creditworthiness and other factors. There is a fee for balance transfers.
Fifteen months is a pretty decent chunk of time for balance transfers, so this could be a good card to open if you're looking to save on interest.
Related: Best 0% APR Balance Transfer Credit Cards
Mastercard® Black Card™ Benefits
As a premium credit card, the Mastercard® Black Card™ offers quite a few benefits. Here's a recap of them.
Airport lounge access
Cardholders of the Mastercard® Black Card™ get a complimentary Priority Pass™ Select Membership. Priority Pass grants you access to lounges and eligible restaurants while traveling. And although there are a lot of credit cards that provide a Priority Pass™ Select membership, the Mastercard® Black Card™ is the best. This boils down to two reasons:
- Most credit card issuers are eliminating access to airport restaurants that participate in Priority Pass — here are the ones that still offer this perk.
- Most Priority Pass™ Select memberships allow limited guests.
Not only does the Mastercard® Black Card™ allow you to bring in as many guests as you'd like, but this is possible whether you're at a lounge or dining. That's unprecedented and a huge selling point for the card. This is especially true if you live near an airport that doesn't have Priority Pass lounges but does offer Priority Pass restaurants.
$100 annual airline credit
Possibly the most flexible airline credit offered by a credit card, the Mastercard® Black Card™ provides a $100 annual credit towards any airline-related purchases. This includes tickets, checked bag fees, seat selections, upgrades, and more.
Related: Best Credit Cards with Travel Credits and Airline Incidental Credits
Complimentary travel insurance
Like many other premium travel cards, the Mastercard® Black Card™ provides a suite of complimentary travel insurance benefits:
- Trip cancellation: Up to $5,000 per person, per trip.
- Trip interruption: Up to $5,000 per person, per trip.
- Rental car insurance: Secondary coverage, no limit specified.
- Accidental death and dismemberment: Up to $250,000.
- Baggage delay: $100 per day starting at four hours.
- 24/7 travel assistance.
Notably, lost luggage protection and trip delay insurance are missing — both of which you'll find on competitors such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees).
Related: What To Know About Sapphire Reserve Travel and Purchase Insurance Benefits
Mastercard World Elite benefits
Because the Mastercard® Black Card™ is a World Elite Mastercard, you'll have access plenty of additional benefits, including:
- Complimentary ShopRunner membership (through September 2025).
- $5 credit on Lyft rides after taking three in a month (through September 2025).
- 7% off prepaid stays at Booking.com (through September 2025).
- Up to $5 off Peacock membership (through December 2025).
- Concierge services.
- Priceless Experiences, which can be unique events or tickets.
- Automatic cash back with Mastercard Travel Rewards®.
- $30 statement credit when spending $200 at ResortPass (through September 2025).
- Two months of Instacart+ and $10 off your second order each month (through August 2025).
$100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit
The Mastercard® Black Card™ also offers a $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application credit valid once every five years. This can help get you past airport security or immigration much more quickly.
Luxury Card Travel program
Like Chase's The Edit, Amex's Fine Hotel + Resorts, and Capital One's Premier Collection, the Luxury Card Travel program provides cardholders with extra benefits when staying at eligible hotels. These include:
- Room upgrade at check-in.
- Daily breakfast for two.
- Amenity credit.
- Free Wi-Fi.
Mastercard® Black Card™ Earning Rates
The earning rate of the Mastercard® Black Card™ is simple. You'll get 1x point per $1 spent. There are no bonus categories or rotating categories. This is pretty bad, but it's not as tragic as it first appears thanks to the card's redemption rates.
Redeeming Points With the Mastercard® Black Card™
There are two ways to redeem points with the Mastercard® Black Card™:
- 2 cents each toward airfare.
- 1.5 cents each towards cash back.
Ok, so earning 1 point for every dollar you spend isn't great, but redeeming your points for 2 cents each gives the card a return of 2% when booking airfare.
There are some situations in which it can make sense to use the card for spending, especially if you don't want to spend a ton of time memorizing transfer partners.
Most notably, redeeming your points for 2 cents each toward airfare can provide significant value to those who use cash to pay for flights. There are no award seats to look for or restrictions on how these points can be redeemed. Even more importantly, because these will be considered paid flights, you'll earn elite status credit and miles for the flights that you take. The 2 cents redemption rate even beats out the 1.54 cents you'll get by using the 35% Pay With Points rebate on The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.
Redeeming your points for 1.5 cents in cash can also be an option, but it's not a good one. This will surpass Amex, which gives you 0.6 cents each. It's also better than Chase, which gives you 1 cent each. However, considering that you can earn far more points with both of these cards (and they have transfer partners), the Mastercard® Black Card™ falls behind.
Related: The Best Cash Back Credit Cards
Cards That Compete With the Mastercard® Black Card™
Maybe the Mastercard® Black Card™ isn't for you. That's okay. Here are three other quality options worth considering:
- If you want to earn more points, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a better option. Although it has a higher $550 annual fee, the card comes with a $300 annual travel credit that effectively drops the rate to $250. You'll also earn lots of points, with 3x on travel and restaurants. Learn more in our full Sapphire Reserve review.
- If you want more statement credits, The Platinum Card® from American Express charges a $695 annual fee, (Rates & Fees) but it offers substantial value in the form of statement credits each year. These have a lot of restrictions, but if you can maximize them, you'll get tons of value out of the card. Learn more in our comprehensive Amex Platinum review.
- If you want a lower annual fee, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card charges just $95 per year. It also earns at least 2 miles per dollar on every purchase. Even when redeeming for flights, this matches the earn rate of the Mastercard® Black Card™. Check out our Capital One Venture review to learn more.
- 10X points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 10X points on Chase Dining (including prepaid reservations and prepaid takeout purchased through Chase)
- 5X points on airfare purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on all other travel
- 3X points on dining at restaurants
- 1X points on all other purchases
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
- Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
Related: Comparison of Premium Travel Rewards Cards
Final Thoughts
The Mastercard® Black Card™ isn't going to be the right fit for everybody. Those who are focused on maximizing every dollar they spend will certainly balk at the 1x point you'll earn everywhere, even though they can redeem those points for 2 cents each.
That being said, those whose home airport features a Priority Pass restaurant will want to consider the card, as will large families or groups of people. This is thanks to the card's insanely generous Priority Pass benefit. With a lower annual fee than competitors, the Mastercard® Black Card™ could also be the card of choice for no-fuss cardholders that want to earn airline elite status.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), and The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees)
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