AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for the Hawaiian Airlines® Business Mastercard® are not available through this site. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers
When discussing credit card benefits, we typically highlight benefits offered by a specific product, such as the The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees) annual free night and the ability to earn elite nights through spend. However, every credit card also has an underlying set of benefits determined by the issuing network card type.
You may have heard of Visa Signature and Visa Infinite. These are two of Visa's card types. Mastercard has its own network card types, as well. In this, post, we're going to explore the most valuable World Elite Mastercard benefits.
There are three primary types of Mastercard credit cards: Standard, World, and World Elite. Each card type comes with its own set of benefits — which are in addition to whatever benefits the card has through the issuing bank. World Elite Mastercard is the highest tier of credit card in the Mastercard payment network.
It's easy to tell whether your card is a World or World Elite Mastercard, as this text will be printed alongside the logo or on the back of the card. For example, the Citi Double Cash® Card is a World Mastercard (text above Mastercard logo). The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is a World Elite Mastercard (“World Elite” is printed on the back of the card).
The Best World Elite Mastercard Benefits
As the highest-tier card type, you can expect World Elite Mastercard benefits to be the best of the bunch. Many benefits are shared with World Mastercards, but there are some exclusive perks provided by a World Elite card. At the end of the post, we'll list several of top World Elite Mastercard products. Here are the top benefits provided by World Elite Mastercard credit cards:
Earn a $5 credit each month using Lyft
Are you a frequent Lyft rider? With your World Elite Mastercard, you can earn a $5 Lyft credit by taking three rides in a month. You can earn one credit per month, redeemable on your next ride. All you have to do is add your World or World Elite Mastercard as the payment method and pay for all three rides with the card. The $5 will automatically credit to your Lyft account.
Free ShopRunner membership
ShopRunner membership provides free 2-day shipping and free return shipping on orders from over 100 different merchants. Membership is complimentary with your World Elite Mastercard. Stores include American Eagle Outfitters, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lenovo, Under Armour, and many others. The complimentary ShopRunner membership requires enrollment.
World Elite Concierge
One awesome World Elite Mastercard benefit that is hardly ever discussed is the World Elite Concierge service. The World Elite Concierge is available 24/7 for a whole host of services. Whether you're trying to snag a difficult-to-make reservation, buy event tickets, or plan travel, your concierge is available to help. To access the World Elite Concierge, you'll need to provide your name, email, and the first six digits of your eligible card.
Mastercard travel and lifestyle services
You have access to quite an array of travel benefits through your World Elite Mastercard. You can call, chat, or email Mastercard Lifestyle Manager travel specialists. These people can help you book a dedicated airport concierge for a meet-and-greet and escort through 700+ worldwide locations, and get lowest hotel rate and hotel stay guarantee for hotel stays booked through the Mastercard Travel and Lifestyle Services Program.
In addition to the lifestyle services, you have access to the Mastercard luxury hotel and resorts portfolio as a World Elite Mastercard benefit. Enjoy benefits such as complimentary daily breakfast for two and property amenity credits of up to $100 at any of the 3,000+ properties around the globe that are included in the portfolio. If you're thinking this sounds like American Express' Fine Hotels + Resorts® program, it's quite similar.
To get started and see if the offers are worth it to you, register your card on the Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services webpage.
Cell phone protection by paying With a World Elite Mastercard [select cards]
Given how expensive many cell phones are, it's nice to have peace of mind provided by cell phone protection. World Elite Mastercard used to provide up to $1,000 per year in cell phone protection (maximum of $800 per claim, max of two claims per year). However, this protection was removed from certain cards in early 2022. Check with your card issuer to see if this is still available. If not, here are some other cards that provide this benefit.
Other World Elite Mastercard benefits
There are a number of other World Elite Mastercard benefits that might interest you:
- Priceless Experiences. World Elite Mastercards offer access to a wide array of experiences you can enjoy at home or in over 40 cities around the globe. Experiences include film festivals, dining, NBCUniversal's theme parks, and a variety of classes. There are many virtual options.
- Mastercard Golf. The World Elite Mastercard golf benefit provides exclusive PGA TOUR experiences and a golf concierge service.
- Mastercard ID Theft Protection. You can easily monitor your credit file by activating the Mastercard ID Theft Protection benefit provided by your World Elite Mastercard.
- Travel Insurance Protections. In short, many World Elite cards provide baggage delay protection, trip cancellation and interruption protection, travel accident insurance, and an auto rental collision damage waiver. Due to the variety of World Elite Mastercard travel protection benefits—because the protections vary by bank—listing the specifics of each card is not possible in this article.
- Instacart: New Instacart+ members receive a two-month free trial and $10 off their second eligible Instacart purchase each month. Benefits include no delivery fees on orders over a certain size, reduced service fees, and credit back on eligible pickup orders.
- Peacock: New Peacock Premium subscribers receive a $3 statement credit on their monthly streaming subscription, plus a $5 statement credit on the Peacock Premium+ monthly streaming subscription.
Best World Elite Mastercards
Here are our recommendations for some of the best World Elite Mastercard travel credit cards:
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
- Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard®
The Citi Prestige® Card is another popular World Elite Mastercard, but it is no longer available to new applicants.
Final Thoughts
While I primarily select a credit card based on the perks with a specific hotel or airline loyalty program, it's important not to neglect the underlying benefits provided by the card network. There are a number of excellent World Elite Mastercard benefits. The complimentary cell phone protection jumps out at me, as it provides total peace of mind in case of damage or theft.
Consider getting a World Elite Mastercard—such as the Citi Strata Premier—that provides these excellent benefits!
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
