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Offers for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®, Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, Citi Prestige® Card, Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard® and Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite 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 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.
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Top World Elite Mastercard Benefits
There are four primary types of Mastercard credit cards: Standard, World, World Elite, and World Legend. 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 second-highest tier of credit card in the Mastercard payment network, but it's also the most common.
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 (Rates & Fees) is a World Mastercard (text above Mastercard logo). The Citi Strata Premier® Card (Rates & Fees) is a World Elite Mastercard (“World Elite” is printed on the back of the card).
Now, let's get into 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.
Related: Double Dip on Lyft Rides: Earn Points or Miles With These Airline, Hotel, and Credit Card Partners
Complimentary 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.
Unfortunately, though, this benefit is going away on September 30, 2025.
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 create an account.
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 [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). You can activate this coverage simply by paying your monthly cell phone bill with an eligible credit card.
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.
- Alo Moves: 50% off your Alo Moves membership, plus 300 bonus points to Alo Access.
- ResortPass: Earn a $30 statement credit on a ResortPass booking of $200 or more.
- Booking.com: Get up to 7% off prepaid stays on Booking.com
- HealthLock: Get a complimentary Mastercard Medical Claim membership, plus a 90-day upgrade to all HealthLock services.
- Mastercard Music and Entertainment Access: Exclusive access to ticket presales and preferred seats at top venues.
- Mastercard Transit Benefit: Get a $2.50 credit when spending $10 or more each month on participating transit systems.
Notable World Elite Mastercards
Curious if you have an eligible card? Here are some of the most popular World Elite Mastercard travel credit cards:
- Citi Strata Premier® Card (Rates & Fees)
- 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 Mastercard®
- Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard®
- Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
- MGM Rewards™ World Elite Mastercard®
- Virgin Red Rewards World Elite Mastercard
The Citi Prestige® Card is another popular World Elite Mastercard, but it is no longer available to new applicants.
- 10X on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Restaurants
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Supermarkets
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Gas and EV Charging Stations
- 1X – Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on All Other Purchases
- Earn up to 26 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, gas stations, and restaurants
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for being a IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card member
- Earn up to 6X points from IHG® with Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn up to 10X points from IHG® for being an IHG® One Rewards member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
- Earn 10X miles for every $1 spent on eligible hotels booked at aa.com/hotels and eligible rental cars booked through aa.com/cars
- Earn 4X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases (increased to 5X miles through the end of the calendar year after you pass $150,000 in purchases annually)
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Final Thoughts
While I primarily select a credit card based on the perks tied to a specific hotel or airline loyalty program, it’s worth remembering that the underlying card network can add meaningful extra value. World Elite Mastercard benefits — from travel protections to lifestyle discounts — are easy to overlook but can save you money and hassle if you know to use them.
If you’re looking to get a World Elite Mastercard, the Citi Strata Premier is a strong option. It not only unlocks all of the benefits we’ve discussed here but also earns flexible Citi ThankYou® Points and offers several travel benefits — making it a versatile card for both everyday spending and travel rewards.
- Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
- Earn 10 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on CitiTravel.com.
- Earn 3 Points per $1 on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases, at Restaurants, Supermarkets, Gas and EV Charging Stations.
- Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- $100 Annual Hotel Benefit: Once per calendar year, enjoy $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when booked through CitiTravel.com. Benefit applied instantly at time of booking.
- No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases.
- 10X on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Restaurants
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Supermarkets
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Gas and EV Charging Stations
- 1X – Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on All Other Purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Citi Double Cash® Card (Rates & Fees), Citi Strata Premier® Card (Rates & Fees), and IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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