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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 some of the premium cards that compete with it.
- Redeem at 2% value for airfare and 1.5% for cash back. Just 50,000 points will get you a $1,000 ticket on any airline or $750 cash back, issued as a direct deposit statement credit.
- Earn 2X points on Airfare and Hotel reservations booked through LuxuryCardTravel.com. One point for every one dollar you spend for all other categories, earning points every time you spend.
- $200 Annual Airline Credit: Receive up to $200 in annual air travel credits toward flight-related purchases, including airline tickets, baggage fees, upgrades and more.
- $100 Annual Dining Credit: Get up to $100 in annual statement credits when you use your Luxury Card at qualifying restaurants.
- Receive up to $120 reimbursement credit for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee. Global Entry includes access to TSA PreCheck® with no additional application or fee required.
- 24/7 Luxury Card Concierge®: Exclusive to Cardmembers. Your busy life never stops, and neither do our Luxury Card Concierge agents. Enjoy around-the-clock lifestyle management and planning support tailored to your specific needs—and designed to save you time. Our personalized one-on-one service delivers solutions, suggestions and even surprises to make every day exceptional. Book the trip. Get the reservations. Score the tickets.
- With your Luxury Card, enjoy complimentary access to over 1,700 airport lounges and travel experiences in more than 600 cities across 145 countries with Priority Pass™ Select. Access includes unlimited visits for yourself as well as your guests.
- Black-PVD-Coated Metal Card and Made of Stainless Steel®: Beautifully crafted and exceptionally premium, Luxury Card is a statement piece designed to stand out in the most refined way. Weighing in at an impressive 22 grams, its stainless steel, contactless patented card design and metal construction raises the standard. Carry a card with distinction.
- Exclusive Luxury Card Travel® benefits—average value of $500 per stay (e.g., resort credits, room upgrades, free wifi, breakfast for two and more) at over 3,000 properties. Receive protection benefits like trip cancellation and interruption, auto rental car collision waiver, travel accident and baggage delay. Cell phone protection for eligible claims of up to $1,000 each year. Plus additional World Elite Mastercard® benefits.
- Annual Fee: $699 ($249 for each Authorized User). Terms and conditions apply.
- Earn one point for every dollar spent
Page Contents
Mastercard Black Card Pros
- Lounge access with unlimited guests through Priority Pass, including an airport restaurant credit for up to two people
- Points are worth 2 cents each when redeemed for flights booked through LuxuryCardTravel.com
- $300 worth of airline and dining credits
Mastercard Black Card Cons
- Only one elevated spending category — 2X on eligible hotel and airfare purchases booked through LuxuryCardTravel.com
- No transfer partners
- High $699 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 19.74% to 27.74%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors. This APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate.
Fifteen months is a decent amount 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% Intro 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 an overview of what's on offer.
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 many credit cards offer a Priority Pass Select membership, the Mastercard Black Card is one of 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 memberships allow limited guests.
The Mastercard Black Card allows you to bring in as many guests as you'd like, which is 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.
$200 annual airline credit
Possibly the most flexible airline credit offered by a credit card, the Mastercard Black Card provides a $200 annual credit towards any airline-related purchases.
According to the card's fine print, this includes “airfare, baggage fees, lounge access, and some in-flight purchases.” This differs greatly from many other cards' airline credits, which typically cover incidentals rather than tickets.
Related: Best Credit Cards with Travel Credits and Airline Incidental Credits
$100 annual dining credit
Receive up to $100 per calendar year toward any dining purchases made with your card. Dining purchases include all restaurants, but may not include food delivery services.
$120 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit
The Mastercard Black Card also offers a statement credit up to $120 when you use your card to register for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. This credit is valid once every four years. This can help get you past airport security or immigration much more quickly.
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 to plenty of additional benefits, including:
- $5 credit on Lyft rides after taking three in a month (through January 2026)
- Up to $5 off Peacock membership (through December 2025)
- $10 off your second order each month with Instacart+ (through January 2027)
- Concierge services
- Priceless Experiences, which can be unique events or tickets
- Automatic cash back with Mastercard Travel Rewards®
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 2X points back for every dollar spent when booking flights through LuxuryCardTravel.com. For all other purchases, you'll earn 1X points per $1 spent.
There are no further bonus categories or rotating categories. These categories are severely lacking given that this is a luxury card, but they're not as tragic as they first appear, 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
So, earning 1 point for every dollar you spend isn't great, but redeeming your points at 2 cents each gives the card a 2% return on 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 pay for flights in cash. 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.
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 cards from these banks (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 solid options worth considering:
- If you want to earn more points, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees) is a better option. Although it has a higher $795 annual fee, the card includes a $300 annual travel credit, effectively bringing the rate to $595. It also comes with a ton of other statement credits, further lowering the fee. Additionally, you can earn points much faster with 8X on travel booked through Chase Travel, 4X on other eligible travel costs, and 3X on restaurants worldwide. Learn more in our full Sapphire Reserve review.
- If you want more statement credits, the American Express Platinum Card® charges a $895 annual fee (Rates & Fees), but it offers substantial value in the form of statement credits each year. These have a lot of restrictions and take some planning to use, but if you can maximize them, you'll get tons of value out of the card. Learn more in our comprehensive Platinum Card® 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.
- 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- 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®.
- Earn 5X points on Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Hotel Collection bookings.
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 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 lack of spending categories, even though they can redeem those points for 2 cents each.
That being said, those whose home airport has a Priority Pass restaurant will want to consider the card, as will large families or groups who can take advantage of unlimited guest access to airport lounges. With a slightly lower annual fee than competitors, the Mastercard Black Card could also be the card of choice for no-fuss cardholders who want to earn airline elite status through cash flights.
- Redeem at 2% value for airfare and 1.5% for cash back. Just 50,000 points will get you a $1,000 ticket on any airline or $750 cash back, issued as a direct deposit statement credit.
- Earn 2X points on Airfare and Hotel reservations booked through LuxuryCardTravel.com. One point for every one dollar you spend for all other categories, earning points every time you spend.
- $200 Annual Airline Credit: Receive up to $200 in annual air travel credits toward flight-related purchases, including airline tickets, baggage fees, upgrades and more.
- $100 Annual Dining Credit: Get up to $100 in annual statement credits when you use your Luxury Card at qualifying restaurants.
- Receive up to $120 reimbursement credit for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee. Global Entry includes access to TSA PreCheck® with no additional application or fee required.
- 24/7 Luxury Card Concierge®: Exclusive to Cardmembers. Your busy life never stops, and neither do our Luxury Card Concierge agents. Enjoy around-the-clock lifestyle management and planning support tailored to your specific needs—and designed to save you time. Our personalized one-on-one service delivers solutions, suggestions and even surprises to make every day exceptional. Book the trip. Get the reservations. Score the tickets.
- With your Luxury Card, enjoy complimentary access to over 1,700 airport lounges and travel experiences in more than 600 cities across 145 countries with Priority Pass™ Select. Access includes unlimited visits for yourself as well as your guests.
- Black-PVD-Coated Metal Card and Made of Stainless Steel®: Beautifully crafted and exceptionally premium, Luxury Card is a statement piece designed to stand out in the most refined way. Weighing in at an impressive 22 grams, its stainless steel, contactless patented card design and metal construction raises the standard. Carry a card with distinction.
- Exclusive Luxury Card Travel® benefits—average value of $500 per stay (e.g., resort credits, room upgrades, free wifi, breakfast for two and more) at over 3,000 properties. Receive protection benefits like trip cancellation and interruption, auto rental car collision waiver, travel accident and baggage delay. Cell phone protection for eligible claims of up to $1,000 each year. Plus additional World Elite Mastercard® benefits.
- Annual Fee: $699 ($249 for each Authorized User). Terms and conditions apply.
- Earn one point for every dollar spent
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), and American Express Platinum Card® (Rates & Fees)
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