Mastercard Black Card Review
The Mastercard Black Card comes with many of the upscale perks we’ve come to expect from an expensive travel card.
Credit card knowledge – how to avoid and manage debt, build credit, optimize rewards and bonuses – is an integral part of financial literacy today. While it can be a bit daunting, learning the ins and outs of credit cards is worth it to help create a solid budget and strong financial foundation.
— Reena Thomas, Ph.D.
Reena Thomas, Ph.D., is an editor/writer at Bankrate and CreditCards.com with a focus on credit card reward offers. She enjoys delving into the credit card landscape to help readers make valuable credit card decisions that are right for them.
Reena has over a decade of experience in education and publishing. Before joining Bankrate in 2023, she was a copy editor for NurseJournal, Trillium Publishing, Voyager Expanded Learning, and Rockefeller University Press. She also worked as a tenure-track college English instructor after receiving her doctorate and has published academic articles.
When she isn't writing and researching about credit cards, Reena can be found exploring her neighborhood for charming coffee shops, scenic trails, and friendly dog parks.
Credit card knowledge – how to avoid and manage debt, build credit, optimize rewards and bonuses – is an integral part of financial literacy today. While it can be a bit daunting, learning the ins and outs of credit cards is worth it to help create a solid budget and strong financial foundation.
— Reena Thomas, Ph.D.
The Mastercard Black Card comes with many of the upscale perks we’ve come to expect from an expensive travel card.
The Amex Green Card is a solid Membership Rewards-earning card for transit and travel that easily justifies its annual fee if you maximize your points and perks.
The rewards on select travel, supermarket and gas station purchases provide great value for most cardholders, but the stripped back features are worth weighing.
The American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card offers travel rewards for no annual fee. It’s great for earning miles but light in travel perks.
The Upgrade Visa® Card with Cash Rewards could offer a predictable and transparent financing alternative for cardholders who struggle with managing credit card balances. By putting your balance into an installment plan, the card could help you minimize interest charges and keep your debt repayment efforts on track.
The Indigo Mastercard is aimed at those with poor credit, no credit history, or even those who've declared bankruptcy, which means it’s easier to get approved for than other cards.
If you need to pay for surprise medical expenses with credit, make sure to pick the right card and pay off your medical debt as quickly as you can.
A credit card with a 0 percent intro APR can help you pay off debt.
The Starbucks Rewards Visa card can offer a good earning rate for brand loyalists, but the rewards are inflexible in terms of redemption.
This card offers tiered points geared toward purchases made in Kroger stores and on Kroger-brand products.
The Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa® Credit Card is a low-cost card that could make building credit more accessible.