Mastercard® Black Card™ review

The Mastercard Black Card is part of the Mastercard Luxury Card trio, which also includes the Mastercard® Titanium Card™ and Mastercard® Gold Card™. Cards in this collection are full of travel perks and offer access to numerous upgrades. And while this luxury travel credit card is impressive to feel — it weighs 22 grams and is made from patented black-PVD-coated metal — its annual fee is just as hefty, costing you $495 a year (plus $195 for each authorized user). 

The rewards rate carries little everyday value, placing a large incentive on airfare redemptions. Even if you maximize the value of your redemptions, you’ll be hard-pressed to recoup the nearly $500 annual fee. Average cardholders will almost certainly be better served by a travel card with a lower annual fee, especially if you take advantage of airline and hotel transfer partners.

Quick highlights

• Rewards rate: 1 point for every $1 spent (1.5 percent bonus for cash back redemptions, 2 percent bonus for airfare redemptions)
• Welcome offer: N/A
• Annual fee: $495 ($195 for each authorized user)
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: 0 percent intro APR for the first 15 billing cycles on balance transfers within first 45 days
• Regular APR: 19.99 percent variable

Current welcome offer

The Mastercard Black Card does not currently offer a welcome bonus, which dings its value a bit more. The card does have an intro APR offer on balance transfers, but none on purchases.

For most, this might be reason enough to skip the card. Cards with astronomical annual fees like this one often include welcome offers that more than recoup that first year’s fee. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card charges a comparable annual fee of $550 but comes with a 60,000-point welcome offer after you spend $4,000 in the first three months. You can redeem these points for up to $900 toward travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal. That value alone would offset the card’s annual fee for the first year and get you very close to covering the second year .

Rewards Rate

You might expect a luxury card to have a superior rewards program. But the Mastercard Black earns rewards at a remarkably low rate for a card in its class. Even though you can get double the redemption value when using points to cover airfare, this likely won’t be enough to compensate for the card’s low rewards rate. While most other cards don’t include 2X redemption bonuses, they typically earn rewards at a much faster rate.

Earning rewards

This flat-rate travel rewards card earns at the same rate for all purchases. For every $1 you make in purchases, you will earn 1 point. That’s low compared to the rate offered by many of the top flat-rate travel and cash back cards, but this is offset by the card’s boosted redemption value, especially on airfare redemptions.

While cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit card earn twice as many rewards on paper because they earn 2 miles on all purchases, those rewards may not offer redemption values as high as the Mastercard Black card. The Mastercard Black card’s strongest asset is how much rewards are worth when they’re redeemed.

Redeeming rewards

You can stretch the value of your points further by redeeming them through the Luxury Card rewards site — notably, you can double your point value by redeeming for airfare.

If you book airline travel with your points, they will be worth 2 cents per point — twice as much as the point value on the usual travel rewards card. If you’ve made $50,000 in purchases and have 50,000 points, you can redeem your points for $1,000 in airfare. If you want to convert the same 50,000 points to cash back rewards, you’ll get $750.

These redemption options are the best you can hope for with the Mastercard Black card. You can redeem for hotel or rental car bookings, but the card’s terms state that the number of points needed can change at any time, and there’s no boost or predetermined value of your points with these redemption options. If you want to maximize your rewards with this card, it’s best to stick with airfare redemptions.

Luxury cards wouldn’t be luxurious without cardholder perks. There are several travel benefits and gifts worth noting on the Mastercard Black. Some of these carry real value, while others complement the unique lifestyle of those pursuing luxury.

Travel benefits

Mastercard offers an annual airline credit of up to $100 toward qualifying airline purchases. You can also earn a credit of up to $100 for Global Entry as well as access to the Priority Pass Select, giving you access to more than 1,300 airport lounges in more than 500 cities worldwide.

The card provides 24/7 access to the Luxury Card Concierge — a service that helps you with everything from booking your travel and vacations to locating a must-have, hard-to-find gift for someone. If you’re traveling to one of the 3,000 featured properties, you’re treated to upgrades worth an average of up to $500. These properties include brands like Waldorf Astoria, Ritz-Carlton, Montage, The Peninsula Hotels and several others.

These features are where you’ll really recoup the value of your card’s annual fee. However, travelers who don’t plan to stay at any brands available in the concierge service will struggle to find value in the concierge perk.

Luxury Card app

Cardmembers have exclusive access to the Luxury Card app, where you can manage your account and access your member benefits on mobile.

LUXURY MAGAZINE®

Mastercard offers an exclusive publication, LUXURY MAGAZINE, filled with information on travel, fashion, real estate and more. These publications also feature cover art from various artists, making them a limited-edition collector’s item for members.

Mastercard® Special offers

In addition to the luxury benefits and extras you’ll access with your luxury card, Mastercard has its own suite of perks and partnerships with many popular retailers like DoorDash, HelloFresh, Lyft, Fandango and ShopRunner (terms and conditions apply).

Luxury benefits

Cardholders of the Mastercard Black receive luxurious gifts from some of “the world’s most iconic and recognized brand names.”

Travel perks and rewards are going to cost you with this card. The Mastercard Black has a pricey annual fee of $495, plus a $195 fee for each authorized user. Some luxury black cards have annual fees in the thousands, so this may sound like a bargain to some cardholders. The good news is, this card does not charge any foreign transaction fees, which is helpful if you need to use your card while traveling abroad.

Although the Mastercard Black Card has a 0 percent intro balance transfer APR for the first 15 billing cycles (balance transfers made within the first 45 days; variable APR after will be 19.99 percent), all purchases will be at the 19.99 percent variable APR. If you do initiate a balance transfer, it’s subject to a $5 or 3 percent fee, whichever is greater. Cash advances are subject to a 29.99 percent variable APR and a $10 or 5 percent cash advance fee, whichever is greater.

The Mastercard Black Card’s issuer does not advertise a specific credit limit range, but as with most credit cards, it’s safe to assume the limit you qualify for will depend on your creditworthiness.

The Mastercard Black Card technically falls into the luxury card category, but unlike most luxury cards, you apply for it instead of receiving an invitation. Plus, the card’s numerous travel benefits make it more like a travel credit card. So it may seem like an appropriate competitor to the following top-tier travel cards.

Mastercard Black Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card has a $95 annual fee, making it a much more affordable option; however, the Sapphire Preferred doesn’t have an introductory APR on purchases or balance transfers. Unlike with the Mastercard Black Card, you receive a welcome offer of 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points once you spend $4,000 in the first three months with the Sapphire Preferred.

If you’re the type of cardholder who values upfront rewards, wants an affordable annual fee and can do without luxury, the Sapphire Preferred card might be a better choice for you

Mastercard Black Card vs. the American Express® Gold Card

If you’re looking for a great travel card to accompany you on trips — whether they’re luxury getaways or casual escapes — the American Express Gold Card outshines the Mastercard Black Card on nearly all fronts.

The Amex Gold boasts an impressive 4X points rewards rate for purchases made at U.S. restaurants and U.S. supermarkets and 3X points on flights booked with airlines or on amextravel.com. It comes with a lower $250 annual fee and a welcome offer worth up to $1,260 based on Bankrate’s latest credit card point valuations. While Amex points are worth 1 cent each when you redeem for flights with Amex Travel, Bankrate values Amex points at around 2.1 cents each on average if you redeem with a high-value travel transfer partner. This gives Amex points a potentially higher value than points redeemed with your Mastercard Black card, all while earning up to four times as many points for each purchase.

In addition to its stellar rewards rates, the Amex Gold also comes with a host of travel perks and other cardholder benefits that, if used, can easily recoup the card’s annual fee. While it isn’t a luxury card, the Amex Gold is a highly valued card and is difficult to pass up.

If you want to carry the Mastercard Black Card, you should pair it with a no-annual-fee card that offers a 0 percent introductory rate on purchases. This way you will have the best of both introductory worlds — intro APR on purchases and on balance transfers. You may also search for a card with a more lucrative rewards rate overall. If you don’t mind keeping track of rewards tiers, the Chase Freedom Unlimited offers some of the best rewards rates on travel and other popular spending categories, all for no annual fee.

You’ll have the best chance of getting your money’s worth from this expensive card if you travel to one or more of its featured 3,000 properties throughout the year. You’ll also want to take advantage of the estimated up to $500 in upgrades with each stay. Using the card’s travel credits (up to a $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee and up to a $100 airline credit) can also help offset its cost.

That said, this card's value comes from its unique perks and luxury benefits. If you can’t use these benefits, then it may be wise to look at other travel or luxury cards.