Pros
- 0% intro APR on balance transfers
- High rewards rate
- No foreign fee
Cons
- High membership fees
- No initial rewards bonus
- No intro APR on purchases
- Balance transfer fee
Mastercard® Black Card
Transfer Fee: 5% (min $5)
- Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on this card. Receive 1.5% Value for Cash Back direct deposit into a US bank account or as a statement credit.
- Earn 2 points per $1 spent on eligible hotel and airfare purchases booked through LuxuryCardTravel.com.
Rewards Details
- Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on this card. Receive 1.5% Value for Cash Back direct deposit into a US bank account or as a statement credit.
- Earn 2 points per $1 spent on eligible hotel and airfare purchases booked through LuxuryCardTravel.com.
- 2% Value for Airfare Redemption. 50,000 Points will get you a $1,000 ticket on any airline with no blackout dates or seat restriction.
- Receive up to $200 in annual air travel credits toward flight-related purchases, including airline tickets, baggage fees, upgrades and more.
- Get up to $100 in annual statement credits when you use your Luxury Card at qualifying restaurants.
- Plus, $120 automatic statement credit for the cost of the Global Entry Application Fee.
- Enjoy $500 value per stay through Luxury Card Travel program at 3,000+ global properties. Benefits include room upgrade at check-in (when available), daily breakfast for two, complimentary Wi-Fi, and unique amenity.
- Unlock $5 Lyft App credit monthly after 3 rides. Limit one Lyft credit per calendar month.
- Get three months of Instacart+ complimentary and $10 off your second order each month with your Mastercard® Black Card.
- Get a $3 statement credit each month with Peacock, when you use your Mastercard® Black Card.
- Airport Lounge Access with Priority Pass™ Select.
Additional Info
- 0% Introductory APR on balance transfers that post to your account within 45 days of account opening.
- $249 Annual Fee for each Authorized User added to the account.
- Black-PVD-Coated Metal Card.
- Luxury Card Concierge, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- Privileged access to exclusive events and insider opportunities.
- Access to the Tournament Players Club (TPC) network of private club courses and Priceless® Surprises.
- Benefits: Travel Accident Insurance, Baggage Delay Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Waiver, Travel Assistance, and Trip Cancellation & Interruption.
- Mastercard ID Theft Protection.
- More Details & Reviews About Mastercard® Black Card
Is the Mastercard® Black Card Worth It?
The Mastercard® Black Card is not worth it, as it charges a $699 annual fee without providing the sorts of luxury perks you’d expect to come with it. The main things you get are 1 - 2 point per $1 spent, a $200 annual air travel credit, and airport lounge access with Priority Pass Select.
There are a few other small benefits like an application credit for Global Entry and access to “exclusive events,” but most luxury cards give far more for their annual fee. Most also give a big initial bonus, while this card has none. Another downside is that you’ll have to fork over another $249 if you want to add an authorized user to the card. It’s such an expensive card that the average rewards value you’d get over the first two years of use after accounting for the annual fee is only around $100.
It's also important to note that this card isn’t the “Black Card” from pop culture fame. The truth is the real Black Card that celebrities flash and rappers namedrop doesn’t even have “Black” in its name. That’s actually the Centurion® Card from American Express, and it’s available on an invitation-only basis to extremely high-spenders.
What You Need to Do to Make the Mastercard® Black Card Worthwhile
To make the Mastercard® Black Card worthwhile, you’ll have to take full advantage of the card’s supplemental benefits, as well as spend a lot. In fact, without including the value of the benefits, you’d have to spend around $24,700 to $49,500 per year to break even on the annual fee, depending on how you redeem. Travel is the best redemption option, followed by cash back.
In addition, you should always pay your balance in full by your monthly due date. The card’s APR is 19.74% - 27.74% (V), and interest can easily outweigh the small amount of rewards you earn.
Mastercard® Black Card Highlights
- 1 Point Per $1 Spent on all purchases: The single point you will earn for each dollar you charge to the Mastercard® Black Card ultimately is worth 1.5 cents in cash or 2 cents in airfare booked through Luxury Card’s Rewards Service Center (with no blackout dates or seat restrictions). In other words, spending $10,000 will earn you 10,000 points, which are in turn redeemable for $150 cash back or $200 in airfare. The card’s base rewards earning rate is therefore 1.5% to 2.0%, which is above the market average of 1.17%, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report. Additionally, you will also earn 2 point / $1 on eligible hotel and airfare purchases booked through LuxuryCardTravel.com.
- $200 Annual Airline Credit: Each year you have the Mastercard® Black Card, you will receive a credit for up to $200 in flight-related expenses, including airfare, baggage fees, in-flight purchases and more. This credit will automatically be applied to your statement upon a qualifying charge posting to your account.
- Airport-Lounge Access: As a Mastercard® Black Card user, you will receive access to 1,400+ airport lounges worldwide, thanks to a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership. This feature is valuable in the sense that membership ordinarily starts at $99 per year, but how practically beneficial it will be depends on how much you use it. Just keep in mind that you will need to activate your Priority Pass Select membership after getting approved for the Mastercard® Black Card. In addition, a Priority Pass Select membership card (physical or digital) will be needed to enter an airport lounge. If you don’t have it, you’re out of luck.
Mastercard® Black Card Lowlights
- $699 Annual Fee: Some might assume that such a high price tag connotes quality and prestige. You gotta spend money to make money, right? Unfortunately, you won’t make nearly as much as you should with this anchor of an annual fee dragging you down. To put this yearly robbery into perspective, only two credit cards charge a higher annual fee. And $699 is more than 26 times higher than the market average of $26.75. When you start at such a deficit, it’s hard to see the arithmetic working out in your favor. You have your $200 airline credit; your lounge access, which we’ll value at $99; and the ability to earn airfare rewards equal to 2% of every dollar you spend, which would amount to about $570 for the average person. That’s $869 in total annual value, which shrinks to $170 when you factor in the fee, according to WalletHub calculations.
- $249 Annual Fee For Authorized Users: Most credit cards allow you to add a handful of authorized users free of charge. But it seems the Mastercard® Black Card’s benefits are just so “amazing” that you have to pay an extra $249 per year for each person you add to your account. Bummer.
Other Things To Consider About The Mastercard® Black Card
- 0% APR On Balance Transfers For The First 15 Months: This aspect of the Black Card would be a highlight if not for the 5% (min $5) transfer fee that accompanies your 0% intro rate. As a result, there are better ways to reduce the cost of existing debt.
- 19.74% - 27.74% (V) Regular APR: The Black Card’s interest rate is below average relative to other cards that require good credit for approval, but it’s still not cheap. So you should strive to act like this is a charge card and pay your bill in full every month.
- No Foreign-Transaction Fee: The Black Card bests the average credit card in the sense that it doesn’t assess a surcharge on purchases processed internationally. The market-average foreign-transaction fee is 1.58%.
- $120 Global Entry Credit: Global Entry is a program that allows low-risk travelers to quickly pass through U.S. customs. If you are approved, Mastercard® Black Card will pay you back for the $100 one-time membership fee.
- Luxury Concierge & Other Amenities: This card’s marketing materials make a big deal of its 24/7 dedicated concierge — a feature not uncommon among high-end rewards cards — as well as undefined “luxury gifts” and access to Mastercard’s Priceless Experiences. You even receive a free subscription to the quarterly Luxury Magazine. We’ll let you make the call on how much all of that is worth.
- Unique Card Material: It ultimately doesn’t matter what your credit card is made out of, considering it won’t provide any tangible benefit. But if you’re interested in the wow factor, the Mastercard® Black Card’s stainless-steel-and-carbon construction might appeal to you. Before you get too excited, though, just consider: When was the last time you noticed the material of someone else’s credit card?
Mastercard® Black Card VS. The Competition
Even luxury credit cards, as well as those posing as such, have competition. In order to help you see through the marketing gimmicks and home in on the features most important to your personal needs, we compared the Mastercard® Black Card to some of the most prominent alternatives. We did so across six fundamental categories, which collectively drive a card’s value. You can find the results below.
| WINNER | |||
|---|---|---|---|
annual fee$699 | annual fee$95 | annual fee$95 | annual fee$895 |
Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A |
transfer intro apr0% for 15 months Transfer Fee: 5% (min $5) | transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro aprN/A |
Regular APR19.74% - 27.74% (V) | Regular APR19.99% - 28.99% (V) | Regular APR19.74% - 27.99% (V) | Regular APRSee Pay Over Time APR |
rewards rate
| rewards rate
| rewards rate
| rewards rate
|
bonus offer N/A | bonus offer Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel | bonus offer Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. | bonus offer You may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted. |
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Mastercard® Black Card Review Methodology
This Mastercard® Black Card review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the Mastercard® Black Card and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the Mastercard® Black Card out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close Mastercard® Black Card is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare Mastercard® Black Card to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
WalletHub experts are widely quoted. Contact our media team to schedule an interview.