Luxury Card – Is It Worth It? [Mastercard Gold, Black, Titanium]

If you’re into earning travel rewards through premium credit cards, you probably receive a ton of mail from issuers trying to convince you to apply for the latest travel card.

Premium credit cards are known for having enhanced benefits — and high annual fees. But the perks can’t be overstated: hotel elite status, elevated earnings, airport lounge access, and more.

I thought I’d heard of them all until I recently received a mailer for Luxury Card. I hadn’t heard of it, unlike the dozens of mailers I received each month for credit cards — often with hefty welcome bonus offers. 

I wasn’t too familiar with the card and program before receiving the mailer, so I did some digging into both to see whether the cards are worth the annual fees and how they stack up compared to other premium cards currently available on the market.

There’s a lot to cover about Luxury Card, so with that being said, let’s dive right in!

What Is Luxury Card?

Billed as a “global leader” in the premium credit card market, Luxury Card is a Mastercard product that allows you to earn points that you can redeem for airfare and statement credits. It also offers some travel benefits and redemptions, though we’ll talk more in-depth about these later.

Underneath the Luxury Card umbrella are 3 separate cards — Mastercard^® Gold Card™, Mastercard^® Black Card™, and Mastercard^® Titanium Card™.

One of Luxury Card’s selling points is not just the perks or value of the card but the actual make and design of the physical card. You’ll find references to the cards’ material all over the site — there’s even an entire page on the website dedicated to the card’s construction and how much it weighs.

But, if you’re curious, the Mastercard Gold card comes wrapped in 24k gold-plated stainless steel, the Mastercard Black card is black PVD-coated stainless steel, and the Mastercard Titanium card is brushed stainless steel. 

Luxury Card says its cards are accepted at more than 8 million domestic retailers in 210 countries, with no foreign transaction fees. 

Luxury Card Annual Fees

As mentioned above, there are 3 different cards, all offering different benefits. As such, all have varying annual fees. The card with the highest fee — the Mastercard Gold card — will set you back nearly $1,000 in annual fees. That’s more expensive than even The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, which is $695 annually (rates & fees) and one-fifth the price of the exclusive (and elusive) Centurion^® Card from American Express, which is said to have a $5,000 yearly fee.

With those details in mind, let’s take a look at how much a Luxury Card will cost you yearly, depending on which card you choose:

• Mastercard Gold Card: $995 annual fee ($295 for each authorized user)
• Mastercard Black Card: $495 annual fee ($195 for each authorized user)
• Mastercard Titanium Card: $195 annual fee ($95 for each authorized user)

Earning and Redeeming Points With Luxury Card

Luxury Card offers many of the benefits that premium cards, such as The Platinum Card^® from American Express, Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, provide. Where it falls short, however, is in its earning structure.

Regardless of which Luxury Card you select, you’ll earn 1x points for every $1 you spend. That’s a pretty low bonus rate, especially when considering other premium cards:

• Amex Platinum Card: 5x points on flights booked directly with airlines or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 spent per year, then 1x) and prepaid hotels through AmexTravel.com
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Card: 5x points on airfare booked via the Chase Travel portal; 3x points on all other travel and dining purchases
• Capital One Venture X Card: 5x on travel bookings made through Capital One Travel and 2x on all other eligible purchases

Luxury Card offers 2% value for airfare redemptions – meaning 50,000 points will get you a $1,000 airline ticket. That comes to a value of 2 cents per point, similar to our valuations for other flexible loyalty programs. However, other programs like Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards allow you to transfer flexible points to travel partners to book business or first class award travel or luxury hotel stays. In some instances, you can get a redemption value of up to 10 cents per point with these partners.

If you prefer to redeem Luxury Card points for cash, you’ll receive a value of up to 2% cash-back — 1% for the Mastercard Titanium card, 1.5% for the Mastercard Black card, and 2% for the Mastercard Gold card. This can either be deposited into your bank account or used as a statement credit. But unlike other cards, you can’t turn the cash-back into transferable rewards because Luxury Card has no transfer partners. 

Luxury Card Benefits

Now let’s take an in-depth look at the benefits you’ll receive with each card:

	Mastercard Gold Card	Mastercard Black Card	Mastercard Titanium Card
Annual Fee	$995	$495	$195
Earning Potential	Earn 1x points for every $1 you spend
Value for Airfare Redemptions	2%
Value for Cash-Back Redemptions	2%	1.5%	1%
Annual Airline Credit Toward Qualifying Airline Purchases	$200	$100	N/A
Global Entry Application Fee Credit	$100		N/A
Priority Pass Select Membership	Yes		N/A

Bottom Line:

As you’ll see, there’s virtually no difference between the Mastercard Gold card and the Mastercard Black card. The latter offers 1.5% cash-back instead of 2%. But the perks significantly roll back if you have the Mastercard Titanium card, which offers virtually no travel benefits outside of cash-back or airfare redemptions.

Travel Benefits

With Luxury Card, you find some of the same benefits as other premium cards. Here are some of the benefits you could be eligible for after opening a Luxury Card:

Annual Airline Credit

Mastercard Gold cardholders receive up to $200 in annual air travel credit toward flight-related purchases, including airline tickets, baggage fees, and upgrades, while Mastercard Black cardholders receive up to $100 in annual air travel credit. This credit is automatically applied to your account.

Global Entry and TSA PreCheck

Mastercard Black card and Mastercard Gold cards receive up to $100 statement credit towards a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership. A Global Entry membership gets you expedited arrival into the U.S. from international destinations. Enrolled Global Entry members will also have TSA PreCheck.

Priority Pass Select Membership

Similar to other high-end credit cards, you’ll get complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges around the world with Priority Pass Select if you have a Mastercard Gold card or Mastercard Black card.

Rental Car Coverage

All cards come with secondary coverage for damages to an eligible rental vehicle when you pay for the entire rental transaction using your card and decline the coverage offered by the rental agency.

Other Travel Benefits

All 3 cards come with the following additional travel benefits:

• Airport Meet and Assist: Trained agents can accompany you through the airport, bypassing crowds and speeding up formalities. Meet them on arrival, before departure, or while waiting for a connecting route.
• Luxury Card Concierge: Receive 24/7 access (via live chat, phone, SMS, or email) to a Luxury Card Concierge who can book travel and handle other requests.
• Luxury Card Travel Program: Receive competitive rates and complimentary benefits at over 3,000 global properties, such as a room upgrade at check-in, when available, complimentary Wi-Fi, daily breakfast for 2, and a unique amenity.
• Travel Accident and Baggage Delay: You may be eligible for reimbursement of covered items up to $100 a day (maximum of 3 qualifying days) for eligible baggage delays of more than 4 hours from the time you arrive at the travel destination (arrival at your primary residence is excluded). You will receive up to $250,000 coverage for eligible common carrier accidental death and dismemberment at no additional cost when you charge your entire travel fare to your eligible Luxury Card for a covered trip.
• Travel Assistance: Available when you’re traveling 50 miles or more from home, you can receive Master Trip Travel Assistance, Medical Assistance, and Master Legal Referral Service.
• Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance: Luxury Card offers secondary coverage — not primary coverage — for a round-trip purchase when you use your eligible card. You can be reimbursed for the cost of the nonrefundable round-trip expenses up to $5,000 per insured person if certain covered accidental events cause you to cancel or interrupt your trip for a covered reason.

Shopping Benefits and Purchase Protections

As a Luxury Card member, you’ll have access to travel, shopping and special benefits and offers. Restrictions, limitations and exclusions may apply. These offers may be amended or canceled at any time without notice. Here are some of the offers currently available:

• 0% APR on Balance Transfers: All cards offer a 0% intro APR for 15 billing cycles on balance transfers that are made within 45 days of account opening. A regular ongoing APR applies, based on your creditworthiness.
• $0 Fraud Liability Protection: Pay only for purchases you have authorized with your Luxury Card, whether you pay in a store, over the phone, or online.
• Cell Phone Protection: When you pay your phone bill with a Luxury Card, you’ll activate coverage for eligible damage or theft claims. Regardless of which option, Luxury Card comes with yearly coverage if your phone needs repairs or is stolen.
• Lyft: Enroll your Luxury Card, and you’ll automatically receive a $5 Lyft credit to your account once you take 3 rides in a month and pay with your Luxury Card (limit 1 Lyft credit per calendar month; offer ends March 31, 2024)
• Mastercard Global Service: Access 24/7 customer service assistance with lost and stolen card reporting, emergency card replacement and emergency cash advance.
• Priceless Golf: Access to over 1,000 luxurious private country clubs across North America
• ShopRunner: Receive free 2-day shipping and free return shipping on eligible purchases when you enroll for a complimentary ShopRunner membership with your Luxury Card (through March 31, 2024)
• Theft Protection: You’ll receive access to a number of identity theft resolution services. This service offers 24/7 assistance with replacing your card and notifying the credit agencies if you become the victim of identity theft.

Hot Tip:

Because Luxury Card is part of the Mastercard family, you’ll receive perks associated with holding a Mastercard. Make sure to check out mastercard.us/worldeliteoffers to see other offers.

Is Luxury Card Worth It?

People looking for a statement card — that is, a card that will draw eyes when thrown down at the dinner table — may enjoy this card. Luxury Card offers some decent benefits, but the annual fees, especially for the Mastercard Black card and Mastercard Gold card, will be a hard pill to swallow for many travelers.

There are some decent benefits, like the travel concierge and Luxury Card Travel program, that can get you discounted rates and benefits at thousands of properties. Similar benefits come with other premium cards, but it’s nice to see a new player offer similar perks.

One of the most significant offsets to having a high-annual-fee premium card is being able to transfer those points — be it Amex, Capital One, Chase, or Citi — to an airline or hotel partner, which can give you outsized value. Unlike other premium credit cards, Luxury Card doesn’t partner with hotel or airline loyalty programs, which means you won’t be able to earn points through the program and then transfer them to a partner. And while you can redeem points earned from the cards for airfare, it doesn’t appear that you’re able to do the same for hotel stays, which is something that many high-end credit cards offer.

And, unfortunately, you won’t receive any hotel elite status with Luxury Card like you would when holding the Amex Business Platinum card or Amex Platinum card, both of which offer complimentary Hilton and Marriott elite status (enrollment required).

You do have access to the Priority Pass network and TSA PreCheck/Global Entry statement credits with the Mastercard Gold card and Mastercard Black card, but again, these are perks that come standard with many premium travel rewards cards.

Luxury Card Alternatives

If you decide against Luxury Card — or decide that you want several premium cards in your wallet — there are several alternatives offering immeasurable benefits. Let’s take a look at a few:

• For Travel Perks: Amex Platinum card and Amex Business Platinum card receive, upon enrollment, complimentary Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors Gold elite status, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards President’s Circle status, Avis Preferred Plus status, and National Emerald Club Executive status (not to mention that these cards are also the best cards for airport lounge access)
• For High-End Perks: Centurion card (invitation-only)
• For Cash-Back: Citi^® Double Cash Card earns an uncapped 2% cash-back for every $1 spent (1% when you buy and another 1% when you pay)

Hot Tip:

Check out our detailed comparison of the Mastercard Black card vs. the Amex Platinum card.

Final Thoughts

Luxury Card makes sense if you want a cool credit card that will make your friends’ eyes go wide. But that’s pretty much where the draw ends. It has some decent benefits like a travel concierge and travel discounts. Still, the high annual fee on the premium cards and the limited benefits on the lower-tier card makes it difficult to justify opening it.