Mastercard Gold Card Review

Who is the Mastercard Gold Card for?

The Mastercard Gold Card is Mastercard’s premium rewards, cash back, benefits, and travel credit card. With this card, you will receive 2% cash back or 2% value for airfare redemptions to go along with 1 rewards points per dollar spent. This flat cash back rate is higher than that of other comparable cards. This card also comes with a luxurious design, weighing 22 grams of 24k-gold-plated stainless steel and carbon.

Accompanying the cash back is a multitude of generous benefits. You will receive $200 in airline credit, access to VIP lounges in airports, discounts on Postmates and Lyft, and so much more. You also will be able to void any foreign transaction fees.

As great as this card may sound, there is one very large downfall for prospective cardholders. If you want to use this card, you will have to pay $995 annually. People who use the card right and travel often will be able to offset this card, but it is a very steep price to pay for a credit card.

We recommend this card for people who travel very frequently, desire a variety of points, cash back, and benefits, and who are not worried about paying a hefty annual fee.

Cash Back and Rewards

The Mastercard Gold Card offers very generous cash back rewards, offering a 2% flat rate on every dollar spent. This cash back can also be used in the form of airfare redemption value. For example. If you spend $50,000, you can either receive $1,000 in cash back or $1,000 toward airline credit. Thus, people who travel often and spend a lot every year should definitely consider this card.

Cash back can be directly deposited into a US bank account, or it can be applied as a statement credit toward upcoming credit card bills, allowing you to get ahead on your payments.

You can also redeem the points for gift cards, hotels, and merchandise, but it will not be as lucrative. Every 100 points will give you $1.00 worth of redemption value at hotels, and the value of points vary based on what merchandise and gift cards you are buying.

Benefits

When you own a Mastercard Luxury card, such as the Gold card, you will gain access to 24/7 Luxury card concierge. This concierge will be able to assist you with a wide variety of needs, such as travel bookings and various personal requests. Ask questions ranging from what are the best high schools in the area, to how can you use the Jumbotron at a basketball game to propose.

Since this is a travel rewards card, Mastercard offers you a variety of travel rewards and services that have a value of around $800 annually. First, you will receive a $200 airline credit annually. This airline credit can go toward any flight-related purchases, such as tickets, baggage fees, upgrades, and much more.

This card also voids the foreign transaction fee for international purchases. Many cards offer a 3% foreign transaction fee, but Mastercard eliminates this fee in order to enhance your travel experience.

You also will receive a $100 credit toward either the TSA Precheck or Global Entry applications, which makes the application free. These two services facilitate your movement through the airport, allowing you to spend less time waiting to go through security or customs. 

Also, this card gives you unlimited access to more than 1,200 airport lounges in over 500 cities because you will automatically be enrolled in Priority Pass Select if you own this card. Wait comfortably for your upcoming flight in exclusive lounges around the world.

The Mastercard Gold Card also gives access to Mastercard Priceless. Mastercard Priceless allows you to enjoy invitation-only experiences ranging from courtside seats, to dress rehearsals before opening night, to exclusive golf experiences with PGA Tour professionals.

Mastercard gives all Luxury card members the ability to use the Luxury app in order to simplify their lives. Using your mobile device you will be able to find hotel partners, travel services, and many other member perks at the click of a button. You can also chat live with a concierge agent who can book tickets or answer questions for you immediately.

In order to maximize your benefits, you should look into the partnerships that Mastercard has made that offer deals with this credit card. Two of the largest partnerships are with Postmates and Lyft. With Postmates, you will receive $5 off eligible orders when you pay with your Gold card. Lyft offers a $10 credit per month if you make 5 rides per month. That is a $120 annual value if you use Lyft often.

Other deals you will find include ones with ShopRunner, Boxed, Fandango, and Onefinestay. Save money when you spend money with any of these companies.

Protections

To add to the benefits, Mastercard offers many different protection services to keep your account safe at all times. First, you will receive $0 fraud liability protection. This means that you will never have to pay for any fraudulent transactions that you didn’t make.

You also receive additional cellphone coverage for damages made to your phone. In addition to the coverage that you receive from the cellphone company, Mastercard will provide supplemental coverage for damage or theft of your cellphone. Other protections include baggage delay insurance of up to $100 per day, travel accident insurance of up to $250,000 for accidental death or dismemberment by common carrier, and an auto rental collision waiver which will provide coverage for damage or lost rental cars.

Annual Fee

This card has one of the largest annual fees among credit cards due to the range of benefits it offers. However, you must spend a lot in order to fully maximize your benefits. For example, in order to earn enough cash back or airfare redemption value to offset the annual cost, you must spend $49,800 annually. Although this seems like a lot of money, this does not factor in the other rewards and deals that you will save money on, such as the $200 annual airline credit.

Conclusion

The Mastercard Gold Card is a premier credit card in all manners. Beginning with its elite design made from 24k gold, this card goes above and beyond with all of its services. With generous cash back and travel rewards, a plethora of benefits including $200 in airline credit and no foreign transaction fees, and many protection services, this card offers a lot of value. However, the $950 annual fee makes this the card only for the most frequent of travelers who want to maximize their rewards.