Mastercard Black Card Review: A Luxury Card That Puts Style Over Substance

The Mastercard® Black Card™ is a travel card issued by Luxury Card, which claims to lead the industry in metal card design. With an emphasis on the card's weight (22 grams) and an unboxing video uploaded by the card issuer, it seems this credit card was made to go viral. Although it has some reasonable perks, it's also overpriced with a $495 annual fee. Learn more about the pros and cons in our full review.

This credit card is a good fit for: Consumers who want straightforward benefits and prefer a card with a sleek design over one with more valuable benefits.

Top perks

To its credit, the Mastercard® Black Card™ does offer some decent features.

Up to 2% back

The rewards structure on the Mastercard® Black Card™ is a little confusing. It earns 1 point for every $1 you spend, which is extremely low. Most good rewards credit cards offer either a higher flat rate or bonus categories.

You can, however, redeem rewards for $0.02 per point toward airfare or $0.015 per point toward cash back. If you go with airfare, you're effectively getting 2% back on your spending. If you choose cash back, you're getting 1.5% back. That's still not great, but it's at least better than a flat 1%.

Read more: Best Cash Back Credit Cards

Balance transfer offer

The Mastercard® Black Card™ is currently offering 0% intro APR for 15 billing cycles on balance transfers. While this is a nice extra perk, the relatively high 5% transaction fee and short qualifying period of 45 days from account opening make it less ideal. Additionally, the 0% rate applies only to balance transfers, not to new purchases made with the card.

$100 annual airline credit

This card offers a $100 annual credit toward flight-related purchases, including airline tickets, baggage fees, upgrades, and more. Statement credits are automatically applied to eligible purchases.

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit

A membership fee to either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck is covered by the Mastercard® Black Card™. When you pay with this card, you receive an automatic statement credit of up to $100 (the cost of Global Entry, which is more expensive). You're eligible for the credit once every five years, coinciding with when you need to renew your membership.

These are both expedited security programs that save you time at the airport. Global Entry is the superior option, because membership also includes TSA PreCheck benefits.

Airport lounge access

The Mastercard® Black Card™ comes with a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership providing access to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide. The membership includes unlimited visits for both you and your guests, so if you travel frequently, it's definitely a nice benefit to have.

LEARN MORE: Best Credit Cards With Airport Lounge Access

Luxury concierge service

Cardholders have 24/7 access to a Luxury Card Concierge that can assist with travel bookings, personal requests, and much more. Here are some of the many arrangements the concierge can handle on your behalf:

• Making restaurant reservations
• Purchasing tickets to an event
• Booking appointments at a spa
• Researching an area where you plan to live or visit on vacation

SEE MORE: Best Mastercard Credit Cards

Purchase and travel protections

This credit card offers the following protections on eligible purchases:

• Cellphone protection against damage or theft when you pay your mobile phone bill with your Luxury Card
• Baggage delay insurance
• Travel accident insurance
• Auto rental damage collision waiver

No foreign transaction fees

Like most travel credit cards, the Mastercard® Black Card™ doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee. You can use it outside the U.S. without paying extra.

SEE MORE OPTIONS: Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards

What could be improved

There are several areas where the Mastercard® Black Card™ falls short of other card competitors.

$495 annual fee

The Mastercard® Black Card™ carries a $495 annual fee. That's in line with what other high-end travel cards charge. The problem is that this Luxury Card doesn't offer nearly as many benefits as its competitors, so the value it provides doesn't come close to what you could get from other credit cards in its class. Make sure to browse other credit card reviews to see what else is out there.

No sign-up bonus

Many credit cards offer sign-up bonuses for new cardholders. A sign-up bonus is an introductory offer, such as 50,000 points if you spend $3,000 in the first three months. These types of offers are common among all cards, and expensive travel cards often have some of the most valuable sign-up bonuses you can find.

You won't find any such offer with the Mastercard® Black Card™, and that's a huge drawback. It's one of the most expensive credit cards we've seen without a sign-up bonus. While the bonuses on other cards can be worth $500, $1,000, or more, you miss out on that kind of upfront value if you get this Luxury Card.

Low rewards rate

A rewards rate of just 1 point per $1 on purchases isn't even competitive for no annual fee credit cards. For a card that costs $495 per year, it's shockingly low.

The Mastercard® Black Card™ partially makes up for that by offering higher redemption values than most other cards. But it's not enough to catch up to travel cards that have bonus categories earning anywhere from 3 to 5 points per $1. You'd almost certainly get more value from your everyday spending with a different credit card.

Few ways to redeem points

There are only two ways to redeem points with the Mastercard® Black Card™: airfare at $0.02 per point and cash back at $0.015 per point.

These are decent options, but they don't measure up to the more versatile redemptions offered by other credit cards. Several cards earn points that you can either redeem for travel at a fixed rate, like you can with the Mastercard® Black Card™, but also that you can transfer to different airline and hotel partners. This gives you much more flexibility, and it can also help you get more value for your travel rewards.

Here are a few of the top credit card rewards programs offering more ways to redeem rewards:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• American Express Membership Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Rewards
• Capital One Venture Rewards

Limited spending credits

The spending credits on the Mastercard® Black Card™ include $100 annually toward air travel and up to $100 every five years for a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck membership. That breaks down to $120 per year in total.

While that may seem good at a glance, it pales in comparison to what other cards in this price range offer. Cards that cost this much usually include $250 or more in yearly spending credits.

To give a couple examples, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a $300 annual travel credit and a $550 annual fee. The U.S. Bank Altitude™ Reserve Visa Infinite® Card has a $325 annual travel and dining credit for a $400 annual fee.

The Mastercard® Black Card™ is designed for consumers with good to excellent credit, and a FICO® Score of 670 at a minimum is recommended before applying. Having a higher credit score will help your chances, as most approved applicants have a score of 700 or more.

Keep in mind that it's possible to be approved with a lower credit score or denied with a higher one. Luxury Card (this card's issuer) takes many factors into account during the application process, and while your credit score is very important, it's not the only thing that matters.

• You love the card design and you don't mind paying a premium for it

Luxury Card puts a lot of attention on factors that shouldn't be that important when choosing a credit card. It talks about how the Mastercard® Black Card™ literally outweighs its competitors and the number of patents that went into the design.

What really matters is how a credit card's annual fee compares to the value it offers, and in that regard, the Mastercard® Black Card™ fares poorly. Most of the best credit cards have the potential to save you much more money than this one, and you can find plenty with more travel perks, too.

KEEP READING: Best Airline Credit Cards

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.