Mastercard World Elite benefits you need to know right now

Mastercard World Elite cardholders can get special discounts and cashback promotions until the end of the 2020. That sounds ominous, but at least you can enjoy some extra Mastercard perks before the year is over. If you don't have a Mastercard World Elite Card, I would recommend the Chase Freedom Flex or the US Bank REI card since those are the only personal credit cards that have no annual fee.

• $20 Value: Instacart Express (Details)
  • Instantly get 2 free months on Instacart. After your 2 months, it converts to the $99 annual plan. You’ll need to cancel before then for full value.
  • Free delivery on orders over $35
• $45 Value: Lyft (Details)
  • Earn a $5 Lyft credit after 3 rides in a calendar month. Get another $10 when you reach 5 rides in the same calendar month.
  • Up to $15 per month until December 31, 2020
• $10 Value: Amazon (Details)
  • Get a $10 Amazon credit after spending $25 on your Mastercard for eligible products
• 5% Off At Boxed (Details)
• Rally for Recovery:
  • Hyatt 3^rd night free (Select U.S. Locations)
  • Preferred Hotels & Resorts 4^th night free offer (Details)
  • Complimentary hotel stay: before or after your cruise (Details)
  • Yard House
  • Macys
  • Olive Garden
  • Hello Fresh
  • Longhorn Steakhouse
  • AARP
  • And Many more

If you take 5 lyft rides at $10 each, you receive a TOTAL of $15 cashback from your Mastercard World Elite credit card. $15 back after spending $50 (5 rides) is a cashback rate of 30% in this scenario. Definitely varies depending on how much and how you use Lyft.

These offers are publicly available at the MCOFFERS page. I noticed that there is a difference in available offers between the offers on the travel.mastercard.com website. Some of the offer availability dates also seem to differ. It’s always worth a shot to check with Mastercard and get the deal you want.

Hotels are cheaper using the Mastercard travel website (for World Elite members)

From my personal experience when using US Bank and American Express to book travel, prices are sometimes more than the average online travel agency (OTA) like Expedia or Agoda.  I was expecting the Mastercard Travel site to show inflated prices too. It runs out, prices can be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper when using the Travel Mastercard site for World Elite members.

I think Mastercard is available to give a slightly lower rate because they are waiving part of the credit card merchant fees, since they are Mastercard. As an example I created a sample booking for the same night at the W Taipei and brought booking bookings to the checkout page for the final price:

• Agoda (cheapest OTA): $281.56/night
• Travel Mastercard: $276.09

You should know that the Travel Mastercard site is a membership site. That means even though you may not have paid any additional money to join it, it’s still a travel site that’s not available to everyone. That means you can’t use the lower prices from the Mastercard travel site to use best rate guarantees. Another deal I love getting.

The Mastercard Lowest Rate Guarantee

In the event that you are charged a higher rate than at the Mastercard website, you can use the Mastercard Lowest Hotel Rate Guarantee. Terms:

• Book a hotel through the Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services
• Find the same hotel room type, in the same hotel, for the same dates, the same number of children and adults, at a lower price online, before taxes and fees, contact Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services at International toll: +1 628 867 0745 Toll free: +1 855 802 1387 and we’ll refund you the difference**.
• Submit a claim as described in the Terms and Conditions prior to your stay and seventy-two (72) hours before the date of your reservation check-in.

Hyatt Deal

Until the end of 2020 (that sounds ominous but let’s think positive), you can get your 3^rd night fee at a participating Hyatt in the United States when using your Mastercard World Elite card to make a booking through the Mastercard website.  That price is already rolled into the booking system on the Mastercard travel site, but you might still want to make the booking through an agent to make sure you get ALL the booking benefits.

For example, I made a sample booking for the Andaz Maui for 3 nights and went directly to the checkout page:

• Expedia: $2,667.06
• Travel Mastercard: $1832.94

Booking benefits:

• Complimentary breakfast for two daily
• Early check-in/late checkout, subject to availability
• Complimentary upgrade, subject to availability
• Hotel credit of up to $100 (USD)
• Complimentary Wi-Fi

Terms & Conditions:

Offer is valid for bookings placed up to and including December 31, 2020, for stays through March 31, 2021. All stays booked under this offer will allow for cancellation up to 24 hours in advance with no penalty. Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion that may be available and is subject to availability, changes, and may be withdrawn at any time. Payment for all purchases related to the offer is your responsibility. Payment method: major credit card, debit card. Hotel booking must be confirmed through the concierge for the complimentary night and benefits to be applied to the reservation.

FYI, I took the offer terms from the Merchant Offers page which has the updated offer date until December 31, 2020. The actual page inside the Mastercard travel site isn’t updated.

Participating Hyatt Locations:

• Arizona: Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows, Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa, Royal Palms Resort & Spa, Miraval Tuscon
• California: Hyatt Regency Orange County, Hyatt, Regency Huntington Beach, Andaz West Hollywood, Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, Andaz San Diego, Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa & Marina, Park Hyatt Aviara Resort & Spa, Grand Hyatt San Diego, Mar Monte Hotel, Unbound by Hyatt, Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Ventana Big Sur, Carmel Valley Ranch, Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country, Hyatt Regency Westlake
• Colorado: Grand Hyatt Vail
• Florida: Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, Hyatt Centric Key West Resort and Spa, The Confidante, Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, Hyatt Regency Sarasota
• Georgia: Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, Andaz Savannah, Hyatt Regency Savannah
• Hawaii: Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach, Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa, Destination Residences Hawaii - The Lodge at Kukui’ula, Andaz Maui at Wailea, Destination Residences Hawaii - Wailea Beach Villas
• Illinois: The Talbott Hotel, Thompson Chicago, Chicago Athletic Association
• Louisiana: Hyatt Centric French Quarter New Orleans, The Eliza Jane, New Orleans
• Maryland: Hotel Revival Baltimore, Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay
• Nevada: Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa & Casino
• New Mexico: Hyatt Regency Tamaya
• New York: 50 Bowery, Gild Hall, Andaz 5th Avenue, Andaz Wall Street, Hyatt Centric 39th & 5th New York, Grand Hyatt New York, Park Hyatt New York, Hyatt Centric Times Square New York
• North Carolina: Carolina Inn
• Pennsylvania: The Bellevue Hotel
• Tennessee: Thompson Nashville, Holston House Nashville
• Texas: The Driskill, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa, Miraval Austin, Hyatt Regency Austin, Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa
• Virginia: Quirk Hotel
• Washington: Motif Seattle, Grand Hyatt Seattle, Thompson Seattle
• Washington DC: Thompson Washington D.C., Grand Hyatt Washington, Hyatt Regency Washington

FAQ:

Which credit cards are Mastercard World Elite? The Chase Freedom Flex is the best Mastercard World Elite card due to its generous cashback categories and because it’s one of the ONLY no annual fee Mastercard World Elite credit card. Full list of Mastercard World Elite credit cards:

What are the tiers of Mastercard? There are three tiers to Matercard credit cards each with a different tier of Mastercard benefits. The top tier of Mastercard benefits are from the Mastercard World Elite card:

• Mastercard (standard): Common with credit card with no annual fee
• Mastercard World: Common with credit cards that have an annual fee of $90 or less
• Mastercard World Elite: Common with credit cards that have an annual fee of $90 or more

Do all Mastercard World Elite cards have the same Mastercard benefits? Not all Mastercard World Elite cards are equal. I was curious to about the Lyft benefit and called up the bank to confirm if it was available since the benefit was not clearly listed on the credit card. According to Chase, Mastercard World Elite benefits are packages purchased by banks. The banks can choose which Mastercard World Elite benefits they would like to include on their card.

TLDR:

Mastercard World Elite benefits can include some very generous offers. Mastercard is running a lot of limited time promotions so I would definitely check them out to see if I could use any of the current deals.