Another new set of credit cards made with precious-metal materials has arrived. Remember the old Visa Black Card that used to advertise everywhere? From the same issuer, Barclaycard, this time we have three Luxury Card products jointly launched by Mastercard and Barclaycard. Even though the benefits on these cards are pretty underwhelming and the annual fees are very high, they are still Mastercard’s answer to the AMEX Centurion card, so let’s take a look.
【Application Links】 Mastercard Titanium (Titanium Card), Mastercard Black (Black Card), Mastercard Gold (Gold Card)
【Welcome Bonus Requirement】 Titanium: earn 10,000 points after spending $1,000 within the first 90 days; Black: earn 25,000 points after spending $1,500 within the first 90 days; Gold: earn 50,000 points after spending $3,000 within the first 90 days
【Annual Fee】Titanium: $195, Black: $495, Gold: $995, not waived for the first year
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Luxury Card: Materials
The biggest selling point of these three cards is obviously not the benefits. The Gold card is mainly made of 24,000 gold and carbon. Given that gold was $35 per gram at the time of writing, even though I do not know how much the card weighs, a conservative estimate would put the raw material value of one card at over $350. It is still unclear whether a lost or replacement Gold card would be replaced with a plastic card like the old Chase Palladium, so whether you could repeatedly request replacement cards and extract the gold to earn back the annual fee remains to be tested. And do not be fooled by the name “Titanium Card”: it is not made of titanium at all. The Titanium and Black cards are actually made of carbon and stainless steel, which is pretty cheap and not especially valuable—at best on the same level as Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Marriott in terms of materials.
Luxury Card: Rewards and Welcome Bonus
All three cards earn 1x. If redeemed for statement credit, points are worth 1 / 1.5 / 2 cent(s) per point on the Titanium / Black / Gold cards respectively. If redeemed for airfare, points are worth 2 cents per point regardless of which card you have. However you run the numbers, the return is only on par with or worse than Citi Double Cash. The Gold card’s welcome bonus is worth about $1,000, which is just $5 more than its $995 annual fee. The Black and Titanium cards are similar: the value of the welcome bonus exceeds the annual fee by only $5.
Airfare and Global Entry Credits
The Gold card offers a $200 annual credit, while the Black card offers $100. But even after subtracting those credits, the annual fees are still outrageously high. Both cards also provide a credit for the Global Entry application fee. That said, many people do not have a green card and are not U.S. citizens, and even for those who are eligible, many other credit cards already offer a Global Entry credit, so this perk can largely be ignored.
Luxury Card Benefits: Magazine and Concierge Service (Luxury Card Concierge)
If you want to compete with the AMEX Centurion card, of course you need concierge service. Since there were not yet many reports at the time, we cannot really judge how good the service is. There is also a quarterly Luxury Magazine, which seems to be there to teach affluent cardholders how to spend money even more happily.
Airport Lounge Access
The Black and Gold cards both come with Lounge Club membership, giving access to Lounge Club airport lounges.
Luxury Gift
Black and Gold cardholders can receive occasional Luxury Gift packages. The materials do not specify exactly what the gifts are, but they do say cardholders can "receive Luxury Gifts from some of the world's most iconic and recognized brand names." My guess is that these are samples or lower-end items from luxury brands, meant to tempt these affluent cardholders into spending more with those companies. I am skeptical that these gifts are worth very much.
【Application Links】 Mastercard Titanium, Mastercard Black, Mastercard Gold
Should You Apply?
I would not apply for any of these cards. The annual fees are extremely high, yet the benefits seem far worse than those on the AMEX Platinum, whose annual fee is in the same ballpark as the Black card. Even after factoring in the welcome bonus, you are only offsetting the big hit from the annual fee, so there is not much reason to apply. The lounge benefit is also worse than what you would get from either the AMEX Platinum or the Citi Prestige. And if you want 2% back on spending, you can simply get that from Citi Double Cash.
Of course, if you have plenty of money, these cards do have serious bragging-rights value, so we can still recommend them to people who want a flashy status symbol. The gold shine certainly makes a statement. If you are interested in playing amateur alchemist, you could also consider the Gold card—but if you plan to use cyanide, please be careful. And if you have applied for any of these three cards, please contact us right away. We would love to hear from you!