Review: National Bank World Elite MasterCard

Overview of the National Bank World Elite Mastercard features

• Annual fee: The National Bank World Elite MasterCard has an annual fee of $150.
• Welcome offer: earn up to 40,000 rewards points. Must apply by August 15, 2024.
• Interest rates: The interest rate on this credit card is 20.99% on all purchases and 22.49% on cash advances and balance transfers.
• Minimum income: The National Bank World Elite minimum income is 80000 per year, or a household income of 150000.
• Minimum credit limit: The minimum credit limit is $5,000 (subject to approval by National Bank).

Travel rewards

When you earn enough points with the National Bank World Elite Mastercard, you can redeem them for plane tickets, hotel stays, car rentals, vacation packages, or even merchandise and gift cards. This is primarily a travel credit card, though, so your points are most valuable for travel redemptions. You can redeem your points via the À la carte Rewards Boutique for either the full or partial value of your travel, which gives you much more flexibility if you don’t have enough points. 

This credit card is ideally suited to the power spender. The first year welcome offer also increases with your monthly spending. You could get up to 40,000 points with the welcome offer, which is equal to $400 in travel rewards through À la carte travel. National Bank points are worth 1 cent for travel bookings, which is the highest-value redemption for the card.

Here’s how the current welcome offer for the National Bank World Elite works:

Welcome offer: earn up to 40,000 rewards points. Must apply by August 15, 2024.

National Bank World Elite rewards points

You’ll also be rewarded for your everyday spending and travel bookings through the À la carte portal with this card. The earnings on groceries and restaurants is high- on par with other exceptional travel cards like the Amex Cobalt - although both cards have monthly rewards earning limits in this category.

You earn points at the following rates:

• 5 points/$1 On groceries, restaurants (including fast food & drinks), eligible grocery and restaurant purchases - on a maximum of $2,500 spent monthly, after that, earn 2 points per dollar 
• 2 points/$1 on travel booked through À la carte, eligible gas and electric vehicle charging purchases and eligible recurring bill payments 
• 1 point/$1 on all other purchases

One National Bank rewards point is worth 1 cent ($0.01) in travel rewards through À la carte travel.

Let’s say you spend an average of $4,000 per month total on your card:$4,000 x 2.67 points (average points earnings per dollar) = $10,666.67 x $0.01 = $106.67 in travel rewards earned per month.

Per year, that’s around $1,282 in travel rewards earned - which is significant.

Of course, if you spend more in groceries and restaurants than in other categories like transit and bill payments, you’ll earn more rewards, and so on.

As you can see, using the National Bank World Elite MasterCard for your daily spending is a great way to earn free flights, hotel stays and vacations. Note that the value of the points you earn will be different based on your unique spending habits.

National Bank World Elite perks

When your travel internationally through Montréal-Trudeau Airport, this card gives you and a guest complimentary access to the National Bank World MasterCard Lounge. You can add additional guests for a $25 fee. You’ll also receive up to $150 each year in fee reimbursements related to travel - such as airport parking fees, seat selection, checked baggage and more.

Insurance benefits

The National Bank World Elite MasterCard has a robust coverage package with an emphasis on travel insurance for peace of mind when you’re on vacation. Here’s the travel insurance coverage you can expect when you charge a trip or booking to your National Bank World Elite card:

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
• Flight delay insurance
• Baggage insurance in case of delay or theft
• Vehicle rental insurance
• Out-of-province/residence medical and hospital insurance

This credit card also protects your purchases. Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with zero liability protection for unauthorized purchases. The card also offers an extended warranty on purchases, tripling the original warranty up to a maximum of two additional years. Finally, all purchases made on this credit card are covered by purchase insurance for up to 180 days after the purchase.

The bottom line

If you intend on spending a lot of money using your credit card and want to earn travel rewards, you should consider getting the National Bank World Elite MasterCard.

Also read:

• The best National Bank credit cards in Canada
• The best Mastercard credit cards in Canada
• Canada’s best credit cards for travel insurance