[ANALYSIS] National Bank World Elite MasterCard

National Bank has been a very quiet bank, mostly because it does not really have too many co-branded credit cards. It does have how it’s own program. There is a new credit card on the market, the National Bank World Elite MasterCard which is an interesting alternative that is worth giving a deeper look.

Below are the highlights of this new credit card:

• $150 annual fee
• $50 for supplementary cardholders
• Earn 1.5 point for every $1 spent on purchases between $0 to $40,000
• Earn 2 points for every $1 spent on purchases between $40,001 to $80,000
• Earn 1.5 point for every $1 spent on purchases of $80,001 and more
• Earn a bonus 0.5 point on purchase volumes in foreign currencies
• Access to the National Bank World MasterCard lounge
• Travel insurance coverages
• Access to concierge service
• Up to $250 each year in “savvy traveller” fee rebates on airport parking, seat selection and check-in fees

What is most noticeably missing is the sign up bonus. So the question is whether the $150 annual fee is worth it.

The reward redemption structure is as follows:

• 11,000 points = $100
• 50,000 points = $500
• 70,000 points = $700
• 100,000 points = $1,000

When you exchange more than 50,000 points in the same transaction, each additional block of 10,000 points entitles you to $100 travel discount.

There is only one National Bank World MasterCard lounge, which is only located at the Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) next to gate 53 in the international departure terminal. Oddly enough, the lounge is not accessible to passengers travelling to the United States.

The travel insurance is fairly comprehensive, including out-of-province-of-residence medical/hospital insurance, trip cancellation or interruption insurance, flight delay insurance, baggage insurance and car rental insurance.

If you live in Montreal or at least travel through YUL and can take advantage of the lounge, the $150 can easily be offset by the lounge access (assuming it is not travel to the United States) and the decent travel insurance.

Unfortunately, for everyone else, I am not a fan of this credit card, because it will be difficult to fully take advantage of all the benefits, essentially the lounge access.