Credit card perks can be pretty confusing, given that some are determined by the bank, and some are determined by the issuer. Certain types of cards (for example, Visa Signature, World Elite Mastercard, etc.) have a consistent suite of benefits.
World Elite Mastercards come with a ton of perks, encompassing many aspects of the travel experience, like flights, hotels, car rentals, etc.
A few World Elite Mastercards include:
Citi Double Cash® Card
Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
One of the lesser known and most valuable World Elite Mastercard perks is free elite status with three car rental companies — Avis, National, and Sixt. Just for having a World Elite Mastercard you can receive:
- Avis First membership
- National Emerald Club Executive membership
- Sixt Platinum status
As of now these benefits are available through December 31, 2015. To activate the benefit, simply call a World Elite Mastercard travel advisor at 855-802-1387 to upgrade your status.
Here’s a rundown of the advertised benefits:
Avis World Elite Mastercard Benefits
- Save up to 20% on each rental
- Enjoy complimentary membership to Avis Preferred®, where available
- Enjoy complimentary upgraded membership to Avis First®
- Save up to 20% on the rental portion of Avis’s chauffeur service, WeDriveU®
- Enjoy other special promotions, subject to location and availability
National World Elite Mastercard Benefits
- National is pleased to provide World Elite Mastercard cardholders with savings of up to 25%* (Certain terms, conditions and dates may apply)
- World Elite Mastercard Cardholders can also take advantage of our fast, frictionless rental process with our complimentary Emerald Club Executive Service® membership** for rentals in the US and Canada and Emerald Aisle Service® in Latin America. Enroll and receive a one-year trial membership of Emerald Club at the Executive Level or Emerald Aisle Service®. If you’re already a member of Emerald Club or Emerald Aisle, you can elevate your status to Executive for a one-year trial membership.
Emerald Club at the Executive Level membership provides the following benefits:
- Access to the Executive Selection area – Executive members can choose their car from the Executive Selection area. Here you will have your choice of any full-size or higher class car while always paying the reserved Midsize car rate
- Guaranteed upgrades – As an Executive member, you’ll always pay one car class less when you reserve a full-size or luxury car — a guarantee no other rental car company can make
- An accelerated earning schedule – With six rental credits, receive One Free Rental Day or opt to receive airline miles or hotel points from one of our many partners
- Receive automatic E-receipts – Sign up for E-receipts and we’ll email your receipt. Simply drop off your car and go
Sixt World Elite Mastercard Benefits
- Enjoy savings of up to 10% on Sixt rent a car / rent a truck worldwide
- Enjoy a complimentary upgrade to the next higher car group at Sixt rent a car worldwide, subject to availability
- Receive 92 miles (150 kilometers) additional mileage for Sixt luxury carsReceive additional perks and savings with a complimentary Platinum Sixt Card, normally only available to customers renting 10 or more times per year. With the Platinum Sixt Card, you will enjoy savings of up to 15% on Sixt rent a car / rent a truck worldwide. You will also enjoy preferred reservation priority and the convenience of special Sixt Platinum counters/parking lots at selected airports/stations.
Bottom line
I recently turned a quarter century old, which means I’m no longer stuck paying “underage” fees for rental cars. Of course there were sometimes ways around those fees, though I’ve focused mostly on Uber rather than car rentals.
It’s time I focus more on car rentals now, and if nothing else having recently acquired some of these cards gets me access to World Elite Mastercard perks. Not only do the above programs get you car upgrades, but in many cases they even get you discounts on the cost of rentals.
Have you activated your free World Elite Mastercard car rental status yet?
Bad news for 2018 - all but Sixt are gone from the list :(
I have a world elite Master card and will be travelling in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Do you know if my credit card covers the CDW on a rental car. This is the extra collision insurance that most car rental companies suggest I get.
Do you by any chance have the Chase Sapphire Preferred? If so, tat will be the best card to use, unless Ireland says different.
@lucky - i was able to confirm you CAN book mastercard elite rates (which is higher than Best Available rate) and combine it with the 4th night free benefit. What bugs me is Mastercards' elite rates are higher while Visa Signature hotel rates. The Visa rates are more closer to the Best available rate
Thanks @Ben I'll give it a shot
How do you obtain the National Executive Status through the MC World Elite? I signed up and was only awarded the rate. The MC rep was of no help either...
@ Kyle -- Maybe hang up and call again? They should be able to do it by phone.
Thought I'd point out that in the case of National, you may want to reconsider if you already have a corporate rate in your profile. I signed up and got the World Elite benefits but then realized that it wiped out my corporate rate information. I called National and they told me that I could only have one or the other, corp rate or World Elite rates. World Elite rates were almost twice what my existing corporate rates are so I had them change it back.
Ben,
Thank you for this tip. My Barclay's US Airways Card is a World Elite and I just called for the National benefit and it worked! I had just lost my Executive Elite with National and this got it back for me. Their link to make this happen is currently down, but the MC rep said she would sign me up for the benefit in a couple of days when the link was repaired. The MC service rep was fantastic!
@ Greg -- Awesome!
So Lucky, will you be using your Citi cc's over your CSP knowing that it has "primary coverage?"
I had used this promo last year by registering w/ my Barclay's NFL WMC. Yes, WMC. It worked and I used my CSP when renting yet I still received the benefits.
@ mommafrica -- There's no requirement to actually use a Citi card in conjunction with these World Elite MasterCard benefits, so I'll likely continue to use my Chase Sapphire Preferred for car rentals.
Note that renting from Alamo, Thrifty and their ilk is often cheaper than any Avis/National/Hertz discount you could ever get, though the Big Three do often have decent rates during non-business renting times, e.g., weekends. Equally often, they don't.
On the other hand, life is truly too short to rent from anyone who makes you stop off at the counter and wait in line each time. That's actually worth a premium. Having a shuttle bus...
Note that renting from Alamo, Thrifty and their ilk is often cheaper than any Avis/National/Hertz discount you could ever get, though the Big Three do often have decent rates during non-business renting times, e.g., weekends. Equally often, they don't.
On the other hand, life is truly too short to rent from anyone who makes you stop off at the counter and wait in line each time. That's actually worth a premium. Having a shuttle bus that runs frequently is also a "must have." That's worth a premium, too.
On the other topic, at least a few Barclays Red cards are World Elite. A friend just got his last week, and "World Elite" is on the back. Like most, mine probably won't be. Sigh.
If your mastercard has a silver mastercard logo, it's a world elite. Citi Prestige, Barclay Arrivals+, and Citi AAdvantage Executive are some examples of world elite MCs. :) My Ink Bold is a Visa Signature but I think the previous Ink Bold I had might've been a MC...don't remember if it was world elite though.
Except these elite car rental memberships are not worth the paper they are written on - literally. Suddenly car rental companies have realized they can "lock in" customers by giving them elite status. The result is far more promise than delivery, probably becasue of way to many elites. If you have the card anyway - sure get the status, but don't let it influence your decision to get the card one way or the other.
Thanks for pointsing this out. Do you know if the benefit is restricted to primary cardholder, or does it include authorized users? I have a "World Mastercard" (The USAirways card, soon to be the Aviator Red), which is a step below "World Elite". My wife has a Citi AA Gold-level card that was for some reason upgraded to World Elite shortly after she received it. I'm an authorized user on that one.
@ Grover’s Bathtub -- I could be mistaken, but I believe an authorized user should be eligible for the benefits.
Bit of topic but can you book hotels through world elite to get the free breakfast, upgrade, etc and use the citi prestige to get reimbursed the 4th night?
@ Ej -- Nope, you can't combine the two benefits, unfortunately.
Is it possible to combine the World Elite Mastercard Hotel Benefits (i.e. $100 stay credit + breakfast at select properties) with the Citi Prestige 4th Night Free benefit?
Is the US airways card a master card world elite? Don't have my new one on me so can't even remember if its a MC or a visa. How about the old Chase Ink Bold that was issued as an MC? Thanks!
@ turgutbey -- I could be mistaken, but I think the old Ink Bold was a World Elite. The US Airways Card is a World MasterCard.