Mastercard® Titanium Card®

The Mastercard® Titanium Card® is the lowest-priced member of the Barclays Bank Luxury Card trio. It offers many of the same benefits as its Gold and Black siblings without their eye-watering annual fees.

In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the card and three of its best alternatives. If you’d like a little pampering when you travel, one of these cards will oblige you without breaking the bank.

You must have excellent credit to qualify for the Mastercard® Titanium Card®. That translates into a minimum credit score of around 720 to 740 to be eligible for the card.

The issuer, Barclays Bank, does not reveal any specific income requirements for its Luxury Cards other than earning enough to pay the monthly bill. Obviously, your approval chances increase as you earn more income.

You can apply for the card through the Apply Now button below, which will direct you to Barclay’s website, where you can also learn more about the card and its terms:

You can see above that the Mastercard® Titanium Card® provides a high airfare redemption rate: You can get a $1,000 ticket on any airline with no blackout dates or seat restrictions for 50,000 points.

It provides the same fabulous Luxury Card Concierge privileges as its stablemates, from arranging flower deliveries to booking tee times. You also receive free insurance for trip cancellations and interruptions, baggage delays, travel accidents, cellphone damage, and rental car collisions.

The annual fee is relatively affordable, and you can recoup the expense through the card’s hotel and resort benefits. Of course, you’ll also receive a complimentary subscription to the ultra-posh Luxury Magazine.

The Mastercard® Titanium Card® provides many of the travel benefits available from the Gold and Black versions. Its reward rate on non-travel purchases is the lowest of the three.

FEATURE	DETAIL
BENEFITS
Airfare Redemption Rate	You can redeem points for airfare at the 2% rate tier.
Cash Back Redemption Rate	You can redeem points for cash back at the 1% rate tier.
Point Rewards and Partner Benefits	You earn one point for every $1 you spend, plus deals with Lyft, Instacart, and Peacock.
Introductory 0% APR on Balance Transfers	0% introductory APR for the first fifteen billing cycles following each balance transfer that posts to your account within 45 days of account opening. After that, (and for balance transfers that do not post within 45 days of account opening) the APR will be 19.49% to 27.49%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors. This APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate.
24/7 Concierge Service	A concierge will provide you with personalized assistance with numerous services.
Metal Card Design	The construction of this card is stainless steel, weighing in at 22 grams.
Worldwide Automatic Travel Accident Insurance	The card insures against accidental loss of life, limb, sight, speech, or hearing while traveling.
Foreign Transaction Fee	None
Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance	The card covers you for non-refundable common carrier passenger fares due to trip cancellation or interruption.
Trip Delay Reimbursement	You’ll receive reimbursement for delays over 12 hours caused by covered hazards.
Travel and Emergency Assistance Services	You may ask for assistance with medical, legal, transportation, and other emergency services.
Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver	You will receive reimbursement for damage due to collision or theft of a rental vehicle.
Luxury Card Travel Program	The program offers you a value of $500 per stay with an exclusive suite of benefits and services at over 3,000 global properties.
Cellphone Protection	You receive coverage for cellphone damage or loss.
Zero Liability Protection	You are not responsible for charges arising from a lost or stolen card.
DRAWBACKS
Annual Fee	The annual fee is $299 ($149 for each Authorized User added to the account).
No Signup Bonus	The card doesn’t offer a welcome bonus to new cardmembers.
Rewards Rate	The card’s reward rates are not as attractive as those of several competitors.
No Point Transfers	You cannot transfer your points to another loyalty program.
High Credit Requirements	The card has stringent credit approval criteria.
Comparative Value	The card’s cost/benefit tradeoff is not as compelling as that of other premium cards.
Balance Transfer Offer Restrictions	You must complete balance transfers within 45 days of account opening. There is a fee for balance transfers.

The card’s lower annual fee still provides Priority Pass airport lounge access but rules out several benefits like TSA PreCheck reimbursement and an annual travel credit. Still, its perks outweigh the costs if you can take advantage of the hotel and resort benefits.

The following three mid-tier cards provide stiff competition for the Mastercard® Titanium Card®. In particular, the Chase card offers better benefits at a lower price point, and the Amex card provides a much higher reward rate on a wider range of purchases.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a lower annual fee and provides a handsome welcome bonus and many other perks, including trip cancellation insurance that also covers interruptions and delays. The card’s top reward tier handily beats that of the Mastercard® Titanium Card®, and its points are worth 25% more when you redeem them for travel through Chase.

You can redeem your points in several ways or transfer them to leading loyalty programs on a 1:1 basis. Your insurance covers luggage loss, damage, or delay. Other benefits include extended warranties, purchase protection, travel accident insurance, and auto rental collision damage waiver.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers a signup bonus after account opening and a flat membership rewards rate on most purchases. A bonus rate applies to hotels and rental cars when you book them through Capital One Travel.

This card gives you up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fees. You also get access to Capital One Dining and Capital One Entertainment. Other benefits include credits for stays at Lifestyle Collection hotels and Hertz Five Star status.

The American Express® Gold Card competes directly with the Mastercard® Titanium Card®. It offers bonus points for flights you book with Amex Travel or directly through an airline. You can earn credits for stays at the Hotel Collection and for purchases with select partners.

Perks include baggage insurance, travel accident and inconvenience insurance, purchase protection, extended warranties, personalized travel services, and no foreign transaction fees.

Here are a couple of online forum remarks we could find about the card that may help persuade your decision.

Aim_High praises the card for its high credit limits:

“The cards are some of the heaviest and most ‘impressive’ metal cards available to the general public, weighing in at 22 grams. And reports that they give super-sized credit limits have surfaced. [A physician] claimed his Titanium Luxury Card credit limit had climbed to $330,000.”

Longtimelurker is not impressed by the card’s design and value:

“According to the web page, the front is stainless steel, back is carbon fiber. It is a “patented design” which must be worth, oh, about $0, and you get the Luxury Magazine, which must be worth another $0, so that’s quite a way to the $195 annual fee for a 2% travel card (1% if redeemed for non-travel).”

Truthfully, the Mastercard® Gold Card™ and the Mastercard® Black Card® receive the lion’s share of forum comments among the Luxury Card Mastercard offerings. The Mastercard® Titanium Card® doesn’t seem to elicit the same abuse that the higher-priced cards do.

The card’s minimum credit limit is typically $5,000. However, six-figure limits are apparently available — see the above forum comment.

Naturally, your credit limit will depend on your credit profile, income, and debts. You can request a higher credit line from Barclays Bank, but it’s best to wait at least six months between requests.

The Mastercard® Titanium Card® offers several travel insurance benefits, including:

• • Worldwide automatic travel accident insurance

• • Baggage delay insurance

• • Trip cancellation/interruption insurance

• • Trip delay reimbursement

• • Travel and emergency assistance services

• • Auto rental collision damage waiver

See the Benefits & Drawbacks Chart above for specific information on each travel benefit.

Barclays offers several redemption options for the points you earn. You can apply the points for flights, hotel stays, car rentals, and merchandise. You can also get cash back through a direct deposit to a US checking or savings account, statement credit, and gift card or certificate.

To redeem your points, visit myluxurycard.com or call Customer Service using the number on the back of your card.

The value of your points varies with how you choose to redeem them:

• • Airfare: Begins at 50 points for $1.00. You must have a valid email address for travel redemptions, which you can make with a combination of points and a purchase using a major debit or credit card. You must book air travel through Loyalty Edge.

• • Cash back direct deposits and statement credits: Starts at 67 points for $1.00. A statement credit reduces your account balance, but you cannot apply it toward any minimum payment requirement. You can redeem and deposit up to $500 per day to your bank account.

• • Hotel stays and car rentals: Begins at 100 points for $1.00.

• • Gift cards, gift certificates, and merchandise: Minimums vary.

You should generally allow three to four business days for your redemptions to complete.

The Mastercard® Titanium Card® has an annual fee that is $300 below that of the Mastercard® Black Card®. This difference means that it cannot provide as many benefits as its more expensive companion.

FEATURE	Mastercard® Black Card®	Mastercard® Titanium Card®
Annual Fee	$699 ($249 for each Authorized User added to the account)	$299 ($149 for each Authorized User added to the account)
APRs	Same
Points on Purchases	Same
Airfare Redemption Value	Same
Cash Back Redemption Value	Higher	Lower
Luxury Concierge Service	24/7 access for personal and travel assistance
Annual Air Travel Credit	Up to $200	None
Travel Benefits	Comprehensive travel benefits and privileges	It does not include TSA Precheck fee reimbursement.
Travel Insurance	Included, with extensive coverage options	It does not have luggage loss insurance
Card Material	Carbon/steel construction	Stainless steel construction
Intro APR on Balance Transfers	Usually available, typically for a limited time after account opening
Foreign Transaction Fee	None
Credit Required	Excellent

The Mastercard® Titanium Card® will save you a bundle in annual fees if you can get by without some of the Mastercard® Black Card® benefits. For infrequent travelers, the savings will probably outweigh the lost benefits.

Though the annual fee is much less, you will still enjoy complimentary access to 1,700+ airport lounges with automatic enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select with the Mastercard® Titanium Card®. Access includes unlimited visits for yourself as well as your guests. However, it does not include the annual airline credits and the TSA PreCheck reimbursement as its siblings do; Barclays had to shave a few benefits from the card to compensate for the lower annual fee.

None of the alternative cards offer lounge access, but all three have more expensive versions that include this benefit. They are the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, and the The Platinum Card®.

We would rather own the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It costs a little over $200 less per year yet offers more travel and consumer benefits than the Mastercard® Titanium Card®.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has the same annual fee as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card but is not nearly as beneficial as the Preferred card.

The annual fee on the American Express® Gold Card is slightly more than that for the Mastercard® Titanium Card®, but we believe the American Express® Gold Card’s rewards and benefits justify the small additional cost.

The Mastercard® Titanium Card® is a sound card, and we recommend it to Barclays Bank customers. But overall, it is not the most compelling card in its price range.

• • You want luxury travel benefits, such as 24/7 concierge services and travel insurance.

• • You make a lot of travel purchases that will earn rewards you can then redeem for more travel, cash back, or merchandise.

• • You can appreciate its 22-gram, stainless steel design, providing a sense of luxury and status important to some folks.

Of the three Luxury Card Mastercard offerings, we believe the Mastercard® Titanium Card® is the best compromise between value and cost. But please consider the reviewed alternatives — they may fit your requirements better.

About the Author

Eric Bank

Finance Writer

Eric Bank is an M.B.A. who has covered financial and business topics since 1985. He has contributed regularly to Credible, eHow, WiseBread, The Nest, Zacks, Chron, BadCredit.org, and dozens of other outlets. Eric specializes in taking complex subject matters and explaining them in simple terms for consumer audiences. Eric holds a Master's in Business Administration from New York University and a Master's in Finance from DePaul University.

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