Guide: Mastercard World Elite Flight Discounts
I live for flight deals! Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about airline discounts and whether I’m getting maximum value from the travel related cards I have. A few weeks ago I covered every detail and gave you plenty of examples on another awesome benefit helping you get cheap flights: Complete Guide: American Express Platinum’s International Airline Program Discount.
When it comes to the Premium Travel credit cards there are several various flight related benefits including increased earnings on flights and airline travel credits. I’m especially interested in those benefits that offer flight savings on regular fares so that I still earn miles as I would with cash tickets. I came across program that allows World Elite Mastercard Members to receive discounts on regular priced non-sale tickets on a bunch of popular airlines including Cathay Pacific, Etihad, SwissAir, Lufthansa, Brussels, Austrian and Air New Zealand.
Other Posts Detailing Airfare Discounts
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- New Amex Platinum Benefit Promises Flight Discounts on United, Lufthansa & More. But is it a Perk or Bait and Switch?
- Get 50% More Value From Your Amex Membership Rewards with this Awesome Travel Benefit
- $1,000 Off Emirates First Class with American Express Partnership – Discounts for Economy and Business Too
How Does the World Elite Travel Discount Work
The discount works for any flight on specified airlines that meets the criteria (described below) and has available seats. That’s pretty incredible. Discounts are subject to change and from what I understand they fluctuate from time to time as do the eligible routes and departure cities. But I did my best to get every single detail for you.
Related: The Barclay’s Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard has it’s best ever bonus right now
Discount Eligibility
- Must originate and end in specified airports
- Published Fares
- Valid on specific fare classes
- Marketed and operated by eligible airline
- Available seats on specific flight
Information and Booking Process
Contact agents 24/7 at 1-855-802-1387, and visit travel.mastercard.com to access special travel offers and current promotions. Before they’re willing to give you prices or answer specific questions, the agent asks for your card info to ensure that you have a World Elite MasterCard. The Barclay’s Arrival Cards qualify as well as the Citi ThankYou Premier, Prestige and a few of the AA cards.
You can also sign up for an account online at https://travel.mastercard.com/us/en-us/world-elite/travel. The search function can be a bit glitchy and take some time to prepare results but I always prefer starting with an online search before making any phone calls. However, the search function for hotels is great and turns up a ton of results.
Specific Airlines, Discount and Eligible Airports
Cathay Pacific
Discount: Up to 25%!!!! (only on certain flights)
Fare Codes (J) and (I) and (E) = 5% Discount
Departing
- SFO
- JFK
- Newark
- Boston
- Chicago
Destination
- Hong Kong
- Shanghai
- Bombay
- Beijing
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Aukland
- Dubai
- Abu Dabi
Brussels, Austrian, SwissAir, Lufthansa
Every Class
(E), (B), (C)- 15% Discount
(F), (D)- 5% Discount
Departing
- Chicago
- JFK
- Miami
- LAX
Destination
- Frankfurt
- Geneva
- Munich
- Brussels
- Rome
- Vienna
- Zurich
- Tel Aviv
Etihad
Business- 5% business saver, Up to 12%, First Class Freedom Residence Class P- 5%
(C), (D)- 12% Discount
(T), (F), (UU)- 5%
Departing
- Chicago
- JFK
- Amman
- Dubai
- Abu Dhabi
- Baku
- Jeddah
- Jaipur
- Kathmandu
- Istanbul
- Riyadh
- Mumbai
- Nepal
Air New Zealand
5- 10% (Discount only on Business and Premium Economy)
Departing Some Major US Airports
Destinations include major airports in Australia, Perth and Tahiti
Conclusion
This is a nice benefit and I will definitely check with MasterCard travel for potential discounts before I book flights. The exclusion of code share flights will often mean that there are cheaper fares elsewhere, but again, this could be very useful in some situations.
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I checked eligibility on travel.mastercard.com using each of my World Elite cards (AA Platinum Select and Citi ThankYou Premier), and both were denied.
Both are active cards, the former being 2 years old and the latter just 2 months old.
Not sure if there’s a website defect (tried it on two browsers), but I get the message “Unfortunately, we have been unable to verify your eligibility to access Mastercard ® Travel & Lifestyle Services.”
Interested if any of your other readers have this issue.