National Bank of Canada has released a new welcome bonus for the premier
card in their portfolio – the NBC World Elite Mastercard. The provides
new cardholders with the opportunity to earn up to $300 in cash back
when you spend at least $4,500 on the card within the first three months
of having it. On top of that the $150 annual fee on the primary card will be refunded in the first year. This bonus is over and above the regular
points earn and other benefits that come with the card. To take
advantage of this particular offer you must apply for the card by January
31, 2021 and activate it no later than February 15, 2021.
The NBC World Elite Mastercard is this bank’s top card and it is a
pretty good card overall. It doesn’t make it into the Top 5 of any of
our categories in Canada’s Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards but
it’s not that far out. I would definitely place it in the Top 10 of the
Travel Points category in Canada. The reason for this is that the card
normally doesn’t have a welcome bonus, so this limited time offer is a
welcome bonus! Pun intended. It also a bit weaker in the rewards
department when you line this card up against comparable offerings from
other banks. With a variable earn rate of 1.5 points to 2 points per
dollar spent and a travel redemption value ranging from 0.83 to 1.0 cent
per point makes this card provide a return of 1.25 to 2% (and the 2% is
only awarded on your spend between $40,000 and $80,000 annually). So
you can see where this card lacks compared to its competition however
where it doesn’t lack is in the insurance department. It has some of the
best insurance benefits you can find in Canada, in particular for out
of province travel medical insurance. The Travel Medical Insurance
provides up to $5,000,000 in coverage per person and covers travel of up
to 60 days for those up to 54 years old, 31 days for 55-64 years old
and 15 days to 74 years old.
The card also provides up to $250 in annual rebates for associated costs
with travel broken down as follows: up to $100 on airport parking, $50
on seat selection and $100 on baggage fees. This is another nice benefit
to have if you can utilize it – which a lot of people won’t be until the pandemic is under control.
In the end if you do get this card you will only end up $300 ahead with the welcome bonus. This is better than the last time they ran an offer on this card over this past summer – it was the $300 cash back offer but there was no annual fee waiver and you had to spend $6,500 to get the bonus. As you can see NBC has made it much more attractive this time and they had to given the current market conditions in terms of the card’s competition like the HSBC World Elite Mastercard (I would personally go for HSBC over the NBC card) and the upcoming revamped Aeroplan credit cards.