World Legend is Mastercard's top credit card tier, one step above World Elite. The network perks that separate them are narrow: Legend includes Fast Track security lanes and Taste by Priceless airport dining for you and up to 3 guests, where World Elite cardholders pay for both. Mastercard's Legend page also lists a Soho Friends account with $100 toward a Soho House room. The bigger perks on a premium card, like an Admirals Club membership, hotel credits and travel insurance, come from the bank that issues it, not the tier.
That last point is the one I'd drill into anyone comparing a World Elite Mastercard to a World Legend card. Mastercard's own pages say insurance benefits "may vary by card issuer," and the two issuers whose Legend cards I checked, Citi and Bilt, layer far more on top than Mastercard does. Everything below comes from Mastercard's World Elite, World Legend and Mastercard Collection pages, Citi's AAdvantage card pages and Bilt's card pages, all read on October 9, 2026.
What Mastercard Gives Both Tiers
Start with the overlap, because it's most of the list. Mastercard's World Elite and World Legend pages both list:
- Dining: priority access to hard-to-book restaurants through Priceless.
- Music and Entertainment Access: ticket presales and preferred seating at select U.S. venues and festivals. Mastercard's terms say Preferred tickets need a World Elite or World Legend consumer credit card, and the benefit runs through December 31, 2028.
- Priority Pass: both pages describe access to 1,800+ airport lounges, with the footnote "Fees and restrictions may apply." Mastercard's Collection FAQ gives 1,700+ lounges and says access is "offered to World Elite and World Legend cardholders at no cost," so check your card's Guide to Benefits for the terms that apply to you.
- Peacock: a $3 monthly statement credit on Peacock Premium or Premium Plus, through December 31, 2027.
- Lyft: a $5 credit after three rides in a calendar month, and 10% off scheduled rides to or from U.S. airports, both through January 31, 2027.
- Instacart: $10 off your second order of $10 or more each month, plus three free months of Instacart+ for new members, through January 31, 2027.
- Concierge, golf, ID theft monitoring and the transit credit ($2.50 back when you spend $10 or more on contactless transit in a month, through December 31, 2027).
What World Legend Adds
Here's where the tiers split, line by line from Mastercard's pages.
Fast Track security lanes. On the World Legend page, Fast Track is "included with your World Legend Mastercard at no additional cost," for you and up to 3 guests, at select airports outside the U.S. You pre-book a dedicated security lane through DragonPass. The World Elite page lists Fast Track too, but there you "purchase discounted access" at select airports in 30+ countries outside the U.S.
Taste by Priceless. This is Mastercard's airport dining club. Legend cardholders get access "at no additional cost" for themselves and up to 3 guests, and the Legend page names Hong Kong and São Paulo. World Elite cardholders can buy access instead; that page names Hong Kong.
Soho Friends. The Legend page lists a complimentary annual Soho Friends account and a $100 annual bedroom benefit toward a Soho House stay, redeemable through December 31, 2027 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Soho Friends shows up on the Legend page's list and not on the World Elite page's, though Soho House's own terms extend it to holders of an "eligible, enrolled Mastercard credit card," so check whether yours is enrolled.
Service and personalization. Mastercard's Collection page calls Legend its "most premium credit card tier," with the highest level of access within The Mastercard Collection plus card personalization and a higher level of service.
That's the network-level gap. If you rarely clear security abroad, the tier itself buys you very little.
The Cards That Carry Each Tier
Here's what the issuers themselves say about the cards I checked. I'm only naming cards whose own pages state the tier.
World Legend
- Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Legend Mastercard ($695 annual fee). Citi's page puts "World Legend" in the card's full name.
- Bilt Palladium Card ($495 annual fee). Bilt's page calls it "a $495/year World Legend Mastercard."
World Elite
- Bilt Blue Card ($0 annual fee), which Bilt describes as a World Elite Mastercard.
- Bilt Obsidian Card ($95 annual fee), also a World Elite Mastercard per Bilt.
- Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard ($99 annual fee, waived for the first year), with the tier in its full name on Citi's page.
Citi and Bilt each sell cards on both tiers. If you're choosing between Bilt's Obsidian and Palladium, look at what Bilt itself adds: the Palladium page lists a $400 annual Bilt Travel Hotel credit (two $200 credits a year), $200 in annual Bilt Cash and a Priority Pass membership Bilt says covers 1,300+ airports.
What Citi Adds to the Executive
The Executive shows how little of a premium card's value is the network tier. Citi's page lists Admirals Club membership for you and up to 2 guests or immediate family members, and a free first checked bag on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to 8 companions on the same reservation. After 3 eligible Lyft rides in a calendar month you earn a $15 Lyft credit, up to $180 a year, where Mastercard's own Lyft perk is $5.
Citi also lists up to $120 back on eligible prepaid Avis and Budget rentals each calendar year, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit of up to $120 every 4 years, and Trip Delay Protection, Common Carrier Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection, Lost or Damaged Luggage coverage and MasterRental coverage. Our guide to the Executive's statement credits covers how those credits work.
Mastercard also runs a separate World Legend page for AAdvantage cardholders. Its list is shorter than the general Legend page: Soho Friends, Music and Entertainment Access, dining, Peacock, Instacart, Lyft, the transit credit, Priceless experiences at priceless.com/aa, concierge, golf and ID theft monitoring. Fast Track and Taste by Priceless appear on the general Legend page, so check the Executive's Guide to Benefits before you plan a trip around them.
How to Tell Which Tier You Have
Look at the card's full name on the issuer's page or your account. Citi spells it out ("Executive World Legend Mastercard," "Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard"). Bilt states it in each card's description. If your issuer's page doesn't name a tier, call the number on the back or check the Guide to Benefits that came with the card, since Mastercard says to check with your issuer for insurance terms.
Then browse priceless.com/themastercardcollection, where Mastercard says you book Collection experiences with your card.
Where I'd Start
Pick the card for what the issuer gives you, and treat the tier as a bonus. If you live at Admirals Clubs and fly American enough to use the free checked bag, the Citi / AAdvantage Executive is the Legend card that makes sense. If you pay rent and want Priority Pass and hotel credits from a $495 card, the Bilt Palladium is the other Legend option. If you mainly want Peacock, Lyft and the Instacart credit, Mastercard lists them for World Elite cards too, so you don't need to pay up for Legend to get them.
