Priority Destinations World Mastercard®

Priority Destinations World Mastercard® Review

The Priority Destinations World Mastercard® from First Hawaiian Bank features many perks that travelers will find attractive. This is a rewards card that is a step below the Elite Priority Destinations Card. As such, this credit card offers 3X points for travel purchases versus the 5X points that the Elite card offers. In exchange, however, this card does not have an annual fee, which can save cardholders money in the long term. In addition to travel expenses, this World Mastercard® earns cardholders 1.5X points on daily essentials, like groceries, gas, and utilities. Furthermore, cardholders can earn 1X points on all their other purchases. New cardholders can take advantage of a special introductory APR on balance transfers, too. Any balance you transfer from another credit card accrues a reduced interest rate. This feature can help some cardholders reduce their existing credit card debt while saving money. Learn more about the features of this credit card in the sections below. BestCards.com’s detailed review will help you determine whether you’ll be saying “aloha” to this First Hawaiian Bank credit card.

Earn 3X Points on Travel

The Priority Destinations World Mastercard® is a traveler’s credit card. As such, it rewards cardholders the most points on travel purchases. Cardholders earn three points for every dollar they spend on travel. What’s great about this First Hawaiian Bank World Mastercard® is that it doesn’t place limits on where you need to make these purchases to earn 3X points. You see, with many other travel rewards cards, you can only earn extra points if you book tickets directly through an airline. With this card, you can book your travel on a third-party site or through a travel agent and still earn triple points. What’s more, you don’t just earn 3X points on airfare. You can earn these extra points on many other types of travel expenses. These include bus or train fare and car rentals. There is one snag to this deal, though. You’ll only earn 3X points on a maximum of $6,000 in travel purchases per year. That being said, this card’s travel purchase points may not be so generous for very frequent travelers. Those who book luxury passage on first- or business-class seats may also see this spending limit as a negative. Any travel purchases you make in a year over $6,000 will earn you 1.5X points per dollar. That’s a little over the bare minimum of 1X point per dollar. However, you may want to consider another travel card if you plan to travel more often.

Earn Points on Other Purchases

The Priority Destinations World Mastercard® also earns cardholders points for other purchases besides travel. The next earning tier consists of everyday essentials, like groceries, gas, and utilities. These purchases will earn you 1.5X points for every dollar you spend. Just as with travel purchases, the Priority Destinations Card doesn’t require you to make your purchases at certain categories of businesses to earn these points. Many tiered rewards systems do. For instance, you must make a purchase at a supermarket in order to qualify for extra points. A purchase at a farmer’s market may not be eligible for those extra points. That’s not the case with this card. As long as the item you purchase falls within one of the above categories, you’ll earn 1.5X points on your purchase. All other purchases will earn you one point for every dollar you spend. This may not seem like much, but it is no less than the minimum that most (if not all) rewards cards offer customers. Now, there are some limits to what purchases will earn you points. Most credit cards do not award points on balance transfers, cash advances, and other similar transactions. However, this credit card has some additional restrictions. You can’t earn points on loan or lease payments and tax payments. Furthermore, you won’t earn points for gambling transactions (including the purchase of lotto tickets) and purchases at truck stops.

Redeeming Your Points

The limits that the First Hawaiian Priority Destinations World Mastercard® places on what purchases earn you points doesn’t seem as bad when you look at the flexibility you have to redeem them. Firstly, there is no limit to how many points you can earn. Secondly, your points never expire. The only condition to keep your points is to make sure your account is active. All that requires is for you to use your card at least once in each 24-month period. What’s more, you can even transfer points to and from other First Hawaiian rewards cards. So, if you have a relative or friend who has racked up points on purchases, you can pool your points together to cash them in for big rewards. On that note, cardholders also have flexibility on what they can use their points for. However, the value of your points changes depending on how you use them. Since this is a travel card, you’ll get the most value for your points when you redeem them for travel. With this option, each point is worth $0.01 (one cent). With that in mind, your $6,000 in travel purchases will come out to a $300 travel credit. You can also redeem your points for cash back or gift cards. However, your points will be worth less. If you want to obtain a $100 gift card, for instance, each of your points will be equivalent to $0.007. The exchange rate is slightly higher for cash back at $0.008 per point.

Introductory Balance Transfer APR

Another benefit of the Priority Destinations World Mastercard® from First Hawaiian is its introductory interest rate on balance transfers. Cardholders can take advantage of a reduced APR for eight months when they transfer a balance from another credit card. What’s great about this feature is that there are no time constraints as to when you need to make the transfer. The eight-month period begins on the date that you transfer your balance and not the date that you open an account. While this introductory rate is less than a third of the regular APR, it’s not really the best deal if you’re looking for a balance transfer credit card. Many other banks offer new cardholders 0% interest when they transfer a balance. However, this deal may only be available for a few months after signing up. You should ask yourself whether it’s more valuable to you to have no interest on your balance transfer or the flexibility to transfer a balance when you need to. You should also take into consideration that hardly any credit card will feature an interest rate as low as First Hawaiian’s promotional APR. If you have a balance on a high-interest credit card, this credit card may still offer you an opportunity to reduce some of your debt.

Should You Apply for the Priority Destinations World Mastercard®?

The first thing to consider when applying for this credit card is that First Hawaiian Bank is based in Hawaii and has little to no presence in the mainland. If you reside in Hawaii, this may be a great card for you. However, this credit card may not be available to customers who don’t reside in the state. Other than that, this is a great credit card for a budget traveler. There is no annual fee to worry about, and you’ll earn triple the points on your travel purchases. Those who have more expensive travel plans may find that they’ll stop earning the big points after only a couple of trips. While no annual fee might be superficially attractive, this card scraps some very attractive features in exchange for that. The Elite Priority Destinations Card only charges a $50 annual fee, which is significantly less than what many competing travel rewards cards charge. In exchange, you benefit from 5X points on travel, no foreign transaction fees, and airport lounge access.