Norwegian Reward World Mastercard Review

The Norwegian Reward World Mastercard from Synchrony Bank is a plain rewards card for a European budget airline that offers a meager bonus and few travel perks. Its rewards are based on a daily currency conversion rate, which makes this atypical offer only worth a second look if you’re a true frequent flyer who can look past its shortcomings.

Who Is This Credit Card Best For?

If you’re a big fan of the budget-friendly European airline Norwegian Air Shuttle (AKA Norwegian Air), this card may appeal to you, but proceed with caution. You’ll need to be a true frequent flyer to enjoy this card’s rewards, as they can only be used for one thing: more Norwegian Air travel. It may help if you’re familiar with the Norwegian krone too, as currency conversion rates impact how many points you’ll earn and what they’re worth (more about this below). 

Honestly, there are more straightforward and flexible travel rewards cards on the market that someone with good credit can qualify for. Some offer bonus miles across a wider range of purchase categories, and you can redeem miles for statement credits to cover the cost of flights booked with any airline, including Norwegian Air.

Pros

Earn extra points on groceries and dining out

No annual fee

Cons

Number of points earned depends on foreign currency conversion

Terrible new cardholder bonus

Few extra travel perks

Points can expire

Pros Explained

Earn extra points on groceries and dining out: We like that you can earn extra rewards on more than just Norwegian travel purchases or partner offers through the Norwegian Rewards website. Airline fans can more quickly rack up rewards for award flights this way.

No annual fee: It’s good that a relatively bare-bones airline card like this one doesn’t charge cardholders a fee to keep it open year after year. There isn’t a sizable new cardholder bonus or valuable travel benefits to offset such a cost, after all. 

Cons Explained

Number of points earned depends on foreign currency conversion: With this card, you earn rewards based on dollars spent like most airline frequent flyer rewards programs, but the exact number of points deposited in your account is tied to the currency conversion rate of U.S. dollars to Norwegian kroner, which fluctuates daily. 

Terrible new cardholder bonus: You only have to spend about $167 per month, on average, to earn the bonus, but it’s only worth $50, which just doesn’t measure up to other airline credit card offers on the market right now. 

Few extra travel perks: The best airline credit cards offer numerous travel and airline perks for travelers, but this is not one of those cards. This card only offers a few additional benefits on top of its purchase rewards, and if you’re not a big spender or don’t care about boarding Norwegian Air flights early, there’s not much else to enjoy.

Points can expire: Rewards earned with this card expire 48 months from the end of the year in which they were earned. That’s double the time Norwegian Reward program members who don’t carry this card have to use their CashPoints, but it’s still a big downside. Typically airline frequent flyer rewards only expire under certain circumstances, like when you stop earning or using points for an extended period of time, if at all. 

Norwegian Reward World Mastercard Bonus for New Cardholders

If you spend $500 on purchases within 90 days of opening this card, you’ll earn $50 back in CashPoints, which are Norwegian Air’s version of frequent flyer miles.

You get a $50 bonus, but that’s based on the U.S. dollar value, not Norwegian krone, which is what drives the number of CashPoints actually deposited in your account. The $50 bonus is worth about 463 Norwegian kroner, which means you get about 518 CashPoints, based on the currency conversion rate as of publication date. 

Regardless, a new cardholder bonus worth $50 is a teeny, tiny offer compared to other no-annual-fee airline card bonuses on offer. If you’re looking for a sizable rewards bonus to fund an upcoming trip, pass on this airline card. 

Earning Points & Rewards

With the Norwegian Reward World Mastercard, you’ll earn 2% back in CashPoints on several types of purchases: Norwegian Air flights (and related travel expenses such as baggage fees), dining out, and groceries. So for example, if you make a $500 flight Norwegian flight purchase with your card, you’ll earn $10 back in CashPoints. All other purchases will earn 1% back in CashPoints.

Not all dining and grocery purchases earn 2% back. Grocery purchases at retailers such as Target and Walmart don’t qualify, and if you use this card to buy lunch at a cafe in a department store like Nordstrom, it might not count as a dining purchase either. It all depends on how the card network categorizes the vendor. This is a common caveat with credit cards earning rewards on dining and supermarket purchases.

At face value, these earning rates are pretty typical for a no-annual-fee airline card. However, this credit card adds an extra layer of complexity to earning rewards. 

The number of CashPoints deposited in your rewards account is based on the daily conversion rate of Norway’s currency, the Norwegian krone, to U.S. dollars. Since 1 Norwegian krone = 1 CashPoint, if you earned $10 back on a $500 flight purchase thanks to the 2% rewards earning rate, you’ll get about 103 CashPoints deposited in your account, based on the 10.36-to-1 krone to U.S. dollar conversion rate as of publication date.

Any CashPoints earned in the Norweigan Reward program will expire 48 months from the end of the year you earned the rewards. 

Redeeming Rewards

The CashPoints you earn with the Norwegian Reward World Mastercard can be used for only one thing: travel with Norwegian Air. CashPoints can be used to pay for flight tickets and checked bags, and cover the fees associated with your Norwegian Air trips such as booking changes and cancellation insurance. 

Norweign Air offers international flights from several major U.S. cities including New York, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and San Francisco. The airline has routes to more than 150 destination options, most of which are in or near Europe. To get an idea of where Norwegian Air rewards can take you, see the airline’s interactive flight route map.

When you log in to your Norwegian Rewards account, you can search for award flights based on a number of criteria including departure and arrival cities, seat type (premium or economy), and ticket fare. If your travel dates are flexible, LowFare and LowFare+ tickets are the best deal and a handy LowFare calendar will show you the price differences between available travel dates. 

All award flight prices are displayed in U.S. dollars, but the value of your CashPoints is still tied to the value of the Norwegian krone. The daily currency conversion rate will impact how far your CashPoints go because again, 1 krone = 1 CashPoint. For example, if the conversion rate is 10.36 krone to $1 U.S. dollar, each CashPoint will be worth about 10 cents each. When the conversion rate changes, so will the value of your rewards. 

Fortunately, there are no travel blackout dates and no minimum number of CashPoints required before you can redeem your rewards. You’ll have the convenience to pay for flights either in full or partially with CashPoints, so you can use rewards to reduce the overall cost trips here and there instead of saving up CashPoints to use in bulk later.

To see how the Norwegian Reward World Mastercard’s points stack up, check out our in-depth analysis of what credit card points are worth.

How to Get the Most Out of This Card

If you really want this card, spend $500 within three months of opening your new account to earn the little new cardholder bonus. A small bonus is better than nothing. Going forward, fly with Norwegian Air as often as you can when traveling around Europe and use this card to pay for your travels. Booking more affordable Low Fare tickets may help your Cash Points go farther, too, regardless of the daily currency conversion rate. 

Watch the Norwegian Reward website for ways to earn extra CashPoints on other travel purchases such as hotel stays, rental cars, and even airport lounge access based on current Norwegian partner offers. You can earn more rewards by making purchases through the Rewards eShop, too, which includes major retailers such as Macy’s, Apple, and Walmart. 

Norwegian Reward World Mastercard’s Excellent Perks

This card has a few benefits that are particularly good compared to traditional credit card perks: 

Priority boarding: You’ll be one of the first passengers to board your Norwegian Air flights at airports that support early boarding. 

Cardholder anniversary bonus: If you spend $20,000 or more on eligible purchases each year, you’ll earn a cardholder anniversary bonus of $100 in CashPoints.

Cellphone coverage: The cost of replacing a lost or stolen cellphone may be covered up to $600 per claim (maximum of $1,000 per year) if you pay your cellphone service bill in full with this card each month.

Pick a bonus after every six flights: After every six flights with the Norwegian Air, you can pick an extra (but temporary) membership reward, such as bonus rewards on airfare, waived seat reservation fees, or waived checked baggage fees.

Norwegian Reward World Mastercard’s Other Features

Automatic $5 discount on all Postmates orders over $25

Free shipping through ShopRunner membership

Discounts on rental home and villa reservations through onefinestay

15% off airport meet and greet services through Mastercard Airport Concierge

Customer Experience

Synchrony Bank isn’t known for great customer service, unfortunately. According to J.D. Power’s latest Credit Card Satisfaction Survey, the card issuer ranked 10th out of 11 major banks for the second year in a row.

With this card you’ll have access to some standard perks such as a 24/7 customer service phone line and an online chat when you log in to your Synchrony cardholder account online. The World Mastercard perks associated with this card also gives you access to Mastercard Global Service, which can help 24/7 with issues such as emergency card replacement or cash advances. Through Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services, you’ll also have access to complimentary vacation planning assistance.  

Security Features 

The Norwegian Reward World Mastercard offers standard security features such as zero liability for fraudulent purchases. Since this is a Mastercard, you also get complimentary Mastercard ID Theft Protection, which includes routine identity theft alerts and help resolving identity theft situations if you fall victim.

Norwegian Reward World Mastercard’s Fees

Most of this card’s fees are in line with industry standards. There’s no foreign transaction fee, so you won’t be charged extra when this card is used abroad, and there’s no annual fee cost to worry about recouping each year.