National Bank Platinum Mastercard: Earn Up to 25,000 Points and Enjoy No Annual Fee for the First Year

Updated Apr 2, 2025
Fact checked by
Marie-Ève Leclerc
Marie-Ève Leclerc Marie-Ève Leclerc
Marie-Ève, Web Director at Milesopedia, is an expert in budget travel and a slow travel enthusiast. Specializing in Aeroplan, Scene+, and Marriott Bonvoy programs, she spends nearly six months a year abroad, making travel her way of life. Constantly seeking the best waves to surf, excellent coffee, and strategies to extend her travels, she is often found in coworking spaces with fellow digital nomads or by the sea, watching the sunset.
All posts by Marie-Ève Leclerc
National Bank Platinum Mastercard
To the point Receive up to 25,000 points and a rebate on your first year's annual fee with this National Bank Platinum Mastercard offer! No minimum income is required.

National Bank offers a great product accessible to all travellers with the National Bank Platinum Mastercard®. Plus the purchase protection offered is some of the best on the market!

National Bank Platinum Mastercard® - Welcome offer

Until August 4, 2025, earn up to 25,000 welcome bonus points and a refund of the first year’s annual fee for the primary cardholder ($70) and one additional cardholder ($35).

This National Bank welcome bonus is divided into tiers:

  • 10,000 points after $2,500 in purchases in the first three months
  • 10,000 points after $6,500 in purchases in the first twelve months (including the $2,500 in the previous condition)
  • 5,000 points if you sign up to payment protection for at least the first three months

Below is a table to help you optimize your welcome bonus with your most common purchases: groceries. In fact, through these purchases, you’ll earn up to 2 points per dollar, making it easier to unlock your bonus points.

Don’t forget that you can also use the grocery store gift card trick to earn 2 points per dollar on these purchases. Alternatively, use one of our many tips for unlocking credit card welcome bonuses.

Month Purchases
Grocery or restaurant
Points on purchases Bonus points Total
1 $834 1,668 1,668
2 $833 1,666 1,666
3 $833 1,666 10,000 11,666
4 $445 890 890
5 $445 890 890
6 $445 890 890
7 $445 890 890
8 $444 888 888
9 $444 888 888
10 $444 888 888
11 $444 888 888
12 $444 888 10,000 10,888
Total $6,500 13,000 20,000 33,000

As you can see, in your first year, you can earn 20,000 welcome bonus points, on top of the 13,000 points you earn through grocery and restaurant purchases.

If you opt for payment protection, you’ll earn an additional 5,000 points (you can cancel payment protection after three months if you no longer want it).

In total, by making purchases and complying with all the conditions of this welcome offer, you could earn 38,000 NBC Rewards points.

Given that we value NBC Rewards points at $0.009, this offer is worth around $342 in points, representing a return of almost 5.3% on your purchases.

National Bank Platinum Mastercard - Rewards

Accumulating NBC Reward Points

With the National Bank Platinum Mastercard®, you can earn up to 2 points per dollar:

Category Earning rate
Grocery and restaurant 2 points per dollar
Gas and EV charging 1.5 points per dollar
Recurring bill 1.5 points per dollar
À la carte Travel 1.5 points per dollar
Other purchase 1 point per $1.50 purchase

*For the Grocery & Restaurant category, you can earn 2 points per dollar up to $1,000 in total monthly card purchases.

Once you’ve reached $1,000 in monthly purchases, you’ll earn 1.5 points per dollar on the Grocery & Restaurant category. This is still very good compared with other cards that offer only one point per dollar after the threshold is reached.

How to Use Your NBC Reward Points

To redeem your rewards points NBC, log on to the National Bank’s À la carte Rewards portal.

Then, you can use your points to book a trip (+ cash if needed ) through the “À la Carte” Travel agency. The rates are the same to those you’ll find at any travel agency.

What’s more, you can also earn NBC rewards points through this agency. This is the best use of points at a rate of 10,000 points per $100 of credit.

NBC Points All inclusive

You can also use your NBC rewards points as a statement credit for all travel expenses charged to your credit card (redemption must be made within 60 days of the expense being charged to the credit card account).

This gives you the freedom to book as you see fit, for example with Airbnb, organized tours, excursions and so on.

The exchange rate for this type of redemption is

  • 12,000 points for a $100 credit or;
  • 11,000 points for a $100 credit when redeeming over 55,000 points in the same transaction
IMG
Other products

You can also shop for a product in the catalogue offered by NBC À la carte. However, this is not an optimal use of points.

The best way to use your points is to book your trip through the online travel agency Plan à la carte NBC: you’ll earn a $100 credit for every 10,000 points redeemed. Here are the details of your other options:

Rewards Points for $100
Exchange with dedicated À la carte Travel agency NBC 10,000
Flexible travel discount
(from 55,000 points redeemed)
11,000
Flexible travel discount 12,000
Extras à la carte
RRSP or TFSA contribution
Repayment of all-in-one line of mortgage or mortgage loan
12,000
Gift card 12,000 – 13,500
Statement credit 25,000

National Bank Platinum Mastercard - Insurance

In terms of protection, the National Bank Platinum Mastercard® stands out when compared with other cards of the same type.

You can find the insurance contract here.

Travel medical insurance (outside province of residence)

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard® offers $5,000,000 in emergency travel medical coverage.

Age Maximum trip duration
76 years or less 10 days

Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard® is one of the only credit cards in Canada to cover most of the cost of your trip, even if you only carry a portion of it.

The coverage will reimburse expenses (…) if at least part of the cost of the trip has been charged to the account.

Banque Nationale du Canada
Insurance Coverage
Trip cancellation (prior to departure) Up to $1,000 per insured person
Trip interruption (after departure) Up to $1,500 per insured person

The main differences in coverage with the National Bank Platinum Mastercard® are the length of the trip and the amounts eligible for cancellation/interruption coverage.

When we analyze this data, we can see that this card is perfect for people who like to make several short trips.

For a family of 3, the cost of equivalent travel insurance for a week’s All-inclusive holiday can rise to over $200!

Insurance in Case of Theft or Loss of Luggage

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard® covers you if at least part of the cost of your trip has been charged to your account.

Insurance Coverage
Lost or stolen baggage Up to $1,000 per person

Flight Delay Insurance

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard® covers you if at least part of the cost of your trip has been charged to your account.

Insurance Coverage
Flight delay of more than 4 hours $250 per day (maximum of $500 per insured person)

Insurance in Case of Baggage Delay

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard® covers you if the full cost of travel on a common carrier has been charged to your account.

Insurance Coverage
Baggage delay Up to $500 per person (more than 6 hours)

Car Rental Insurance

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard® covers you if you use your card (or your NBC Rewards points) to pay for your car rental in full.

Similarly, personal belongings in the vehicle are protected.

Insurance Coverage
Vehicle rental (48 days or less) Vehicle value up to $65,000

Insurance for Your Purchases

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard® is one of the only credit cards in Canada to offer 180-day purchase protection (6 months from the date of purchase). Other credit cards offer only 90 days (3 months).

What’s more, the National Bank Platinum Mastercard® is one of the only credit cards in Canada to triple the coverage period on new items covered by an original manufacturer’s warranty valid in Canada.

Insurance Coverage
Against theft or breakage for 180 days up to $60,000
Triple extended warranty Up to 2 additional years

Bottom Line

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard® is a great card to have, especially if you don’t qualify for the high-end National Bank cards.

Actually, the insurance offered for short trips is excellent, and the purchase insurance is identical to its big sister, the National Bank World Elite Mastercard.

Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
Aline Nguyen
Aline Nguyen
Aline, an experienced traveler and avid photographer, is an Avgeek, a foodie at heart and a mother to two children. An expert in credit cards & rewards programs, including Aeroplan, Marriott Bonvoy, American Express Membership Rewards, CIBC Aventura, and RBC Avion, she uses points to travel affordably and save in daily life. Having explored all 7 continents and 78 countries, Aline shares her travel passion and insights to help others make the most of loyalty programs.
All posts by Aline Nguyen

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