MasterCard Adds Chicago As A ‘Priceless’ City

Chicago has become the second U.S. city to participate in MasterCard Worldwide’s Priceless Cities campaign.

Chicagoans may use the service to access reservations at top restaurants, first-class shopping experiences and some of the best seats at sporting events through the July 27 launch of MasterCard Priceless Chicago, the card brand said in a press release.

Launched last summer in New York, Priceless Cities has since been extended to London, Toronto and Beijing, among other metropolitan areas, to give cardholders new ways to discover some of the world’s global destinations.

“Priceless Chicago was designed to celebrate the best Chicago has to offer from the city’s unique mix of skyscrapers, beaches and neighborhoods to cosmopolitan fare and local traditions,” said Cheryl Guerin, MasterCard senior vice president, U.S. marketing, said in the release. “From the North Side to the South Side to the lakefront, we’re working with our partners to bring Chicagoans and visitors to the city some one-of-a kind experiences through the Priceless Chicago program.”

Initial partners in Priceless Chicago include Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Gilt City and The Magnificent Mile. Each partner will offer a variety of priceless experiences to MasterCard cardholders throughout the year, including opportunities to have lunch with a Chicago Cubs player or participate in pregame batting practice activities, and dining offers at some of Chicago’s most popular restaurants.

Offerings from Gilt City, which earlier this week agreed to provide more travel, culinary and entertainment offers for cardholders, will become available through MasterCard Priceless Cities offers. In Chicago, these will include such Chicago culinary experiences as a prefix vault dinner for two at The Bedford and a special Omakase 10-course chef's dinner for six with sake and wine pairings at Arami.

“In preparing this program, we worked to understand what is unique about Chicago,” said Guerin. “The result should be programs and offers that help both the local and visitor celebrate some of the priceless moments in their daily lives.”

MasterCard is supporting the program with a fully integrated marketing communications platform that encompasses a wide-reaching media campaign across print, out of home, radio and digital platforms.

Other Priceless Cities will be launched in the coming months to enable further Priceless consumer experiences across the globe, MasterCard says.