A 2013 MacBook Pro that I maintain failed suddenly. But thanks to some quick footwork, Mastercard is replacing the entire Main Logic Board (also known as a motherboard for The Rest of Us™).

Most Mastercard credit cards includes a free warranty extension service, which will double any warranty 12 months or less:

Extended warranty

Doubles the original manufacturer’s or store brand warranty for up to one year when you pay with your eligible Mastercard.

VISA and American Express also offer similar programs, some which will extend one year on warranties lasting longer than 12 months. American Express has the most generous – with coverage for even refurbished goods.

Check Your Cards

The one catch is, unlike Mastercard, VISA and American Express do not offer warranty extension for free on all their cards. VISA has begun making the feature exclusive to VISA Signature cards, but many non-Signature cards also offer it as an unadvertised feature.

Call VISA directly (not your bank) to confirm what your VISA card supports, and call American Express direct to check your card too. And really, if you have a Mastercard, you should call and check too. There could be some oddball Mastercard out there that doesn’t have the benefit. I’ve yet to see a Mastercard credit card that doesn’t include the free warranty extension benefit, however.

Some Quick Homework Could Save You Thousands Later

When you buy something, always take a few quick steps. Scan or photograph the receipt. Your camera phone will do the trick in a pinch, and email it to yourself. Keep PDFs of your credit card statements, you can download them online. I do it quarterly, and have a reminder in my calendar to do it. All of these extended warranty programs want to see a bank copy of your credit card statement, to connect the receipt to the transaction on your card statement.

Finally, you will need the limited warranty paperwork. You don’t need to archive this, manufacturers are obligated to offer you a PDF or paper copy – but it helps to have it on file, especially if they change it later (getting archived/older versions can be a royal pain).

Dump all the above into a folder. And then don’t worry about it. If you need to file a claim, you have all that stuff in one place, and can upload it rapidly.

Mastercard is now fixing the MacBook Pro completely. Not only did the Main Logic Board fail, but the built-in camera failed too. On this particular MacBook (as with all newer MacBook models), that means replacing the entire display. This MacBook was quite possibly beyond economical repair (factoring in the camera… and depreciation), but now it will be fixed completely.

Thanks Mastercard.