Russell E. Hogg, MasterCard's president and chief executive, said the Master Plan for Travel program, which begins July 1 and runs through June 30, 1988, enabled the company to compete with such products as American Express' newly announced Optima Card.

To do that, MasterCard is focusing on its most affluent clientele. Customers holding the Gold MasterCard, which offers a line of credit starting at $5,000, would be awarded bonus certificates for free or discounted travel and lodging whenever they charged any hotel, airline or car rental expenses with the card.

Hogg estimated that about 70% of MasterCard's 4,000 member banks would have the technical capability to participate in the program. Of MasterCard's about 135 million worldwide cardholders, 5 million have the Gold Card.