Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get 12,500 Avios (or Etihad, Cathay, Singapore miles) with the HSBC Premier credit card

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I was surprised last year when HSBC added the ability to earn Avios points to the HSBC Premier Mastercard. I assumed that American Express, Lloyds and TSB had that contract tied down.

I was even more surprised to see the exceptionally generous earning rate of 1 Avios point per £1 spent. For a Mastercard or Visa – especially for a free one – that is very generous.

HSBC has even been running annual transfer bonuses – the one currently running is 25%. That makes the earnings rate 1.25 Avios per £1 if you had been saving up your points.

For comparison, the 2nd most generous Visa or Mastercard option for Avios points is the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard. That earns you 0.25 Clubcard points per £1, so 0.6 Avios.

To get the HSBC Premier Mastercard requires you to have a (free) HSBC Premier current account. The snag is that the income and investment hurdles are very high as I outline here.

If you do qualify, there is great news. HSBC is running its first ever sign-up bonus for the Premier Mastercard.

As outlined on this website all you need to do is sign up before November 30th and make one solitary purchase before December 31st.

In return, you will receive enough bonus points to convert into 12,500 Avios, Etihad Guest, Asia Miles or Singapore / Krisflyer miles. Alternatively, you could convert into £80 of shopping vouchers.

If you are an existing HSBC Premier customer, this seems like a no-brainer. If you are not but meet the qualifying criteria, this may be the carrot you need to move to HSBC. I have been a Premier customer ever since it launched and I have never had any issues with them.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

Cathay Pacific and Asia Miles, HSBC Premier Mastercard

Comments (35)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Andrew says:
    27 Oct27 October 07:42

    Does anyone know how HSBC Premier compares to Natwest Black (whom I currently bank with) – in terms of benefits/cost etc?
    Thanks

    • Rob says:
      27 Oct27 October 08:59

      It is free. Some branches have Premier areas which can be handy. As it is free, I treat any benefits as a bonus – what you save over the Black fee would allow you to pay for any missing benefits!

      My benefits package is unusual as I am ex staff so I get stuff you would not eg fee free foreign currency transfers.

      • squills says:
        27 Oct27 October 13:58

        You know about International Officers, then 😉

        • Rob says:
          27 Oct27 October 19:44

          I do, did not seem very appealing to be honest! Thought it was better to join the investment bank and rack up a few quid without leaving the country ….

          • squills says:
            27 Oct27 October 19:46

            Willie Purves told me they retire them @ 52 because they tend to die under 60.

          • squills says:
            27 Oct27 October 19:58

            Roomed with McCombe for a few months though I gather he jumped ship…

  • Neil C says:
    27 Oct27 October 07:49

    There is no charge for the HSBC Premier Card.

    As well as the usual travel insurance, they also provide two years complimentary insurance on any electrical items with this and don’t give you a hard time over claims. I have had an expensive camera and and my wife;s laptop replaced.

  • Mark2 says:
    27 Oct27 October 08:47

    My 86 year old mother in law has got an HSBC Premier account.
    If I got her one of these cards would she be able to use a BAEC or Avios Family account to ‘give’ the Avios to her granddaughter who I have just signed up?

    • Rob says:
      27 Oct27 October 08:53

      No need for a HHA, you can redeem from her BA account for anyone. No benefit to putting mil in a HHA unless one of the other members also has a balance to combine with it.

  • Roger says:
    27 Oct27 October 09:20

    In a sense, I’m an ex-employee too, as a former employee of, er, Midland Bank. (I recently received a cheque from my boss who banks at the very same branch, now HSBC, and was amused to see the same street address and sort code. :))

    I imagine that relationship is too oblique for preferred benefits.

  • Geoggy says:
    27 Oct27 October 09:20

    Just called, went through security and it’s the usual pita 45 minutes time required for the application (seems the same for any hsbc product and at least half of it is pre scripted guff you could read online).

    I asked for other options and she said she would post an application form out, so I went with that.

    • callum says:
      27 Oct27 October 12:13

      All banks do that. They have to otherwise they’ll get a class action suit from a load of debtors claiming they were missold the card and shouldn’t have to pay anything off.

  • Matthew says:
    27 Oct27 October 10:05

    Is there any good way of getting this card without having lots of money?

    Once you have got the card, do you have to continue to meet those requirements?

    • Rob says:
      27 Oct27 October 19:49

      Once you’re in, you’re in I think. You never lose your staff benefits!

      • jac says:
        28 Oct28 October 19:13

        you can become premier if you meet the requirements in another country. a few years ago i got contacted by hsbc premier uk telling me that as i was not meeting the requirements (investment) i would be charged on a monthly basis. when i replied that i was hsbc premier in another country they said they would verify. they then confirmed that i was eligible in the UK on the basis of my overseas account and put a note on my account. i no longer have my overseas account and my investment is limited to a 250£ monthly saving which pays 4 % (or something) but I have remained premier ever since. so there is a risk you could lose your premier benefits or get charged.
        the insurance is useless in my opinion but with the signup bonus i will now apply for the card.

  • Jas says:
    27 Oct27 October 10:21

    Thanks, was thinking about getting the card for month or so, thankfully I waited. Just applied, apparently you also get 9 month interest free on purchases.

  • Jas says:
    27 Oct27 October 10:30

    Yes, usual HSBC.

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