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HSBC to add hotel points transfers to its UK loyalty credit cards

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HSBC sent out a slightly cryptic email yesterday to holders of its Rewards Credit Card, Premier Credit Card and Premier World Elite Credit Card.

The gist of the email was to explain that a new online loyalty portal will be set up in July which will become the place to go for cardholders to order rewards.

What’s interesting is this line:

HSBC to offer hotel points

“We’re updating the Rules to take account of these changes to the Programme. There are some new terms relating to vouchers and, if you hold a Premier Credit Card or Premier World Elite™ Mastercard®, we’re also updating the terms that apply when you redeem Reward Points for airline miles or hotel points.”

Later it says:

“You can request to transfer points to an airline frequent flyer or hotel programme via the Loyalty Portal. You’ll be able to check the available options and their points value there.”

At present, HSBC Premier current account holders who take out a Premier credit card can transfer the points earned to:

  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Asia Miles
  • Etihad Guest

There are no hotel partners. Clearly there will be soon …. but there is no indication of who they may be.

(EDIT: The comments below suggest IHG and Marriott, based on what HSBC offers in Hong Kong. Hilton is not involved, I know that much. As both IHG and Marriott are now pseudo-revenue based redemptions this may make it underwhelming given that HSBC lets you also turns points into real cash via gift vouchers.)

As the HSBC credit cards are from Mastercard – and there are currently no Mastercard or Visa credit cards open to new applicants that earn hotel points – this could be interesting.

You can find out more about the benefits of the HSBC Premier World Elite credit card in this article. We look at the benefits of the free HSBC Premier credit card here.


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

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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

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The Platinum Card from American Express

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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:

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

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Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

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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

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Comments (43)

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

  • paul says:

    As usual it seems, when dealing with any Virgin Branded company lately, you are set for problems.

    Used the Red link for the 3,500 points with Travel Insurance – all went well and quote (with pre-existing added) was £80 less than StaySure for an annual policy – all good.

    However, when it came to pay the website didn’t want to play – the livechat person said I could phone them to pay but not today as they had a glitch with their phones – several attempts at new browsers (google and firefox) gave the same payment issue.

    Will try tomorrow and if not working then I will go back to StaySure – if “Virgin” can’t even TAKE my money, I can imagine the fun if they had to GIVE me some (as experienced at present on the Virgin Credit Card refunds sat in my closed account that they dont want to give me back)

  • GJS says:

    I noticed that there are no BA flights to Seville next Easter and wondered if it was because of Vueling…

    • Richie says:

      Are there any BA short haul flights from Gatwick availabe next Easter?

      • Rob says:

        Nothing yet I think – even the Winter schedule (Oct to 26 March) is only partly announced.

  • swifty says:

    I’d still rather eat 3 day old petrol station sushi than go on another Vueling flight

  • Mike P says:

    Got the email here. Hadn’t read it though until now. Marriott or IHG would be a good improvement.

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

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