The new HSBC Premier airline and hotel transfer partners are now live, with some transfers instant

HSBC Premier’s new airline and hotel transfer partners are now live. The partners are as we exclusively revealed in our article two weeks ago.

Unfortunately, the weak transfer rate to the hotel partners is also as we expected – the information we were given was true, despite feeling all wrong.

As a reminder, if you sign up for free to HSBC’s Premier current account (£75,000 income and a HSBC investment product required) you are allowed to apply for the free Premier credit card and the paid-for Premier World Elite credit card.

The two HSBC credit cards earn as follows:

• the free HSBC Premier card, reviewed here, earns 1 HSBC point per £1 spent, which translates to 0.5 airline miles or hotel points

• the £195 HSBC Premier World Elite card, reviewed here, earns 2 HSBC points per £1 spent, which translates to 1 airline mile or hotel point. There is a sign-up bonus of 80,000 points, worth 40,000 airline miles or hotel points, albeit this is spread over two years.

How to transfer points to travel partners

Annoyingly, it is not possible to make points transfers via the HSBC app. You need to log in to the HSBC UK website using your HSBC Premier details.

One bit of positive news which I didn’t already know is that there are no transfer minimums.

2 points will get you 1 airline mile or 1 hotel point.

Transfers to some partners are instantaneous

Yes, instant. In the UK points market, this is still rare.

I did a small test transfer of 50 HSBC points to IHG One Rewards. The transfer was, literally, instant. For the record, the points did NOT count towards status – this is unsurprising but I know some readers will wonder.

Who are the new HSBC Premier credit card travel partners?

Here are the HSBC airline transfer partners:

The additions are Emirates, Finnair, Flying Blue, Qantas and TAP.

Here are the hotel partners, both of which are new:

What do we think of these additions?

Obviously, since no partners are leaving, these changes can only be beneficial to HSBC Premier credit card holders.

In our article two weeks ago I laid out my views on which of the airline partners were most interesting. Some of you disagreed with me in the comments, and it is worth taking a look at those if you are looking for ideas.

What everyone agrees on, however, is that the hotel transfer ratios stink.

The exchange rate from HSBC to hotel points is 2:1 – the same rate as used for airline miles. This is shocking value because, using a very broad generalisation, airline miles are worth double what hotel points are worth.

For example, I value an IHG One Rewards point at 0.4p. This means that 2 HSBC points gets you 0.4p of IHG One Rewards points – but would also get you 0.66p of shopping vouchers! Avoid – unless you need the points immediately, since the transfer to IHG is instant.

Conclusion

All in all, HSBC’s reward package is now much improved. HSBC Premier has, overnight, established itself as the clear leader in the Visa / Mastercard space for anyone who wants a ‘convertible currency’ that could be moved to multiple travel rewards schemes.

For 10 of the 11 partners (Avios being the exception) it is the only way of earning these points from Visa or Mastercard spend.

Unlike many credit cards, airline miles are excellent value compared to taking shopping vouchers. 1,500 HSBC points gets you 750 airline miles or £5 of vouchers (Amazon, Costa, M&S, John Lewis, Tesco etc) so you are ‘paying’ just 0.66p per airline mile.

The snag is that you need a HSBC Premier current account to apply for these cards, which requires a £75,000 income and the holding of a HSBC mortgage, insurance or investment product – albeit Premier has decent benefits, including full travel insurance, and is free.

Our full review of the free HSBC Premier credit card is here. The top benefits of the free HSBC Premier credit card are covered here.

Our full review of the HSBC Premier World Elite credit card is here. The top benefits of the paid-for HSBC Premier World Elite credit card are covered here.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – September 2023 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:

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: The sign-up bonus on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard is doubled to 30,000 Virgin Points if you apply by 2nd October. You receive 15,000 Virgin Points with your first purchase and a further 15,000 points if you spend £3,000 within 90 days. Apply here.

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:

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.