What are HSBC Premier credit card points worth?

HSBC Premier shook up its credit card rewards two years ago, adding a lot of new airline transfer partners and introducing hotel transfer partners for the first time.

With such a large number of redemption partners now available, the HSBC Premier credit cards are a real alternative – or partner – to an American Express Membership Rewards card if you are looking for flexible points with multiple transfer partners.

On that basis, I thought it was about time we did a similar article to our Membership Rewards one which looked at the most – and least – valuable ways to use HSBC Premier credit card points.

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. There is no sign-up bonus.

• 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.

Who are the HSBC Premier credit card travel partners?

Following the introduction of new partners in July 2022, you can now choose from:

Airline partners:

• Avios via British Airways Executive Club (oneworld)
• AsiaMiles via Cathay Pacific (oneworld)
• Emirates Skywards (no alliance)
• Etihad Guest (no alliance)
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (Star Alliance)
• Finnair Plus (oneworld)
• Flying Blue (SkyTeam)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer (oneworld)
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (Star Alliance)
• TAP Miles&Go (Star Alliance)

Hotel partners:

• IHG One Rewards
• Wyndham Rewards

What is the transfer rate?

2 HSBC points will get you 1 airline mile or 1 hotel point. There is no minimum transfer.

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.

Transfers to most, possibly all, partners are instantaneous which is very rare in the UK market. This is valuable if you see a reward flight available and want to lock it in before it disappears.

It is worth noting that HSBC points have a three year expiry so you can’t sit on them forever without converting.

What are the alternatives if you don’t want travel points?

The main alternative to redeeming your HSBC Premier credit card points for airline miles or hotel points is to redeem for shopping vouchers.

1,500 HSBC points gets you £5 of vouchers. Retailers include Amazon, Costa, M&S, John Lewis and Tesco.

The only other ways to spend your points are ordering wine from a very limited selection at Laithwaites (at a similar valuation as the shopping vouchers) or having trees planted in your name.

What are HSBC Premier credit card points worth?

Remember that you earn 1 HSBC point per £1 spent on the free credit card and 2 HSBC points per £1 spent on the World Elite credit card.

0.625p per point (my target) – Avios, if HSBC continues its annual bonus

In the next paragraph I will look at why I value airline miles at 1p. However, for the last few years, HSBC has run an annual transfer bonus to Avios averaging 25%. We last saw it in July 2023.

If this continues, it would increase the value of an Avios transfer by 25%. This takes you from 0.5p (see below) to 0.625p.

There was a one-off 20% transfer bonus to Flying Blue in October 2023. As this had never happened before, I can’t say if it will become a regular feature.

0.5p per point (my target) – airline miles

My last piece on valuing Avios points is here and HSBC points transfer into Avios or various other airline schemes at 2:1.

It is impossible to tie down a tighter range because of the number of different airline partners and the various ways (upgrade, long-haul, short-haul, economy, premium) you can redeem.

My personal spreadsheet of the last 9.1m Avios I have redeemed shows that I got an average value of 1.2p.  This is based on what I would personally have been prepared to pay for the flights I took, which may be far different from what you would have paid.

Across Head for Points, we use 1p as our general value of an airline mile. As long as you don’t redeem for long-haul economy flights, this is usually achievable.

0.33p per point (guaranteed) – shopping vouchers

1,500 HSBC points gets you £5 of shopping vouchers. You can pick from a range of UK retailers include Amazon, Costa, M&S, John Lewis and Tesco.

This works out at 0.33p per HSBC point.

Redeeming your points for cases of wine from Laithwaites gets you a similar 0.33p, give or take.

0.2p per point (my valuation) – IHG One Rewards points

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 2x-3x what hotel points are worth.

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, which is just 0.2p per HSBC point.

You should absolutely avoid this route. The only possible reason would be if you desperately needed some IHG One Rewards points quickly, because the transfer to IHG from HSBC points is instantaneous.

You will notice that I haven’t discussed Wyndham Rewards. This is because the chain has a very small presence in Europe and it is unlikely that you would be collecting or redeeming its points if you are UK based.

Conclusion

All in all, HSBC’s reward package is now much improved following the addition of the new airline and hotel partners in July 2022.

HSBC Premier, 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.

The best transfer option is, in our view, a frequent flyer programme. This should allow you to maximise the value of your points, although this is easier if you already have an existing balance in a programme which puts you nearer to a high value reward.

We do not recommend redeeming for shopping vouchers or hotel loyalty points. The value is far lower than taking the Nectar route.

Our full review of the free HSBC Premier credit card is here.

Our full review of the HSBC Premier World Elite credit card is here.

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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:

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.

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.

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.