Get a 30% bonus on HSBC Premier credit card points conversions to (Qatar) Avios

HSBC runs regular 25% bonuses on conversions of HSBC Premier credit card points to British Airways Club Avios.

A new bonus is now live, but there is something different this time:

• the bonus is 30%, not 25%

• you must transfer to a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account and NOT a British Airways Club account

What are the rules for the HSBC Premier Avios bonus?

Details are on the Qatar Airways website here.

The offer runs to 31st May 2025. This is the last day that points must leave your HSBC account.

You will receive a 30% bonus on all transfers from HSBC Premier credit cards to Avios.

IMPORTANT: When British Airways runs these offers, the bonus Avios arrive instantly. This is not the case here. Qatar Airways says that the bonus element may not arrive until 30th June 2025.

EDIT: Comments below say that the bonus is appearing instantly, along with the original transfer

How do you transfer Avios from Qatar Airways Privilege Club to British Airways Club?

This article explains how to link your Qatar Airways and British Airways accounts, and how to transfer Avios between them.

Transfers are instant and free.

Are the HSBC Premier credit cards a good way of earning Avios?

The two HSBC Premier credit cards are very generous.  The snag is that you need to have a HSBC Premier current account to get them.  Whilst Premier is free, the income and/or savings requirements are high as you can see here.

The free HSBC Premier Mastercard, reviewed here, earns 1 HSBC point per £1 spent (2 HSBC points per £1 spent abroad) and these convert at 2:1 into airline or hotel points.  This means that you are getting 0.5 airline miles or hotel points per £1 spent in the UK. Don’t get confused by the HSBC earning rate and the equivalent airline miles and hotel points earning rate.

The £290 per year HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard, reviewed here, earns 3 HSBC points per £1 spent in the UK (1.5 airline mile or hotel point per £1) and 4 HSBC points per £1 spent abroad.

You can transfer your HSBC Premier points into the following airline schemes:

• Asia Miles
• British Airways Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air MileageLands
• Finnair Plus
• Flying Blue (Air France KLM)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go

There are two hotel partners:

• IHG One Rewards
• Wyndham Rewards

All conversion rates are 2:1 from HSBC points. This means that the IHG and Wyndham transfer rates are terrible value. A hotel point is generally worth about 2/3rd less than an airline mile, but HSBC requires 2 HSBC points irrespective of which partner you choose.

The £290 World Elite credit card also comes with airport lounge access via Priority Pass.  The World Elite card is less good for families who want lounge access than American Express Platinum as your HSBC card only gets the main cardholder into an airport lounge.

You can pay £60 to give your partner a supplementary card for a year to get them in, but there is no way to get children into airport lounges for free.  American Express Platinum, on the other hand, gets a family of four into a lounge.

You also get comprehensive travel insurance as part of the HSBC Premier current account, which makes this an interesting alternative to The Platinum Card from American Express for couples or solo travellers.

Conclusion

HSBC Premier tends to run an annual transfer bonus of 25% into British Airways Club. This offer from Qatar Airways Privilege Club is something new, and offers a better rate than the last BA deal.

Remember that there is a ‘hard’ 3-year expiry on HSBC credit card points. If you have any coming up for expiry, this is one way of using them up.

PS. There is a similar transfer offer from Accor, Shangri-La and Hyatt hotel points into Avios. We will look at this tomorrow but details are here.