The HSBC Premier Mastercards thread

[Mick S]

KevinF wrote:

Mick S wrote:

curve

Hi Mick,
Are you earning HSBC points for payments made using Curve reliably now?
Thanks

Not using this card with Curve anymore, so I cant answer the question. sorry

[dannyhk]

bobthebuilder wrote:

Has anybody been able to see when their points are coming up for expiry? This used to be shown on the card statement each month, but now doesn’t seem to be included. And clicking through to the Rewards portal only shows my total points, points earned (various) and points spent (none). Nothing about points which are due to expire.

Did anyone ever figure out how to see when your points expire? There’s no longer any indication on the statement and neither the app nor online banking give any indication either.

[09R]

Looking to make use of the 10% cashback at booking.com. Does anyone know if it works with any mastercard or I absolutely must use my HSBC premier card? Will it work if linked through curve?

Many thanks!!

[jsto]

Data point – just got charged the £195 fee so I called up to downgrade the card to the free Premier Credit Card, and requested a refund of the fee (I haven’t used my card or the benefits since the charge hit).

Wasn’t able to do this over the phone – need to fill in a paper form, picked up at a branch instead (and as part of this, request I retain the same card number etc)….

The agent also refused to do anything about the fee and stated that the T&C’s were very clear in that the fee would be incurred whether I have used the card or not – and there wasn’t anything he could do about this.

I’ll go through the manual process of downgrading, make sure I don’t use the card until this goes through, and after that I guess I’ll have to issue a formal complaint to (hopefully) get the fee back.

Don’t think any of the above is new, but just worth highlighting to others who may be in a similar situation – and definitely seems merit in going through the process a couple of weeks’ prior to the fee hitting! FYI didn’t even get any bonus points (didn’t expect to having had the card for a few years, but you never know).

[thom]

Make a couple of weeks a good month … I started the process of downgrading back on 23rd Dec and still ongoing!

[PIL]

I applied for the HSBC Premier WE last Sunday and was expecting to hear back within 48h as advised. Had to call on Friday and was told that I have been approved, but the underwriting department has a big backlog of cases so the T&Cs will take some time before they are sent to me.

[points_worrier]

PIL wrote:

I applied for the HSBC Premier WE last Sunday and was expecting to hear back within 48h as advised. Had to call on Friday and was told that I have been approved, but the underwriting department has a big backlog of cases so the T&Cs will take some time before they are sent to me.

When dust settles, put a complaint in. You will get a good slug of £££ to offset against the fee. HSBC service is atrocious. But they are very good (and generous) at service recovery payments.

[ATC]

Mick S wrote:

went back to them and said as a minimum I expected £335, preferably £415 when you factor-in the 25% bonus just now.
Now had a response to say the points will post in the next few days. Amount of time I’ve spent on this for 20,000 avios is beyond ridiculous.

What’s the process for raising a complaint please? I’ve had the initial call asking where the 40,000 points are and said expect to hear back in 15 days – sure enough not heard a thing.

Hoping this will get resolved before I pay a fee for the 3rd year.

Many thanks

[sloth]

ATC wrote:

Mick S wrote:

went back to them and said as a minimum I expected £335, preferably £415 when you factor-in the 25% bonus just now.
Now had a response to say the points will post in the next few days. Amount of time I’ve spent on this for 20,000 avios is beyond ridiculous.

What’s the process for raising a complaint please? I’ve had the initial call asking where the 40,000 points are and said expect to hear back in 15 days – sure enough not heard a thing.

Hoping this will get resolved before I pay a fee for the 3rd year.

Ring them back, ask where the points are, if answer is not satisfactory then say you want to raise an official complaint. Don’t let them fob you off by waiting, so they need to raise it there and then

Many thanks

[sloth]

ATC wrote:

Mick S wrote:

went back to them and said as a minimum I expected £335, preferably £415 when you factor-in the 25% bonus just now.
Now had a response to say the points will post in the next few days. Amount of time I’ve spent on this for 20,000 avios is beyond ridiculous.

What’s the process for raising a complaint please? I’ve had the initial call asking where the 40,000 points are and said expect to hear back in 15 days – sure enough not heard a thing.

Hoping this will get resolved before I pay a fee for the 3rd year.

Many thanks

Ring them back, ask where the points are, if answer is not satisfactory then say you want to raise an official complaint. Don’t let them fob you off by waiting, say they need to raise it there and then

[MBA1413]

Do we know if the 25% more avios is still available or when do they actually throw this offers around?

Thanks

[polly]

Do a small test transfer.. think it finished months ago. Read through the thread. Lots of issues over summer when they changed the points platform.
Offers come and go, even within the same offer timeframe. Unreal.

[memesweeper]

I’m a “regular” card holder and jumped on a web chat to ask about upgrading to World Elite. The chatter told me to apply online, which as a logged-in existing customer took about 15 seconds. I was expecting a massive faff involving paper forms, branch visits and an interview , so if that’s it, then things have markedly improved at HSBC.

[polly]

@memesweeper. Well, that would simply be amazing if it works now. The lady l dealt with through last summer’s shananigans told me this was coming online. Wonder if the downgrade works too?

[Rob]

Last time I spoke to my HSBC Premier manager he told me that they’d had to change the system to allow you to apply for both HSBC cards, because it was the only easy way of up/downgrading – you get the 2nd one then call to cancel the first!

[memesweeper]

@Rob – makes sense … wonder what will happen with the points? Can’t see HSBC managing anything as slick as Amex withh MR accounts.

[polly]

Think points retention will require human much intervention! That would be one step too far for their online system. Considering people on here had to actually go into a branch as late as last summer to get their cards sorted. What a shock! That was after 2-3 attempts at submitting the paper applications. I know, it happened to me. So let’s see how this pans out. Haven’t decided yet whether to keep my WE when Renewal comes round, this year.

[0 post]

ATC wrote:

Mick S wrote:

went back to them and said as a minimum I expected £335, preferably £415 when you factor-in the 25% bonus just now.
Now had a response to say the points will post in the next few days. Amount of time I’ve spent on this for 20,000 avios is beyond ridiculous.

What’s the process for raising a complaint please? I’ve had the initial call asking where the 40,000 points are and said expect to hear back in 15 days – sure enough not heard a thing.

Hoping this will get resolved before I pay a fee for the 3rd year.

Many thanks

I was told the same thing 3 months ago (after already getting £400+ compo) but still promised the points, raise another complaint and was upheld with £50 compo as shouldn’t have been quoting 15 days.

Apparently a workaround should be in place soon, I’ll believe it when I see it.

[Benilyn]

Does applying for the other cards to downgrade trigger another credit check?

[memesweeper]

Benilyn wrote:

Does applying for the other cards to downgrade trigger another credit check?

based on the alert I just got from Experian for an upgrade, yes.

[polly]

Yes, weirdly, they treat it as a new application, despite them having all your info in front of them.

@Rob So, supposedly the points move smoothly from 1 card to the other? Believe it when l see it. If it’s the new platform lot doing it, they will probably wipe them, and close the complaint.
They only got challenged last summer due to the wide support on this site from those of us who have been through the loops.
Think of all the WE HSBC customers it could have happened to, who just lost their points? And didn’t pursue it.

[JDB]

polly wrote:

Yes, weirdly, they treat it as a new application, despite them having all your info in front of them.


@Rob So, supposedly the points move smoothly from 1 card to the other? Believe it when l see it. If it’s the new platform lot doing it, they will probably wipe them, and close the complaint.
They only got challenged last summer due to the wide support on this site from those of us who have been through the loops.
Think of all the WE HSBC customers it could have happened to, who just lost their points? And didn’t pursue it.

You say it’s weird, but it is considered good practice by the FCA. HSBC doesn’t have “all your info” insofar as it relates to credit lines held elsewhere, so when adding or changing cards, they will check that the credit limit offered remains appropriate and/or if there are any new concerns.

[BuildBackBetter]

polly wrote:

Yes, weirdly, they treat it as a new application, despite them having all your info in front of them.


@Rob So, supposedly the points move smoothly from 1 card to the other? Believe it when l see it. If it’s the new platform lot doing it, they will probably wipe them, and close the complaint.
They only got challenged last summer due to the wide support on this site from those of us who have been through the loops.
Think of all the WE HSBC customers it could have happened to, who just lost their points? And didn’t pursue it.

Am not sure it’s a high priority for the bank to help the churners. They didn’t sell you a false product or promise seamless switching between cards. If it works, good, if not, just move on.

[Lady London]

Weird. I have no idea if there’s any truth in this but a friend in Canada is saying UK journalists in Canada are worried HSBC may close personal accounts some of them hold in the UK as part of a decision HSBC UK is debating about whether to pull out of personal business and just concentrate on commercial loans etc.

[JDB]

Lady London wrote:

Weird. I have no idea if there’s any truth in this but a friend in Canada is saying UK journalists in Canada are worried HSBC may close personal accounts some of them hold in the UK as part of a decision HSBC UK is debating about whether to pull out of personal business and just concentrate on commercial loans etc.

It would be quite extraordinary if that were true as it runs counter to the bank’s published strategy. They are pulling out of retail banking in countries where they don’t have critical mass, but that wouldn’t apply to the UK. They have spent huge sums of money setting up their ring fenced bank in Birmingham.

What is more likely is that HSBC has been, for some time now, reviewing and sometimes closing UK bank accounts held by overseas clients particularly but not exclusively from certain countries, although it seems unlikely Canada would be a country of concern.