The HSBC Premier Mastercards thread

[Virtual]

Folks, just in case there is anyone out there who isn’t aware and wants to be, HSBC have just written to me saying that from 23rd September they are putting up the price of my HSBC Premier Mastercard (to £290 per annum at renewal) which compensates in their view for the points per £1 of UK spending going up from 2 points to 3 (or 1.5 Avios). They are also apparently adding Qatar Airlines as a partner and there is a priority security pass at some airports. Looking forward to reading the revised HfP review! Virtual.

[TGLoyalty]

Just literally mentioned a few posts back but thanks LOL

[DanC]

and there is an article on the front page explain it all

[sturgeon]

When are they opening up applications again for new customers?

[FWP]

Hello – I’m a complete beginner and maybe it’s my age but I’m struggling to effectively use the search function to learn how to get started. Would anyone be able to point me towards some beginners guides or a good forum post?

At the end of last year, having read about the premier elite credit card here I decided to give it a try. My primary objective was to try and get us back into a flat bed during our annual trip to visit family in Australia – something out of our reach since the post-covid price hikes.

I have accumulated 140,000 points in about 9 months and given the new fee I am wondering if it’s worth continuing. I have no idea how to most effectively use the points for travel and so I don’t know if I’m accumulating sufficient points to get out of economy before they expire or if I am way off and wasting my time.

As you can see, I am a bit lost and would appreciate a point in the right direction. If you are able to help, I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

[The Urbanite]

I very much welcome the changes (except the fee hike, but it is what it is).

My reason for using the Premier WE card is to get points to redeem on Emirates/Singapore Airlines. It doesn’t hurt to have more options than OneWorld when flying long haul. A higher earn rate supports this, while Amex have gone in the opposite direction with cuts to Marriott earning rates and MR conversion to said schemes.

The maths changes if you are only interested in Avios as there are comparable products that offer those on card spend.

Not bothered about lounge passes, surplus benefit if the flight ticket includes lounge access.

[BBbetter]

The card is pointless for anyone not collecting emirates or Singapore Airlines miles.

[meta]

Asia Miles can be useful as opens more seats on Cathay not available to OW partners and often JAL availability intra Asia is better than with BA or with AA Advantage.

[TGLoyalty]

Why? If they continue the annual 20% Avios it’s the best Avios collecting card on the market

[Nico]

Has the expedia gold status from hsbc premier credit card disappeared with one key migration?

[BBbetter]

@TGLoyalty, even with 20% bonus, you need to be spending 14k before you see a gain.

And if you have lounge access from other ways, or don’t care about lounge access, your break even is 36k.

[MrWhite]

@Nico the Expedia gold only lasted for 12 months.

[points_worrier]

@Nico. Yes mine has gone. It’s also been removed from the HSBC website.
I never actually got any upgrades with it though.

[Nico]

@MrWhite – mine has been there for ever

@points_worrier – thanks, some free stuff sometimes, not a game changer, but wont incentivize to use expedia anymore

[MrWhite]

That’s lucky. Mine disappeared after 12 months.

[Nico]

I called hsbc to enquire about the changes as my anniversary date on the premier elite CC is early september and my statement date after the 23rd.
I wanted to know the exact anniversary date, the spent to date and which fee I would be charged and it was very hard to get answers to those questions: anniversary date was ok, eligible spent could not be confirmed or fo the fees been told I need to complain after if not charged what I expected, not great overall.

[BBbetter]

This is hsbc we are talking about. I’d be surprised if the staff know the answers.

[FWP]

BBbetter wrote:

The card is pointless for anyone not collecting emirates or Singapore Airlines miles.

I’m still learning my way around collecting an redeeming points. Would you be able to elaborate please? I see that HSBC premier now allow you to transfer your points to a lot of airlines, is there a reason that Emirates or Singapore are a better way to use HSBC points than BA or the others? Thank you

BA
Cathay Pacific
Emirates
Etihad
Eva Air
Finnair
Singapore
Qantas

[meta]

@FWP HSBC points are what we call convertible points currency (like Amex Membership Rewards) and are usually best kept untouched until you need them. The reason why @BBEtter said that is because the transfer rates from Amex are lower now with Emirates and Singapore Airlines.

Eva Air is for example not Amex transfer partner and Asia Miles can also be useful to have as it opens up more award availability. Avios if they run 20-25% bonus are also good option. So I don’t agree and it’s always good to diversify precisely because of the possibility of rates being slashed.

[BBbetter]

FWP wrote:

I’m still learning my way around collecting an redeeming points. Would you be able to elaborate please? I see that HSBC premier now allow you to transfer your points to a lot of airlines, is there a reason that Emirates or Singapore are a better way to use HSBC points than BA or the others? Thank you

Best way to start with is identifying what type of traveller you are, what destinations you like to visit and what airlines fly those routes etc. For example, if you like to visit Asia, Virgin is irrelevant now. Then you look at what the earning options are and which ones you are eligible for. Are you capable of generating hundreds of thousands of points if you like to travel business? Maybe in the first year with signup bonuses etc, but from second year? Would you be able to use the vouchers?

I agree with what Meta said, but unless you have access to better cards like those issued in US / Asia, its difficult to generate enough miles for business class travel for a family on Eva Air or Asia miles, not even considering the availability constraints. You cannot use companion vouchers on those airlines and they have limited routes etc, which is why they are unattractive to a regular UK resident. For some limited purposes, like adding one flight in your Asia itinerary, they can come handy.

[The Urbanite]

FWP wrote:

BBbetter wrote:

The card is pointless for anyone not collecting emirates or Singapore Airlines miles.

I’m still learning my way around collecting an redeeming points. Would you be able to elaborate please? I see that HSBC premier now allow you to transfer your points to a lot of airlines, is there a reason that Emirates or Singapore are a better way to use HSBC points than BA or the others? Thank you

BA
Cathay Pacific
Emirates
Etihad
Eva Air
Finnair
Singapore
Qantas

I suspect most people here will be focused on Avios and Virgin Flying Club miles, because they are UK based carriers and make it easier for people in the UK to boost their points balance through means other than flying. So for this market, there are more competitive cards than Premier WE for customers – mainly the Avios Barclaycards, Amex, Virgin FC cards.

I am in full agreement with BBbetter and that is because I am in in a position to spread spend across multiple cards and therefore make good use of multiple reward schemes.

If you can generate points through card spend alone, it makes sense to diversify the schemes used. Avios is all well and good but premium seat availability isn’t always amazing, especially at short notice. Emirates is a good option because seat availability is decent if you don’t mind flying via DXB and their F offering is fantastic. Singapore Airlines’ own availability isn’t so great, but decent J/great F and you also get some access to other Star Alliance airlines redemptions through them. The point made about Cathay Pacific, I agree availability direct through them is better than what’s available through BA and other OneWorld carriers. More options is no bad thing.

This is where HSBC Premier WE comes into its own and the higher points earning rate is very welcome. But might not make sense if you’re putting closer to £10k a year through credit cards. It’s a shame Amex cut the earn rates for EK/SQ on the Marriott then later the MR cards.

[Yamahaxyz]

Hi All,

I’m leaning towards getting the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, and I’d be grateful for views on whether my reasons for preferring it over other competitor cards is sound.

I need to travel from London to Australia (either Sydney or Melbourne) from London once per year with my partner. We’d want to keep costs down and therefore would likely be flying economy rather than business. Our spend on the card (about 25k per annum) would not, as far as I understand it, come close to generating enough points for two business return tickets to Australia, even if sign up bonuses were included.

My reason for preferring the HSBC card to the AMEX BAPP is that I’ve read this article (https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/10/14/how-to-get-to-australia-new-zealand-with-avios-points/) and understand the companion voucher isn’t particularly valuable when it comes to flying to Australia, due to limited flight availability to Australia on BA.

My reason for preferring the HSBC card to the Barclaycard Avios Plus is a practical one – I have a Barclaycard Rewards already and am not currently eligible to upgrade to the Avios Plus. Even if I cancelled the Barclaycard Rewards, I’d need to wait six months to apply for the Avios Plus and I’d like to start earning points sooner than that.

My reason for preferring the HSBC card to the Amex Platinum is that HSBC is accepted more widely (and so easier to accumulate points), has a lower annual fee, and has a better transfer rate to Emirates and Singapore Airlines, which are airlines that fly to Australia. It seems to me then that the HSBC card is likely to give us more options to fly back to Aus.

Are these reasons sound or is there something I have missed?

Thanks in anticipation.

[smblcklck]

Yamahaxyz wrote:

Are these reasons sound or is there something I have missed?

In a purely practical sense you can’t because the card isn’t open to new applicants at the minute.

I’m not really familiar with how Emirates redemptions are made but a quick look online suggests you might need in the region of 90-100k points per person for an economy redemption London to Sydney but its going to take several years to generate that on the HSBC card at your projected spend. All the while you are paying nearly 300 quid a year for the privilege; if you are flying only economy I think theres a very good chance you will come out behind where you would otherwise be spending 25k p/a on a cashback credit card and buying cash fares when they are cheap.

Would suggest to keep reading Rob’s articles – Avios presents wider earning opportunities and generous signup bonuses you can take advantage of, as well as the BAPP 241. Sure there are availability challenges but you are HALVING the amount of points you need to redeem, this amounts to hundreds of thousands of points on an Australia trip.

[BBbetter]

@Yamahaxyz, both SQ and EK have very high miles requirements, even for economy and only those resident in US or Asia can benefit from credit cards that give large bonuses or returns.

As smblcklck said, you’d be better off getting a cashback card (the Amex paid one is good) and using it to buy economy seats.

[Yamahaxyz]

@smblcklck and @BBbetter

Thanks very much for your responses – that’s very clear and helpful.