HSBC Premier: We’re making some changes to our Reward Programme

[memesweeper]

HSBC just emailed me to tell me We’re making some changes to our Reward Programme

Apparently they are handing management of the redemption side of the business over to Mastercard, and adding some new partners. Intriguingly, they mention hotel partners, which — assuming the transfer rate is good — would be a nice alternative exit to airline points/miles.

More details will eventually appear here: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/credit-cards/rewards

[Luca M]

I received the same email late this afternoon. Only glanced over but could not see the details of the change to Airlines redemption was mentioned in the early part of the email. I had few glasses of wine for dinner so will go back to it tomorrow but would appreciate a summary if anyone else understood clearly what those changes are (hopefully not a lower return of Avios)

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[The Urbanite]

Could potentially be exciting!

[memesweeper]

The Urbanite wrote:

Could potentially be exciting!

Provided we don’t loose any airline partners along the way this should be great news. Mastercard *ought* to be able to attract, or be interested in, a wider range of partners than HSBC has thus far managed to engage with.

[meta]

I have a feeling of devaluation in form of cash back only from the new programme, but secretly hoping that it won’t be that.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[yorkieflyer]

Most changes are not to the customers benefit

[polly]

None the wiser, really..

[Scottpat78]

I received this email too. Very keen to see what ‘benefits’ we get and if anything is devalued. I’m on the fence about ditching this and going to Barclaycard. This could be the tipping point.

[polly]

@Scottpat78, yes, it’s a close call. Both have their good options. B’card maybe better for solo due to u/g voucher. However, Lounge-key May work better for couples, as 2nd card on ac is v g value. it’s our dilemma atm.

[JDB]

Hopefully these changes will bring something new/good but in any event it seems rather churlish to chuck the card after they have waived fees for 1,2 or even 3 years as reported on here. In addition to all its advertised benefits, I find it is the one card that always works in weird places when others don’t so a very useful card to have in the wallet and BC as yet unproven. The regular transfer bonus takes the earnings close to BC. I note also that some transactions that didn’t previously earn points now do.

[BuildBackBetter]

Can’t see anything other than a devaluation. If earning or redemption rates would be the same for existing partners, they’d have mentioned that clearly.

[Mick S]

surely they can’t devalue the Avios transfer rate, unless they increase the points per £ spend?
for an expensive paid for card it needs to stay as it is. It’s just about competitive to AMEX and BC right now.

[Reney]

JDB wrote:

Hopefully these changes will bring something new/good but in any event it seems rather churlish to chuck the card after they have waived fees for 1,2 or even 3 years as reported on here. In addition to all its advertised benefits, I find it is the one card that always works in weird places when others don’t so a very useful card to have in the wallet and BC as yet unproven. The regular transfer bonus takes the earnings close to BC. I note also that some transactions that didn’t previously earn points now do.

I thought it was the other way around i.e transactions that previously do earn points now don’t e.g HMRC.

[JDB]

Reney wrote:

JDB wrote:

Hopefully these changes will bring something new/good but in any event it seems rather churlish to chuck the card after they have waived fees for 1,2 or even 3 years as reported on here. In addition to all its advertised benefits, I find it is the one card that always works in weird places when others don’t so a very useful card to have in the wallet and BC as yet unproven. The regular transfer bonus takes the earnings close to BC. I note also that some transactions that didn’t previously earn points now do.

I thought it was the other way around i.e transactions that previously do earn points now don’t e.g HMRC.

Those transactions used to earn, then didn’t, but my wife accidentally discovered they now do together with a raft of other similar type things.

[Reney]

JDB wrote:

Reney wrote:

JDB wrote:

Hopefully these changes will bring something new/good but in any event it seems rather churlish to chuck the card after they have waived fees for 1,2 or even 3 years as reported on here. In addition to all its advertised benefits, I find it is the one card that always works in weird places when others don’t so a very useful card to have in the wallet and BC as yet unproven. The regular transfer bonus takes the earnings close to BC. I note also that some transactions that didn’t previously earn points now do.

I thought it was the other way around i.e transactions that previously do earn points now don’t e.g HMRC.

Those transactions used to earn, then didn’t, but my wife accidentally discovered they now do together with a raft of other similar type things.

I don’t suppose you want to hint a bit more what kind of “retailers” 😁 This might kick me over the fence with respect to whether I will keep this card.

[JDB]

@Reney for three of three May positives, it would be Wise to Write Up How Many Retailers Count.

[polly]

@Reney
Plus, seagulls playing with bendy metal can be quite positive too….def worth the fees on both cards then…if ness l mean…

[Reney]

polly wrote:

@Reney
Plus, seagulls playing with bendy metal can be quite positive too….def worth the fees on both cards then…if ness l mean…

@JDB, Thanks, your response is so cryptic I have only managed to figure out one of them after thinking on it for a couple of days.

@Polly, thanks this is good to know. With the Rev changes I think I need to go back to metal.

[JDB]

@Reney – apologies – I didn’t intend to be unduly cryptic, just to confuse the casual observer. For better or for worse, we have a very competitive crossword/puzzle household – sounds boring but we enjoy it and it’s been brilliant for children’s vocab and spelling. Just look at my capitalised words/letters – the first is the whole name, the second is another transfer service (two letters) and the third very taxing (four letters). A former colleague of mine was sacked for using this system when he wrote a research report entitled ‘Cannot Recommend A Purchase’. Robert Maxwell complained to the boss, analyst was sacked although he was of course quite correct.

My wife did the taxing transaction accidentally/failing to follow points protocol instructions, the other two, also in May, were genuine transactions that offered the opportunity to pay by cc, so I took the risk and all yielded full points, no fees or interest.

[Froggee]

Hang about JDB, is Mrs JDB Curving? Or are our taxing friends now taking personal credit cards?

[JDB]

Froggee wrote:

Hang about JDB, is Mrs JDB Curving? Or are our taxing friends now taking personal credit cards?

She was curving with the wrong card but as it fortunately turned out, no longer pointlessly. I don’t think our friends will accept credit cards in the future unless they can charge a fee as the discount is unfair on other taxpayers.

[Reney]

JDB wrote:

Write

Thanks, I got it. Not boring at all, sounds like a great tool for giving your kids a leg up in their vocab. Although I would agree not a great way to write a report if you expect a large audience.

[Scottpat78]

Agree, £60 isn’t that much when you rack up a couple of lounge visits. I have however just taken out a Platinum Amex, which comes with a free supp card and both of us now have access to Priority Plus with a free guest each. For our family of 4, that ticks all the boxes. I just can’t get my head around how an upgrade voucher would actually help our family of 4 and our BAPP 241 vouchers. Plus the hassle of moving banks from HSBC to Barclays to really gain the benefits. I’m still digesting!

polly wrote:

@Scottpat78, yes, it’s a close call. Both have their good options. B’card maybe better for solo due to u/g voucher. However, Lounge-key May work better for couples, as 2nd card on ac is v g value. it’s our dilemma atm.