HSBC just recently launched a new cash rewards card before that they offered three other credit cards. They have now also entered the premium credit card market alongside other new products such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Bank of America Premium Travel Rewards, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve and others. The new HSBC card is the called ‘HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard® credit card‘.
Contents
Card Basics
- Annual fee of $395, authorized users are $65 per user
- Sign up bonus of 50,000 points after $4,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 3x points on travel
- 2x points on dining
- 1x point on all other purchases
- $100 Annual Air Travel Credit to reimburse ticket purchases, seat upgrades, baggage fees or in-flight purchases
- $100 Annual Statement Credits for rides with Uber and Lyft
- 10% off at Expedia, Agoda or onefinestay
- Complimentary ShopRunner memebrship
- Earn $5 in Fandago rewards for every 2 movie tickets purchased
- Unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi access
- Complimentary membership to over 850 airport lounges, plus up to 15% off airport retailers
- Metal card
- No foreign transaction fees
How Much Are Points Worth?
On the landing page it states two things that are useful for determining the points value:
- 50,000 points are worth $750 in air travel. I assume this means points are worth 1.5¢ each when using their travel protal
- Points transfer to airline partners. HSBC other cards transfer to: British Airways, Singapore Airlines & Cathay pacific and I assume this card is the same. They also sometimes offer a transfer bonus to British Airways.
Who’s Eligible
To be eligible to apply for this card you need to have an existing HSBC Premier Banking relationship (similar to Chase’s Private Client status). Eligibility for that is discussed here but you need $100,000 in combined balances with HSBC to be eligible.
Travel Benefits
Lounge Access
Rather than using Priority Pass like most other premium cards this gives you lounge access via LoungeKey. You receive two free lounge visits per year, additional visits cost $27 per visit per person. This is significantly worse than the other premium cards giving unlimited access and also guest access.
$100 Annual Statement Credits for rides with Uber and Lyft
You receive statement credit of up to a $20 per ride, up to $100 each year. Benefit is more flexible than what American Express offers on their Platinum card but obviously it’s for $100 instead of $200. The credit is based on a calendar year, so it is possible to double dip this benefit and only pay one annual fee.
$100 Air Travel Statement Credit
Similar to the Uber/Lyft benefit this is based on a calendar year. The $100 covers ticket purchases, seat upgrades, baggage fees or in-flight purchases. Should be relatively easy to maximize due to ticket purchases being covered.
Our Verdict
This is a pretty weak premium offering, especially considering you need $100,000 in funds with HSBC to be eligible. If you do have that then it still probably makes sense to apply and get the card and then cancel before the second annual fee hits. In the first year you do get good value:
- 50k points from sign up bonus
- $200 in Uber/Lyft benefits (max it out for 2017 and 2018 and then cancel before second annual fee hits)
- $200 in air travel statement credits (again max it out for 2017 and 2018 and then cancel)
Let me know your thoughts on this new card in the comments below.
Hat tip to reader Xiao
They replaced the simple air credit with a $100 off $2000 through their portal twice a year and increased the Lyft credit to $120/yr. Think that happened last year.
DP: May 13th, 2020: Pulled Equifax
Because so many people now meet the requirements for this card, maybe refresh this post if required? They dropped the req of having 100k and you simply have to have a DD of 5k/month.
I just cancelled my Elite card, and my wife’s card for my account, after a month. My family was traveling internationally to visit a dying family member and HSBC’s “Security Center” blocked my wife’s card three times in five days, leaving my family high and dry on the other side of the planet without access to funds. In fairness, one event was a $20 purchase in Milan, which was a location not on the original itinerary, but when it happened again a day later — when family was where we had notified the bank they would be and i was where i was reported to be — i’d had enough. By the way, i had multiples of the minimum deposit with HSBC, but no more. I don’t have my wife carry the card only for the perks. I look to products like this for assurance; i expect it to function as one resource in the event of a crisis during international travel. Instead of providing me the assurance i need, my reliance on the card ended up being the source of the crisis.
No Global Entry? Just Precheck? Weaksauce.
In my neigborhood there used to be a huge HSBC bank
You know what is now there? A brand new Planet Fitness…
On a serious note other then maybe Chase Reserve i think the Citi Prestige is the best Premium card. 75K sign up bonus and $250 annual travel credit and $350 annual fee with Citi Gold banking and priority pass and 3 hour trip delays reimbursements and much more.
Might as well get BofA premium card if you need to have 100k in Bank. Cheaper anual fee and better points earning
100% right, doc… weak competitor.
As an hsbc premier account holder they already have a credit card for premier members (purple card) with no annual fee and similar perks. Theres almost no reason to get the fee version
Got any more details?
HSBC’s credit cards are here:
https://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/home/personal-banking/credit-cards
Premier is a pretty good program, particularly if you travel internationally a lot since you can set up accounts in other countries including credit cards in those currencies. The $100K includes investment and retirement accounts so if you are self-employed with an IRA, it’s not hard to meet. But I agree this card is not $400 better than their $0 mastercard.
I think the only “Premium” part of this card is the annual fee.
Don’t forget, it’s also a metal card!