HSBC Enters the Game – Accelerated Rewards Travel Portal Now Live!

[sanarora]

hi any leads with any senior contact with HSBC corporate team..?
my company has given a approval but its stuck with them without any response.

 

[idharkyadekhraha]

Anyone who got hsbc premier credit card recently? Wanted to know how long does it take post application submission

 

[tfbeginner210]

Slightly off topic noob question - If one just plans to go for economy int'l flights (once or twice a year) and is satisfied with <5k hotels per night, is it worth to enter the points/miles game with these cards?

All Accor/Bonvoy properties seem to start at >5k for just the basic room variants, whereas at the same price, we can avail higher room variants at unchained-boutique hotels.

 

[diptarkaroy]

I believe whosoever is not able to get DCBM can definitely look at this Travel One card, the rewards are fascinating. I have the DCBM and Atlas already but still couldn't resist this one.

Why do you think that we should still go for TravelOne even after we have Atlas?
I have Atlas, that's why I'm still looking for a reason to go for TravelOne as supplementary

 

[diptarkaroy]

Yes, they do.

Do they really?

 

[diptarkaroy]

Slightly off topic noob question - If one just plans to go for economy int'l flights (once or twice a year) and is satisfied with <5k hotels per night, is it worth to enter the points/miles game with these cards?

All Accor/Bonvoy properties seem to start at >5k for just the basic room variants, whereas at the same price, we can avail higher room variants at unchained-boutique hotels.

You can opt for Ibis or Ibis Styles, it's available at most of the tourist places. I stayed at Phuket Ibis for 3200 per night including breakfast for 2.
Ibis is available under Accor.

 

[ash_m]

Slightly off topic noob question - If one just plans to go for economy int'l flights (once or twice a year) and is satisfied with <5k hotels per night, is it worth to enter the points/miles game with these cards?

All Accor/Bonvoy properties seem to start at >5k for just the basic room variants, whereas at the same price, we can avail higher room variants at unchained-boutique hotels.

I'd say it is still beneficial to get into points (or miles) game if you're travelling internationally once or twice in a year.

You can either get cashback cards (upfront discounts) or go for cards that gives you points. Cashback cards can only give you back upto some extent, but those are good as beginner cards. Now within points category, you can either have an all rounder card like Infinia, EPM where points earned can even be used to shop some vouchers or just book your domestic flights which is way more usual (high liquidity). Otherwise travel focussed cards (Atlas, Plat Travel, TravelOne, Premier) will give you best returns (the numbers you see here) only when you do your next travel, book hotels so rewards aren't highly liquid.

 

[I031858]

I swiped the card on 25th, no points have been awarded yet, Usually how many days it takes to reflect in app? Or we have to wait till statement generation date.

 

[aryanexpedition]

Are you guys able to access the portal from the HSBC app? When I click on "Redeem points now" button, it opens a chrome browser where it just says "You've been logged off" and no way to log back in!

 

[deepcards]

I visited a branch yesterday. Had a meeting with their manager and she called a senior regional manager who was visiting as well as another investment manager. They first interviewed me for a while before deciding if I was a suitable customer. Even asked me if I had ever traveled to Cuba, Iran, Syria etc or intended to travel! Completely ridiculous of course. They claim it is due to US sanctions and they don’t want people who have business interests in those countries. Asked me whether I received any cash income (black money) as well! They seem rather paranoid.
Anyway, they want a cheque of at least 40 lakhs to open the Premier account and would apply for the card at the same time. They would, of course, prefer a higher initial amount like at least 1 crore. Demat balance would be counted but, they do not have a trading facility for stocks! You can transfer your existing holdings to them and hold them but if you need to trade, you would have to transfer them to another depository to sell! You can buy and sell MFs with them though. If I decide to go with them, I would just invest 40 lakhs in MFs through them and be done with it. They seem fairly confident of getting the card approved once you become a customer but advised that the credit limit would depend upon the relationship value. S&C had said the same as well.

Hey, when you buy MFs from them, do they let you buy direct or regular plan?I remember talking to a SBI employee, who used to invest via the SBI app, and it was all "regular" plans- which have 1-2% extra charges- which turns out to be a lot over the long run.

 

[Kabir_1112]

Slightly off topic noob question - If one just plans to go for economy int'l flights (once or twice a year) and is satisfied with <5k hotels per night, is it worth to enter the points/miles game with these cards?

All Accor/Bonvoy properties seem to start at >5k for just the basic room variants, whereas at the same price, we can avail higher room variants at unchained-boutique hotels.

Some hotels like ibis, Holiday Inn and marriott hotels are at times available for less than 5k per night depending on the month of travel and location.

 

[Kabir_1112]

Anyone who got hsbc premier credit card recently? Wanted to know how long does it take post application submission

Usually 10 days you can consider from the date of application. Physical card delivery also depends on the pin code. Ideally within 2 weeks.

 

[jonamdhar]

Slightly off topic noob question - If one just plans to go for economy int'l flights (once or twice a year) and is satisfied with <5k hotels per night, is it worth to enter the points/miles game with these cards?

All Accor/Bonvoy properties seem to start at >5k for just the basic room variants, whereas at the same price, we can avail higher room variants at unchained-boutique hotels.

I am in the same boat. I also am comfortable with <5k / night rooms. But I still play with the points, and specifically Accor. I don't look at the points value in terms of rupee value. I see the value in terms of number of nights with 5k being the average room night fare.

Thus I book the cheapest accor hotel available in any particular city. I value each accor point as Rs. 1 (even though it is worth Rs. 2 currently), as I can get a better hotel at a similar price if I had to book on revenue.

 

[sai123]

for the hsbc premier CC all they need is premier status? they don't check salary? I can get premier through investment.

 

[ash_m]

for the hsbc premier CC all they need is premier status? they don't check salary? I can get premier through investment.

Correct, to avail the HSBC Premier card you need their premier account status.

Good thing is they're very transparent with this, you can find the details on their page itself: https://www.hsbc.co.in/premier/.
It doesn't explicitly say about investments but highly unlikely that you can just show your HSBC MF investments and get this status. Maybe through FD of 40L or something it might work.

Just FYI - this card not free. You pay 12K + GST as joining fee and in return, you don't get any points. But you get 12K Taj gift card & their epicure membership (this is not with 1 free night stay). The value on joining fee is not that great, I think. But yes if you're planning to stay at Taj in an year or so then this is pretty good. Other benefits I guess you already know.

 

[sai123]

Correct, to avail the HSBC Premier card you need their premier account status.

Good thing is they're very transparent with this, you can find the details on their page itself: https://www.hsbc.co.in/premier/.
It doesn't explicitly say about investments but highly unlikely that you can just show your HSBC MF investments and get this status. Maybe through FD of 40L or something it might work.

Just FYI - this card not free. You pay 12K + GST as joining fee and in return, you don't get any points. But you get 12K Taj gift card & their epicure membership (this is not with 1 free night stay). The value on joining fee is not that great, I think. But yes if you're planning to stay at Taj in an year or so then this is pretty good. Other benefits I guess you already know.

So I meant the mutual funds which is run under them, I don't mean direct mutual funds with the hsbc name on them. I read that it would work hopefully I'm not wrong. I have the times black so would love to reduce to 12k from 20k lol

 

[sai123]

Hey, when you buy MFs from them, do they let you buy direct or regular plan?I remember talking to a SBI employee, who used to invest via the SBI app, and it was all "regular" plans- which have 1-2% extra charges- which turns out to be a lot over the long run.

only regular plan, all banks offer regular plans from what I've seen

 

[sai123]

Correct, to avail the HSBC Premier card you need their premier account status.

Good thing is they're very transparent with this, you can find the details on their page itself: https://www.hsbc.co.in/premier/.
It doesn't explicitly say about investments but highly unlikely that you can just show your HSBC MF investments and get this status. Maybe through FD of 40L or something it might work.

Just FYI - this card not free. You pay 12K + GST as joining fee and in return, you don't get any points. But you get 12K Taj gift card & their epicure membership (this is not with 1 free night stay). The value on joining fee is not that great, I think. But yes if you're planning to stay at Taj in an year or so then this is pretty good. Other benefits I guess you already know.

considering its a one time fee not bad for the card your getting

 

[Docjogi]

Are you guys able to access the portal from the HSBC app? When I click on "Redeem points now" button, it opens a chrome browser where it just says "You've been logged off" and no way to log back in!

Having the exact same issue. Wrote mail and spoke to customer care. No resolution since a week

 

[Docjogi]

In the 3rd step on how to access the travel portal, I get the error page.
I click on rewards page, it asks to go to a 3rd party page, when I click agree, the 3rd party page opens with error. - "You are currently logged out. Pls retry". attached screenshots. this has been there since 3-4 days. useless customer care is not knowing anything. There even do not know that a new Travel portal is launched.

Having the exact same issue. Wrote mail and spoke to customer care. No resolution since a week