HSBC is one of the largest banks on the planet with an extensive global footprint: who hasn’t already seen the HSBC brand when getting off the plane?
In Canada, HSBC offers a particularly interesting credit card: the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®. It’s a card I’ve held for several years, so it’s particularly easy for me to introduce it to you!
As of September 29, 2023, the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® is no longer available to new members.
Here are the benefits of this credit card:
The MastercardMD HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® is part of the HSBC Travel Rewards points program. Let’s see how to earn HSBC Rewards points with this card and especially how to redeem them to save on travel!
With the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®, you can get:
This makes the HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD one of the best credit cards for travel purchases, but also for everyday purchases. Few cards offer 3% on travel and 2% on everyday purchases such as groceries, gas stations or pharmacies.
I use it for all my travel purchases, as well as most everyday purchases. And of course abroad!
It is possible to use the HSBC Rewards points accumulated by the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® in a variety of ways:
The first two solutions are my favourite. However, if you don’t travel, the other two options may be interesting for you!
Using HSBC Rewards points for travel rewards will be one of the best possible uses of your points earned by the MastercardMD HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®.
110,000 HSBC Rewards points have a value of $550 in travel rewards.
To redeem your HSBC Rewards points, simply charge any travel purchase to your MastercardMD HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® (and earn 6 points per dollar on that purchase).
Then you can go to the HSBC Rewards portal to apply your points on your travel purchases and get a statement credit. This is what we do in our family to rent apartments on Airbnb or reduce our flights’ cost to visit our family in France!
Here, for example, is the purchase of an Air Transat ticket between Montreal and Nice on my HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®:
Or for Airbnb or Hotels.com purchases like in New Zealand during our round the world family trip:
To redeem HSBC Rewards points, it works with a chart starting at 25,000 points ($125):
Therefore, you will need to have a minimum of 25,000 points to get a statement credit. With 110,000 points, you will have $550 available in statement credit!
And when it comes to “travel,” you don’t have to leave Canada to take advantage of it!
This could be for example:
Here are some examples of recent purchases that have been categorized as travel on my Card:
In Canada, few institutions offer the ability to convert travel points into airline loyalty programs.
HSBC Rewards is a partner with three airline loyalty programs:
Here is the HSBC Reward Points to miles conversion ratio:
If you want to convert 130,000 points into miles, here’s what you could get:
And that’s not taking into account conversion promotions between HSBC Rewards and airline loyalty programs (up to 35% bonus)!
So if you wait for a 35% promotion to convert your 130,000 points earned as a Welcome Bonus, you could get 70,200 Avios miles!
Never seen before! For example, you could get a luxury experience like me in a British Airways First Class flight:
And you could also use the British Airways Executive Club program to book flights with American Airlines.
From Montreal, you could go to Miami with not that many points.
Here is an example of a direct flight between Montreal and Miami for 11,000 Avios miles and $64:
Or you could book a Reward Flight with the Krisflyer program for travel on Singapore Airlines in Economy, Business or even First Class!
Like all the loyalty programs, you can use your HSBC Rewards points for gift cards.
Many retailers are available such as Costco, Esso, Amazon, Best Buy, Disney, Transat, Via Rail, IGA. Here are some examples and costs in points:
Finally, the last option to use HSBC Rewards points is for financial products offered by HSBC.
Here are the different possible redemptions:
The HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD is a Mastercard: you won’t have any acceptance problems, anywhere in the world, including your local small shopkeepers!
It will also be accepted for purchases made at Costco and will earn 2 points per dollar at Costco.
Another advantage of the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®: no conversion fees for foreign currency transactions.
It’s not only convenient for people like me who are often abroad (I use the HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD for all everyday purchases and avoid the 2.5% conversion fee charged by other credit cards).
But it’s handy for purchases made in foreign currency on the Internet, in the United States, for example!
It’s quite simple, if you spend $5,000 a year in foreign currency, you’ll save around $125 in conversion fees thanks to the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®!
The HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD comes with a host of benefits, including one that virtually cuts the annual fee from $149 to $49: by using the $100 annual Travel Privilege credit each year !
Great benefit of the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®: an annual $100 travel privilege credit. This credit is available upon subscription to the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® and is then renewed on the account’s anniversary date.
Taking this annual credit into account, the fee for your HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® is virtually reduced from $149 to $49. Unbelievable for a World Elite Card! So you can keep it year after year.
To use this credit, just:
After that, you will have 60 days to use your Annual Travel enhancement credit on it. You can apply it on several small transactions like this:
HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® holders enjoy 12 free 90-minute annual accesses to Wi-Fi offered by Boingo (over one million access points worldwide). There is no data limit for these accesses.
To take advantage of this free benefit, simply register at this address, providing your HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD number.
Then, you will have a Boingo account you can use worldwide. Boingo usually charges US$14.99 per month for this!
Swiss, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines are among the few airlines that offer Boingo on board their aircraft. I have already been able to use it on board and in many airports and public places. Here again, saving money by just holding this card.
HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® holders receive a 10% discount on prepaid hotel bookings on Expedia or Agoda.
To benefit from this, you will need to register:
Last but not least, HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® holders enjoy a complimentary DragonPass membership for airport lounges.
However, there will be a charge of US$32 per person for each visit. You can, of course, use your annual $100 Travel enhancement credit to cover it.
At the “World Elite Mastercard” level, the HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD offers a large number of insurances, particularly for travel.
In terms of travel medical emergency insurance, the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® provides coverage of up to $2,000,000 per insured person:
Coverage extends to 31 days per trip for people under age 65. And 21 days per trip for people over 65 years old.
For baggage delay or loss insurance, the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® provides coverage of up to $1,000 per insured person.
It covers:
There is also coverage of up to $200 per trip to purchase necessary items if your luggage is delayed at your destination for more than 6 hours.
Reimbursement of up to $250 per day to a maximum of $500 total (2 days) per trip for all insured persons travelling on the same trip for certain necessary and reasonable expenses if the confirmed scheduled flight is delayed by 6 hours or more
In terms of trip cancellation, interruption and delay insurance, the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® Mastercard® provides cover for up to $2,000 per insured person ($5,000 per trip) provided that 75% of your eligible expenses of your trip have been entered on the map.
This includes all non-refundable expenses (prepaid trips) in the event of cancellation, as well as costs incurred for the change of ticket or the cost of a ticket to return home early.
In terms of vehicle rental insurance, the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® provides coverage for up to 31 days, provided that 75% of the rental cost has been charged to the card.
This includes collisions or damage up to the full value of the damaged or stolen rental vehicle, as well as towing or loss of use charges. Car Rental insurance also includes Personal Effects and Car Rental Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance coverage.
This saves about twenty dollars per day of rental, which is far from negligible!
Be careful, like all the other credit cards providing car rental insurance, liability insurance is not included.
With Hotel/Motel Theft Insurance, the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® protects you against theft of most personal items from a hotel or motel room, up to $1,000 per occurrence.
When it comes to mobile device insurance, the HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD offers coverage of up to $1,000 if your mobile device is lost or stolen, or suffers accidental damage or mechanical breakdown.
When you purchase a new personal item with the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® and find the same item offered at a lower price within 60 days of your purchase, the difference in price will be refunded to youup to a maximum of $500, subject to a maximum amount of $1,000 per Account per calendar year.
Finally, in terms of purchase insurance and extended warranty, the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® provides 90 days’ coverage from the date of purchase in the event of loss, damage or theft.
Extended Warranty coverage automatically doubles the original manufacturer’s warranty for up to one additional year when you use your HSBC World Elite Mastercard to purchase most items.
The HSBC World EliteMD MastercardMD is a card I like for several reasons:
In addition, there is a 10% discount for hotel reservations on Expedia and Agoda as well as free access to Wi-Fi via Boingo.
It’s a card I keep because its annual $100 Travel enhancement credit largely offsets the annual fee.
During our family trip around the world, we used it a lot to save on our foreign currency transaction fees and to redeem points for Airbnb rentals!
Savings are here:
