To the point
For a limited time, earn 25,000 points with the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard, a no-fee credit card.
Welcome offer
With the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard®, you can earn 25,000 points as a welcome bonus with no minimum spending (for Quebec).
With this no annual fee credit card, you get:
- 3 points per dollar on travel purchases
- 2 points per dollar on gas and everyday transportation purchases
- 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
You can use your points to pay for travel or to get many other rewards.
In addition, you will get Trip Interruption Insurance, Baggage Delay Insurance, Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance, Extended Warranty Insurance and Purchase Insurance.
An HSBC Rewards Card
The HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® is part of the HSBC Rewards program.
Let’s look at how to earn HSBC Rewards points with this card, and more importantly, how to redeem them to save on travel!
HSBC Rewards Points earning
With the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard®, you earn:
- 3 points per dollar on travel purchases (1.5% value in travel rewards)
- 2 points per dollar on gas and everyday transportation purchases (1% value in travel rewards)
- 1 point per dollar on other purchases (0.5% value in travel rewards)
This makes the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® one of the best no-annual-fee credit cards for travel purchases and gas and transportation purchases.
Accepted at Costco
The HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® is a Mastercard credit card .
This card will be accepted at Costco and you will earn 1 point per dollar at Costco (0.5% value in travel rewards).
Redeeming HSBC Rewards Points
You can use the HSBC Rewards points earned by the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® in a number of ways:
For travel
Using HSBC Rewards points for travel rewards will be the best possible use of your points earned with the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard®.
25,000 HSBC Rewards points are worth $125 in travel rewards.
To use your HSBC Rewards points, charge any travel purchase to your HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® (and earn 3 points per dollar for that purchase in the process).
Then you can go to the HSBC Rewards portal to apply your points to your purchases and get a credit to your credit card account.
Here is an example of an Air Transat ticket purchase on an HSBC Rewards credit card:
Or for purchases on Airbnb or Hotels.com:
To use HSBC Rewards points, it works with a redemption chart starting at 25,000 points (or $125) :
| Points | Statement credit |
| 25 000 | $125 |
| 35 000 | $175 |
| 45 000 | $225 |
| 55 000 | $275 |
| 65 000 | $325 |
| 75 000 | $375 |
| 85 000 | $425 |
| 95 000 | $475 |
| 105 000 | $525 |
| 115 000 | $575 |
| 125 000 | $625 |
| 135 000 | $675 |
Therefore, you will need to have a minimum of 25,000 points to get a statement credit.
For gift cards and products
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:
| Gift-card | HSBC Rewards Points | Value |
| Costco | 65 000 | $200 |
| Esso | 33 400 | $100 |
| Amazon | 33 400 | $100 |
| Best Buy | 80 900 | $250 |
| Disney | 41 300 | US$ 100 |
| IGA/Sobeys/Safeway | 17 600 | $50 |
As always, my advice will be to redeem your HSBC Rewards points for travel and not gift cards.
However, if you have a balance of fewer than 25,000 points (and therefore cannot be used for travel), it may be convenient to liquidate your points through this method.
For financial rewards
Finally, the last option to use HSBC Rewards points is for financial products offered by HSBC.
Here are the different possible redemptions:
| HSBC Rewards Points | Value | |
| HSBC Mastercard Account Credit | 25 000 | $75 |
| HSBC Mortgage Account Credit | 25 000 | $100 |
| HSBC Savings Account Credit | 25 000 | $75 |
Insurance
Although there is no annual fee, the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® offers several insurance coverages, including travel.
Baggage delay insurance
In terms of baggage delay insurance, the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® provides $100 per day (up to a maximum of 3 days) for purchasing basic necessities if your checked baggage is delayed by the carrier for at least 6 hours after arrival at your destination.
Trip Interruption Insurance
The HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® provides coverage up to $1,500 per insured person ($5,000 per trip) in terms of trip interruption insurance.
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.
Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance
Regarding hotel/motel theft insurance, the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® provides coverage up to $1,000 per occurrence.
Purchase Assurance and Extended Warranty Insurance
Finally, in terms of purchase and extended warranty insurance, the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® offers 90 days of coverage from the date of purchase in the event of loss, damage or theft.
And offers an automatic doubling of the manufacturer’s warranty for up to one additional year.
Worldwide Emergency Travel Medical insurance
For $69/year (including applicable taxes), you can get with the HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard®:
- Emergency Travel Medical Insurance
- Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption insurance
- Baggage Delay or Loss Insurance
Bottom line
The HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard® is for those who do not want to pay an annual fee on a credit card but still want to enjoy travel rewards and some insurance benefits.
Also, this card does not require a minimum income unlike the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® (you may eventually get that one later, after establishing a relationship with HSBC).
Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
