HSBC Star Alliance credit card in Australia

[Mr H]

I don’t have any plan yet in 2024 to fly with any Star alliance airlines, that’s why I am still thinking if it’s worth to pay $450 for the gold status and not using it at all, or perhaps use the $450 and switch to Amex to at least get some travel credit.

Will need to do some travel planning for next year in the coming weeks.

In that case, you certainly shouldn't spend $450 for status you would not use. I have had SQ *G for two years thanks to some credit card points transfers a couple of years ago. I have used it on revenue flights twice, both on AI domestic flights. One flight had lounge access, the other didn't. But that was status I got for free - I would not have paid even $10 for it.

I would also ditch a card whose benefits you don't need and investigate alternatives that will get you a sign up bonus and better points on spend - all for a lower fee.

 

[tlspambait]

I appear to have had a slightly different experience to the majority here so thought I would share.

I received my eligibility for status email from Star Alliance on July 29. I then had until the 12 August to confirm my status airline program. I had selected Aeroplan. I was then informed it would take between 1 and 14 days for Air Canada to process and approve the status - taking me through to 26 August at the latest.
I followed up with Star Alliance on the 27 August as I had not received any correspondence from Air Canada. I was assured I would receive this before the 28 August. Today now being the 29 August and I have yet to receive an email. I followed up with Star Alliance and they responded with:

"Kindly be informed we have forwarded it to our relevant department to check on the status and will update you once we have more information."

I have a flight coming up very shortly so have been a bit disappointed with how unsmooth the process has been, especially as it is supposed to be an automated process.

Did this get resolved for you, if so how long did it take? (hopefully before your flights!)

 

[KingHuang]

Need help deciding which *A to pick as we aren't super frequent flyers (wife/myself)

Locations we frequent for family - Taiwan/Japan
Locations we might fly to for a trip within next 12 months - Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand
Current airline statuses - nothing at all! just red qantas haha..
airfare payment preference - qantas reward seats

any pointers will be greatly appreciated! TIA

 

[Mr H]

Need help deciding which *A to pick as we aren't super frequent flyers (wife/myself)

Locations we frequent for family - Taiwan/Japan
Locations we might fly to for a trip within next 12 months - Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand
Current airline statuses - nothing at all! just red qantas haha..
airfare payment preference - qantas reward seats

any pointers will be greatly appreciated! TIA

The Star Alliance card is a bit of a prototype - I would not be confident it would last for ever,. Therefore, I would be looking to earn in a programme that offers other ways for Australians to earn points so I didn't end up with a wodge of points I could not use or add to. Pretty much that's SQ. But on the other hand, SQ points have a hard expiry so if I didn't think I could earn enough within three years to redeem on something good, then SQ would not be the right programme. There are a couple of other cards that can transfer to NZ, but that is a truly awful programme. I know this is not a helpful answer, but I guess I have already concluded that I am not the target market for this card.

 

[levelnine]

As I predicted earlier in this thread, a sign-up bonus has been introduced for this card — it was always going to fail without one.

And it's quite a good one. 50K Aeroplan points for $0 annual fee (in the first year) & $4K minimum spend is impressive given how valuable Aeroplan points can be (though at the moment the program sucks because half of their transfer partners are unavailable, but I assume that's temporary).

 

[KingHuang]

As I predicted earlier in this thread, a sign-up bonus has been introduced for this card — it was always going to fail without one.

And it's quite a good one. 50K Aeroplan points for $0 annual fee (in the first year) & $4K minimum spend is impressive given how valuable Aeroplan points can be (though at the moment the program sucks because half of their transfer partners are unavailable, but I assume that's temporary).

View attachment 346190

Where did ya see this offer, think I’m going blind can’t even see it on HSBC website. Is the SUB only for AC, or do they have it for other airlines too?

 

[levelnine]

Where did ya see this offer, think I’m going blind can’t even see it on HSBC website. Is the SUB only for AC, or do they have it for other airlines too?

Came via email. Link here: Fast track your way to Aeroplan 50K Status with the HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card

 

[doctorstrangelove]

As I predicted earlier in this thread, a sign-up bonus has been introduced for this card — it was always going to fail without one.

Good call; I was curious but unmoved with regard to the SACC & Gold Status until this offer arrived in my inbox this morning but with the Aeroplan points it's a bit of a no-brainer!

 

[Mr H]

Good call; I was curious but unmoved with regard to the SACC & Gold Status until this offer arrived in my inbox this morning but with the Aeroplan points it's a bit of a no-brainer!

Do you have a quick explainer of why Aeroplan is so good? I bank my Star Alliance points with SQ which does have a hard expiry date on points, but are there other ways that Aeroplan would beat KrisFlyer?

 

[levelnine]

Do you have a quick explainer of why Aeroplan is so good? I bank my Star Alliance points with SQ which does have a hard expiry date on points, but are there other ways that Aeroplan would beat KrisFlyer?

Pretty much every points redemption is cheaper. Indeed, cheaper to fly SQ using AC points than SQ points. Also has more redemptions partners, including EY & EK. The main frustration at the moment is a lot of partners are unavailable — they've been struggling with points brokers abusing the system.

 

[MELso]

Not bad at all - applied for the NAB Velocity Plat offer a couple of days ago but have a trip in the middle of next year that's heavily *A, so I think that this'll be next cab off the rank.

Only real catch I can see is "Any status granted under the HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card is withdrawn immediately if you close your HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card account." This could dampen my churning activities, but might status match with UA to reduce this issue...

 

[Mr H]

Only real catch I can see is "Any status granted under the HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card is withdrawn immediately if you close your HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card account." This could dampen my churning activities, but might status match with UA to reduce this issue...

I had understood that status matching with most airlines required you to show your recent statements so they could judge your flying patterns. Just having status is not enough.

And I think others upthread have discovered that the *A status is withdrawn very swiftly when a card is closed.

 

[doctorstrangelove]

Do you have a quick explainer of why Aeroplan is so good? I bank my Star Alliance points with SQ which does have a hard expiry date on points, but are there other ways that Aeroplan would beat KrisFlyer?

I'm a bit of an Aeroplan n00b and have limited experience of it but the main advantages are a wider number of partner airlines outwith Star Alliance as already mentioned by @levelnine and I'm also not currently collecting points with any other Star Alliance partner. It's a bit of YMMV one but for me it's the best option as

1) I've forsworn collecting QFF points (but still have almost 300,000 of the damn things that are proving almost impossible to shift)!
2) My other CC is Velocity earning which I use for SQ (including snagging a unicorn J seat LHR - SIN a few days after Christmas)!
3) I've a healthy balance of Avios for Oneworld redemptions.

There's nothing else really on the market for me that's as good a pick at the moment, especially with that $0 first year annual fee.

 

[doctorstrangelove]

Seamless application process with HSBC too. Application took me about 20 minutes and I was approved within two hours.

 

[MELso]

I had understood that status matching with most airlines required you to show your recent statements so they could judge your flying patterns. Just having status is not enough.

And I think others upthread have discovered that the *A status is withdrawn very swiftly when a card is closed.

I don't think you need to show this if doing the UA status match (they only require your most recent year membership card from the frequent flyer program you're matching with the expiration date visible and displaying your current elite status). I wouldn't have thought they cancel a UA matched status (even if the original AC status is cancelled).

 

[Mr H]

I don't think you need to show this if doing the UA status match (they only require your most recent year membership card from the frequent flyer program you're matching with the expiration date visible and displaying your current elite status). I wouldn't have thought they cancel a UA matched status (even if the original AC status is cancelled).

The UA status match is a challenge. The challenge status is valid until the latter half of December 2023, and is only valid on UA flights. You need to do a heap of flying on UA during the challenge period in order to get full status confirmed and made valid for flights on Star Alliance partners.

 

[http_x92]

The KrisFlyer 3 year expiry makes it hard unless you definitely know you would be travelling on *A flights in the next 12-18 months. Otherwise SQ would be my *A program of choice in a heartbeat.

I guess you could transfer to Velocity first, then transfer to SQ but...

 

[PirLPe]

Not bad at all - applied for the NAB Velocity Plat offer a couple of days ago but have a trip in the middle of next year that's heavily *A, so I think that this'll be next cab off the rank.

Only real catch I can see is "Any status granted under the HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card is withdrawn immediately if you close your HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card account." This could dampen my churning activities, but might status match with UA to reduce this issue...

Each account is tied to a specific credit card. If there is no account, there is no card.

 

[MELso]

The UA status match is a challenge. The challenge status is valid until the latter half of December 2023, and is only valid on UA flights. You need to do a heap of flying on UA during the challenge period in order to get full status confirmed and made valid for flights on Star Alliance partners.

But they'll do one in 2024 (if the last several years are any guide) - the status they grant upfront is only valid for four months to be sure, but you become Premier Gold (so *A Gold) for that time. If it covers my trip, it'd work rather than having to hold the HSBC card. And it could be a good hack for someone not wanting to keep the spend up to extend it for another four months.

 

[PirLPe]

The UA status match is a challenge. The challenge status is valid until the latter half of December 2023, and is only valid on UA flights. You need to do a heap of flying on UA during the challenge period in order to get full status confirmed and made valid for flights on Star Alliance partners.

I guess it's for those who really need it. And who do a lot of flying.