Credit Card Offers HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card: Fast-Track to Star Alliance Gold Status

Fast track to Star Alliance Gold status with the HSBC Star Alliance credit card!​

Learn more and apply for this card:

HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card Guide

The HSBC Star Alliance credit card is the first of its kind, allowing Australian cardholders to earn Star Alliance Points and Gold status.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

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What are the main benefits of this card?

1. Signup bonus: Fast Track to Star Alliance Gold Status, when you spend $4,000 or more on eligible purchases in the first 90 days from account opening
2. Keep your Star Alliance Gold status each subsequent year that you spend at least $60,000 on your card
3. Earn 1 Star Alliance Point per $1 on eligible purchases, up to $3,000 per statement period and 0.5 Star Alliance Points per $1 spent on eligible purchases thereafter, uncapped
4. No annual fee in the first year and $499 p.a. thereafter

Why we like the HSBC Star Alliance credit card

Launched in 2022, the HSBC Star Alliance credit card is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. You'll earn Star Alliance Points which are transferable to a choice of seven Star Alliance member airlines at a time of your choosing. You can also earn Star Alliance Silver or Gold status just by spending on the card, with no flying required!

Once you qualify for the welcome offer and are fast tracked to Star Alliance Gold status with any of the seven participating carriers, you’ll soon be enjoying perks like airport priority lanes and lounge access when flying across the whole Star Alliance network. It is the largest airline alliance in the world with 25 member airlines, including Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, United and Turkish Airlines.

Please note that the welcome offer is not available to existing HSBC customers transferring from another HSBC credit card, or if you have previously held a HSBC Star Alliance credit card within the last 18 months. Refer to the full T&C’s for more information:

HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card Guide

The HSBC Star Alliance credit card is the first of its kind, allowing Australian cardholders to earn Star Alliance Points and Gold status.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

AFF members are welcome to discuss this card in this thread.

 

[sudoer]

Nobody tells you this upfront.

Who do you expect to tell you this? US FF pax not getting lounge access on domestic US flights is industry standard over there (the same applies for AA and DL). The information is available on the UA website.

the system will not show you your coughulative monthly spend until the statement arrives - so you are flying blind on where you stand.

HSBC is not the only bank that lacks this, but is not difficult to calculate the total of your transactions for the month.

And the point system per dollar with Amex Platinum is unmatched and will probably improve after October, because they are not subject to the RBA's new credit card rules.

There is zero chance the Amex earn rate improves post October.

It may not be beholden to the surcharge ban, but I expect it'll have a very hard time retaining customers post-ban unless it makes some significant changes.

Consider the position the average customer will be in once the bans take effect. Merchants will be offering Visa/MC payments surcharge free, while Amex will likely have 1.5-2% surcharges at most retailers. Consumers will logically opt for paying with Visa/MC unless Amex surcharges are 1% or less.

If Amex does not do this, I expect some retailers that absorb all surcharges at the moment will opt to start charging for Amex, considering the merchant fee gap with Visa/MC will have widened.

Post ban, Amex will probably be the only issuer in market capable of offering 1 QFF per dollar, with many Visa/MC cards offerings likely to drop to 0.3-0.5 QFF per dollar.

So if anything, I expect Amex will cut their effective earn rates to 0.6-0.8 QFF per dollar, and drop their merchant fees to stay somewhat appealing to both merchants and customers.

But let's see. I look forward to revisiting this post sometime after October!

 

[Viridis]

And the point system per dollar with Amex Platinum is unmatched ....

Not quite. The HSBC Premier Mastercard earns at exactly the same rate these days and if CX is one of your preferred transfer partners (and it is for me) then it's a good option

I also use the Amex Plat though as the HSBC card doesn't offer as many of the useful peripheral trinkets that Amex does

 

[sudoer]

Not quite. The HSBC Premier Mastercard earns at exactly the same rate these days and if CX is one of your preferred transfer partners (and it is for me) then it's a good option

I also use the Amex Plat though as the HSBC card doesn't offer as many of the useful peripheral trinkets that Amex does

The HSBC Premier Qantas card does even better at 1.5 QFF per dollar for the first $120k!