HSBC Star Alliance credit card in Australia

[SYD]

I don't think you actively decline it. This will happen if you either don't choose a status partner, or.you are already gold in the program by another means.

The link at post #101 has the table of scenarios (no status, already Silver, already Gold).

But it looks like it‘s been put together by “Simpler & Fairer” TM…

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Yeah well it is what it is - who knows what might appear on horizon by then - it's all a big game - play or not - life goes on

 

[The Flying Schwartz]

Early reports suggest it is a debacle for some: HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card: Star Alliance Gold Status (with $4,000 Minimum Spend in 90 Days), $0 Annual Fee First Year

I’m not surprised, looking at product review.com.au HSBC attracts a lot of criticism on its card application process and customer service generally

 

[Danger]

I feel the T&Cs are contradictory on how long the Gold status last. Footnote 1 says, "Your status will be granted until the first anniversary of your account opening or earlier, if you qualify for a higher status with your selected Frequent Flyer Program by any means." It also says, "Any status granted under the HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card is withdrawn immediately if you close your HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card account."

 

[Mr H]

I feel the T&Cs are contradictory on how long the Gold status last. Footnote 1 says, "Your status will be granted until the first anniversary of your account opening or earlier, if you qualify for a higher status with your selected Frequent Flyer Program by any means." It also says, "Any status granted under the HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card is withdrawn immediately if you close your HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card account."

Not really a contradiction - the status is linked to the card and will be cancelled if you no longer hold the card. It’s a bit like complimentary insurance that comes with credit cards - all the terms and conditions become irrelevant if you cancel the card because that will also cancel your insurance cover.

 

[Danger]

Not really a contradiction - the status is linked to the card and will be cancelled if you no longer hold the card. It’s a bit like complimentary insurance that comes with credit cards - all the terms and conditions become irrelevant if you cancel the card because that will also cancel your insurance cover.

But if you cancel the card after, say 3 months and the status is lost, how is that meeting the "Your status will be granted until the first anniversary of your account opening" part (noting that the rest of that sentence only applies to reaching a higher tier)?

 

[Mr H]

But if you cancel the card after, say 3 months and the status is lost, how is that meeting the "Your status will be granted until the first anniversary of your account opening" part (noting that the rest of that sentence only applies to reaching a higher tier)?

I feel this is really not hard to understand. The expiry date of the status will be set at a date that is no earlier than the anniversary of opening the card, but it will be cancelled immediately if you close the card. I can’t see a way of interpreting it in any other way. Plenty of time based agreements can be cancelled under specific circumstances.

However, if you can’t understand the agreement then don’t enter into it.

 

[Scarlett]

Why?

Already mostly covered up thread, but yes, the fee free o/s spend is a key element.
It earns Flybuys points so converts to VFF - which I only do when there’s the bonus conversions offered once or twice a year.

Personally I get a couple of VA flights or upgrades a year for the cost of my annual fee, so it’s a fair trade off.

Website for doing online banking is pretty basic but that means it’s easy and it does everything I need it to do. Direct debit easy to set up and means it’s paid off in full each month without thinking. They send a confirmation email for each transaction over $100 I think, so easy to see what’s happening: proved useful when someone used the card number (skimmed in Indonesia maybe?) for Uber trips in Aus.

I even managed to pay it into a positive balance when I wanted to buy family J tickets that were more than the credit limit. Just transferred extra money in, saw the positive balance online, bought the tickets and transaction went through normally. (customer service advised me to do this as it would be quicker than processing a credit limit upgrade! Great service)

So, I’m a happy enough Coles credit card customer.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

So to summarise:

- A $450 annual fee, while waived in the first year, doesn't get you any additional benefits like flight credits. The complimentary travel insurance and other benefits you can get with fee free HSBC cards like the Premier card.
- 3% foreign transaction fee means it does not make sense to use outside of Australia
- You need to spend at least $60k per annum to get the real benefit of *G
- At best, that spend will get 38,400 points in the program of your choice - although may be of value to anyone wanting their spend to earn Air Canada, Eva, South African or United miles which can't be otherwise earned on Australian cards

 

[dairyfloss]

I was keen at the outset, but my interest has waned. I'm unlikely to fly *A enough and in Y/Y+ to get the advantage from *A Gold, and it's SQ that I am most likely to fly with when I do, so my VA status is good [enough], there. I may still try Year 1 with the $0 fee and $4K spend to attain *G, but beyond that, the value is simply absent.

I looked again at the annual requirement to retain *A Gold at A$60K spend on eligible transactions and what that actually gets you. My example was with SQ. This card would earn 48K *A points, which converts to 38.4K SQ KF miles. That's just 63% of the points cost for a return Economy Saver SYD-SIN-SYD, or 79% of a one-way J upgrade from flex Y SYD<>SIN with SQ.

The same $A60K spent with my primary HSBC card yields 1:1, so 60K QFF points. Thats enough for 1.2 return Y classic awards SYD-SIN-SYD (albeit with higher taxes applied), and a little more than is needed for 2 x one-way J upgrades from flex Y SYD<>SIN with QF.

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[MARTINE]

Computer says no here too.

I am already SQ Gold and only use them - a few paid J flights/yr means I retain status.

My life different from BC and now Medibank hack.

Im sick of keeping track of all the points I accumulate from a range of cards / and expect to pay if I get the flights I want
Plus - I am simplifying
Have removed as much of my data as I can online/closed amazon acct opened over a decade ago and never used and others.

I had an incident about 3 years ago where some idiot used my address to get an HSBC CC and clearly maxed it out before they managed to stop it. Got about a year of increasingly menacing demands for payment/debt collectors in letterbox from HSBC all of which I photographed and returned with equally assertive letters (nothing else was affected that could indicate widespread identity theft).
The banking ombud got involved and HSBC said as I was not a customer they could do little!! When ombud said “pretty please” ie its a legal requirement for certain amounts of ID for POI - the letters stopped.!

 

[exceladdict]

I was keen at the outset, but my interest has waned. I'm unlikely to fly *A enough and in Y/Y+ to get the advantage from *A Gold, and it's SQ that I am most likely to fly with when I do, so my VA status is good [enough], there. I may still try Year 1 with the $0 fee and $4K spend to attain *G, but beyond that, the value is simply absent.

I looked again at the annual requirement to retain *A Gold at A$60K spend on eligible transactions and what that actually gets you. My example was with SQ. This card would earn 48K *A points, which converts to 38.4K SQ KF miles. That's just 63% of the points cost for a return Economy Saver SYD-SIN-SYD, or 79% of a one-way J upgrade from flex Y SYD<>SIN with SQ.

The same $A60K spent with my primary HSBC card yields 1:1, so 60K QFF points. Thats enough for 1.2 return Y classic awards SYD-SIN-SYD (albeit with higher taxes applied), and a little more than is needed for 2 x one-way J upgrades from flex Y SYD<>SIN with QF.

Cheers,
Matt.

For me, the kicker is the annual fee. I feel 60k spend for gold equivalent is high but reasonable if one is otherwise stuck in Y. But to pay $450 plus meet that spend requirement annually is too high a hurdle

 

[dairyfloss]

For me, the kicker is the annual fee. I feel 60k spend for gold equivalent is high but reasonable if one is otherwise stuck in Y. But to pay $450 plus meet that spend requirement annually is too high a hurdle

Yes - very high for what is essentially a standard Visa card with *A benefits. I was expecting at least VISA Signature & benefits might be bundled for that fee, and no more than the HSBC Premier 2% for o/s trx fees. It was not to be...

 

[Scr77]

No doubt about it, this card should be foreign conversion fee free.

 

[Mr H]

So to summarise:

- A $450 annual fee, while waived in the first year, doesn't get you any additional benefits like flight credits. The complimentary travel insurance and other benefits you can get with fee free HSBC cards like the Premier card.
...

I am thinking that this reflects the value Star Alliance places on its gold membership - which HSBC presumably has to pay for. And unlike sign up bonuses, this would potentially be an ongoing cost to HSBC.

 

[ChrisMars]

To me a sweet spot for this card is those FF that want to switch from a non-star alliance program to a star-alliance program (or partner). First year *A gold is perfect to make the switch, and start earning enough status to maintain gold the following years, by flying.

Example: a QFF member that wants to switch to VA. Granted most of those frequent flyer would already have used one of the status match available in the last few years.

Personally, if this offer is still available when I drop QFF gold, I'll find it very handy.

 

[oz_mark]

I feel this is really not hard to understand. The expiry date of the status will be set at a date that is no earlier than the anniversary of opening the card, but it will be cancelled immediately if you close the card. I can’t see a way of interpreting it in any other way. Plenty of time based agreements can be cancelled under specific circumstances.

However, if you can’t understand the agreement then don’t enter into it.

And choose your airline carefully!

How long will my Star Alliance Silver or Star Alliance Gold status be valid with my selected Status Airline?

Air Canada	Your Aeroplan Elite status will be valid for the remainder of the current calendar year and next calendar year.
EVA Air	Your Star Alliance Silver or Gold status will be valid for 12 months, unless you earn another status through your HSBC Star Alliance credit card or a higher status through direct flight activity with EVA Air (whereby the status and validity you currently have will end, with a new status and validity will be calculated).
Air New Zealand	Airpoints Nominated Silver or Airpoints Nominated Gold requests are normally valid for 12 months with Air New Zealand. There are some situations where a status may end early. For example, if you upgrade to a higher status, or close your HSBC Star Alliance credit card.
Singapore Airlines	Your status will be valid until the end of the current 12-month cycle since the start of your HSBC Star Alliance credit card account opening anniversary date (i.e. a day before the next credit card account opening anniversary date), unless the KrisFlyer Elite Gold status is earned from the welcome offer, the KrisFlyer status will be valid until a day before the next credit card account opening anniversary date.
South African Airways	Your Voyager status will be valid for a minimum of 12 months from the date of receipt of your request from Star Alliance.
Thai Airways	Your Royal Orchid Plus status will be valid for 12 months.
United Airlines	Your status will be valid for a minimum of 12 months from the date United Airlines receives the status upgrade request from Star Alliance.

 

[ChrisMars]

And choose your airline carefully!

How long will my Star Alliance Silver or Star Alliance Gold status be valid with my selected Status Airline?

Air Canada	Your Aeroplan Elite status will be valid for the remainder of the current calendar year and next calendar year.
EVA Air	Your Star Alliance Silver or Gold status will be valid for 12 months, unless you earn another status through your HSBC Star Alliance credit card or a higher status through direct flight activity with EVA Air (whereby the status and validity you currently have will end, with a new status and validity will be calculated).
Air New Zealand	Airpoints Nominated Silver or Airpoints Nominated Gold requests are normally valid for 12 months with Air New Zealand. There are some situations where a status may end early. For example, if you upgrade to a higher status, or close your HSBC Star Alliance credit card.
Singapore Airlines	Your status will be valid until the end of the current 12-month cycle since the start of your HSBC Star Alliance credit card account opening anniversary date (i.e. a day before the next credit card account opening anniversary date), unless the KrisFlyer Elite Gold status is earned from the welcome offer, the KrisFlyer status will be valid until a day before the next credit card account opening anniversary date.
South African Airways	Your Voyager status will be valid for a minimum of 12 months from the date of receipt of your request from Star Alliance.
Thai Airways	Your Royal Orchid Plus status will be valid for 12 months.
United Airlines	Your status will be valid for a minimum of 12 months from the date United Airlines receives the status upgrade request from Star Alliance.

Close to 2 years of Aeroplan if timed optimally? Does Aeroplan status opens the dors of va lounge when fluing with VA?

 

[Mr H]

Close to 2 years of Aeroplan if timed optimally? Does Aeroplan status opens the dors of va lounge when fluing with VA?

Yes, but note that to enjoy the full lifespan of that gold status, you would have to keep the card open for the duration and pay at least one $450 annual fee.

 

[blacksultan]

Does this mean that the aero plan option is likely to be the longest lasting if one qualifies for gold early next year through the card ?
I am already krisflyer gold .

Post automatically merged: Nov 18, 2022

Yes, but note that to enjoy the full lifespan of that gold status, you would have to keep the card open for the duration and pay at least one $450 annual fee.

Is this mentioned in the t’s and c ‘s ?