My HSBC points dilemma: Wait or cash-out?

Back in August 2020, the HSBC Revolution received a massive enhancement, which saw its earn rate upgraded to 4 mpd on airlines, hotels, shopping, supermarkets, transport and more. Throw in a permanent annual fee waiver and a complimentary copy of The Entertainer, and you can see why it’s been a fixture in my wallet ever since.

💳 HSBC Revolution Bonus Categories
Category	MCCs	Examples
Airlines, Car Rental, Hotels, Cruise Lines & Travel Agencies	3000 to 3350, 3351 to 3500, 3501 to 3999, 4411, 4511, 4722, 7011	SIA, Scoot, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Klook, Expedia, Hotels.com
Dept. Stores & Retail Stores	4816, 5045, 5262, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5732 to 5735, 5912, 5942, 5944 to 5949, 5964 to 5970, 5992, 5999	Amazon, Best Denki, Book Depository, Courts, Harvey Norman, Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee, Taobao
Groceries, Dining & Food Delivery	5411, 5441, 5462, 5499, 5811, 5812, 5813, 5814	Cold Storage, Deliveroo, NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong, foodpanda, GrabFood, WhyQ
Transport & Membership Clubs	4121, 7997	Comfort, Grab (excluding GrabPay top-ups), gojek,  TADA, Ryde, Fitness First
Bonuses apply regardless of whether spend is in SGD or foreign currency

I’ve been diligently maxing out the monthly 4 mpd cap whenever possible for three years now, and that’s given me a good-sized stash of points. 

But it’s also left me in a rather interesting dilemma…

My HSBC points problem

HSBC points expire at the end of the 37th month after they’re earned, as illustrated in the table below.

Since I was approved for a HSBC Revolution Card in August 2020, my points will start expiring from 30 September 2023 onwards.

I’m currently sitting on about 225,000 points (90,000 miles). Normally, I’d transfer the whole lot to KrisFlyer or Asia Miles, and not revisit the situation for another three years.

But then in May 2023 the HSBC TravelOne Card launched, and everything changed. Overnight, HSBC went from two transfer partners to 12, with instant conversions for all programmes except Accor and no conversion fees till 31 December 2023.

✈️ HSBC TravelOne Airline Partners
Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (HSBC Points : Partner)
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000

🏨 HSBC TravelOne Hotel Partners
Hotel Programme	Conversion Ratio (HSBC Points : Partner)
	25,000 : 5,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000

There is a catch, however- the additional transfer partners are only available to HSBC TravelOne Cardholders at the moment. HSBC has plans to eventually roll them out for all its cards, but there’s no confirmed timeline yet.

That’s what’s giving me reason to pause. I’m pretty well-stocked with KrisFlyer and Asia Miles, but I sure wouldn’t mind an opportunity to top-up my British Airways (and hence Qatar) account, or delve a bit deeper into EVA Air Infinity MileageLands and its sometimes-better SIA award space.

And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. Assuming HSBC makes good on its promises to expand the TravelOne’s partner list to “more than 20” by the end of 2023, we could be seeing some very exciting partners. 

For reference, here’s the HSBC TravelOne Card’s partner list in Malaysia (21) and Vietnam (20).

I don’t know about you, but I spot some names that get me excited. If Air Canada Aeroplan comes onboard, for example, we’ll have a programme with no fuel surcharges, no blocked availability, stopovers for just 5,000 points, and plenty of partners to choose from.

HSBC has also said that it’s working on points pooling, so HSBC points earned across different cards can be combined and redeemed. Again, there’s no definite timeline, but when that happens it’ll be much easier to come up with a cohesive points strategy for HSBC cards.

What I’m doing

So, returning to my expiring points conundrum: given that HSBC points could become a lot more valuable in the near future, what should I do now?

Here’s where HSBC’s unusual points conversion system may work to your advantage.

HSBC Mileage Programme

Unlike most other banks which charge a flat ~S$25 fee per conversion, HSBC instead offers the HSBC Mileage Programme. For a flat S$43.20 annual fee, cardholders can convert points to KrisFlyer or Asia Miles as often as they wish. 

For avoidance of doubt, you only pay a single Mileage Programme fee regardless of how many HSBC credit cards you have. This covers transfers to both KrisFlyer and Asia Miles (i.e. there’s no need to register again for the second frequent flyer programme). 

This setup alleviates the problem somewhat:

• If HSBC charged a S$25 fee per conversion, my natural inclination would be to convert as many points as possible at one go
• But since it’s a flat fee, there’s no harm in me converting the minimum block of 25,000 points whenever necessary, cashing out the soonest expiring points and biding my time until the new partners come round.

I mean, it’s still not ideal in the sense that 25,000 points (10,000 miles) is a relatively large conversion block. Assuming you max out your 4 mpd allowance each month (S$1,000), that’s 2.5 months’ worth of points.

That said, it’s certainly much better than paying multiple conversion fees with no clear picture of when those additional partners will come.

I’ve already transferred my first block of 25,000 points to clear out points expiring on 30 September, 30 November and 31 December 2023, so I’ll only have to deal with this question again in early January 2024.

Conclusion

If you hopped on the HSBC Revolution bandwagon about the same time as I did, your earliest points should be expiring around the end of this month. You could cash out your entire stash to KrisFlyer or Asia Miles and call it a day, but if you want to wait for HSBC’s new transfer partners, then the HSBC Mileage Programme’s flat fee makes it relatively cost-effective to do so.

Remember: it’s possible to check your points expiry on the HSBC mobile app by tapping on your card account > view more > pay with points now. At the top of the screen you’ll see how many points are expiring in the next three months. 

HSBC points: convert or wait?