HSBC TravelOne Card adds hefty 10,000 points conversion fee

Earlier today, HSBC added eight new airline and hotel partners for the TravelOne Card, bringing the total number of partners to 20.

There’s good news and bad news here: while it’s exciting to see programmes like Aeroplan and JAL Mileage Bank finally make their Singapore debuts, the unfavourable conversion ratios nerf any potential value.

But while the new partners are a mixed bag, HSBC has announced a new conversion fee that is just plain bad. From 25 January 2024, TravelOne Cardholders will pay 10,000 HSBC Points per conversion, an absurdly expensive fee compared to the market average of S$25. 

HSBC TravelOne Card’s new conversion fee

HSBC TravelOne Cardholders currently enjoy a waiver of conversion fees when they convert HSBC Points to airline and hotel partners. This is a limited-time promotion that has been running ever since the TravelOne Card launched in May 2023, and is currently scheduled to end on 31 December 2023. 

HSBC has now extended the fee-free period till 24 January 2024, but from 25 January 2024 a flat fee of 10,000 HSBC Points will be imposed. 

For TravelOne Cardholders, the Mileage Programme fee will be waived up to 24 January 2024. With effect from 25 January 2024, TravelOne Cardholders will need to pay a redemption fee in the form of 10,000 Points to redeem any Airmiles or Hotel Points. This fee is strictly non-waivable.

-HSBC T&Cs

10,000 HSBC Points is the equivalent of 4,000 KrisFlyer miles, and if we use my value of 1.5 cents per mile, that’s a hefty $60! It’s head and shoulders above what any other bank is charging, as summarised in the table below. 

💰 Points Conversion Fees by Bank
Issuer	Per Conversion	Annual Option
	S$201	N/A
	S$30	N/A
	S$272	N/A
	S$273	S$43.204
All other cards	N/A	S$43.205
TravelOne Card	10,000 points  (~S$60)	N/A
	S$276	N/A
	S$257	N/A
	S$27	N/A
	S$258	S$509
1. Waived for all Platinum and Centurion cardholders 2. Waived for Citi ULTIMA cardholders 3. Waived for DBS Insignia cardholders 4. Automatic conversions in blocks of 500 DBS points (1,000 miles) each quarter. Additional ad-hoc redemptions can be done for free 5. Covers all HSBC cards you may have, even though HSBC points don’t pool 6. Waived for Maybank Visa Infinite and Maybank World Mastercard cardholders 7. Waived for points transfers via STACK, till 30 Nov 2023 8. Waived for UOB Reserve, UOB Visa Infinite Metal, UOB Visa Infinite and UOB Privilege Banking cardholders 9. Automatic conversions in blocks of UNI$2,500 (5,000 miles) each month for balances above UNI$15,000. Additional ad-hoc redemptions cost S$25

HSBC tells me that this fee was derived based on the rate used for Pay with Points (4,000 points = S$10), and hence a S$25 fee costs 10,000 points. But come on; no one in the right mind chooses Pay with Points, and in fact I’d much rather they charged me S$25!

If you ask me, HSBC is really shooting themselves in the foot with this move. It’s already so hard to earn points with the HSBC TravelOne Card, because:

• HSBC Points do not pool, so you can’t tap the Revolution’s higher earn rates (points pooling is in the works, but will not arrive anytime this year)
• HSBC does not have an equivalent of Citi PayAll; in fact, they ended their income tax payment facility for credit cards in January this year
• HSBC does not allow cardholders to earn points on CardUp/ipaymy transactions

To ask cardholders to shell out 10,000 points instead of S$25 for a conversion just compounds the problem. It singlehandedly negates two of this card’s greatest assets: instant conversions, and conversion blocks of as little as two miles after the first 10,000 miles block. 

And if you’re contemplating signing up for a HSBC TravelOne Card just for the welcome offer, think again. The HSBC TravelOne Card offers 50,000 points (20,000 miles) to new cardholders who pay the S$194.40 annual fee and spend S$1,000 by the end of the second month after approval.

Since the bonus miles are credited 90 days after approval, there’s no way you can avoid the 10,000 points transfer fee, which eats up 20% of this bonus!

HSBC TravelOne Card’s new transfer partners

As a reminder, HSBC TravelOne Cardholders can now transfer their points to 16 airlines and four hotel partners at the following ratios. 

Airlines

✈️ HSBC TravelOne Airline Partners
Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (HSBC Points : Partner)
New	50,000 : 10,000
New	40,000 : 10,000
New	35,000 : 10,000
New	35,000 : 10,000
New	35,000 : 10,000
New	35,000 : 10,000
New	30,000 : 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
	25,000 : 10,000

Hotels

🏨 HSBC TravelOne Hotel Partners
Hotel Programme	Conversion Ratio (HSBC Points : Partner)
New	30,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 5,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000

All HSBC TravelOne Card partner transfers are processed instantly, with the exception of the following:

• Accor Live Limitless: Within 5 business days
• Club Vistara: Within 5 business days
• Hainan Fortune Wings Club: Within 5 business days
• Qatar Privilege Club: Within 5 business days
• Japan Airlines Mileage Bank: Within 21 business days

I’ve already provided my thoughts on the new partners and ratios in the post below, so refer to that for further details. 

HSBC TravelOne Card adds 8 new airline and hotel partners, including Aeroplan

Conclusion

From 25 January 2024, HSBC TravelOne Cardholders will need to pay a flat fee of 10,000 HSBC Points for every conversion. This is the equivalent of 4,000 KrisFlyer miles or S$60, making it the most expensive fee on the market.

This is a bad, bad decision from what once looked like a promising miles card, and hopefully one that gets reversed before implementation. 

What do you make of the HSBC TravelOne Card’s upcoming conversion fee?