Live: HSBC credit card points pooling

Last month, HSBC announced that it would finally add credit card points pooling from late May, reducing the issue of orphan points and allowing Revolution and Visa Infinite cardholders to access the TravelOne’s 21 airline and hotel transfer partners.

While the update was scheduled to be completed by 28 May 2024, it looks like HSBC is rolling this out early- at least for selected customers. I’m already able to see my HSBC Revolution and TravelOne Card points pooled in the HSBC app, though unfortunately its overly paranoid security protocols prevent me from taking screenshots. 

From my poking around, it looks like everything works exactly as promised, with no nasty surprises. All 21 partners are accounted for, transfer blocks are just two miles after the first 10,000 miles, there’s no conversion fees, and conversions to most programmes are instant. 

HSBC points pooling now live

HSBC cardholders can now transfer their combined points balance to 17 airline and four hotel transfer partners, at the ratios shown below.

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

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

All conversions are free until 31 January 2025, and all conversions are instant except for:

• Club Vistara (5 working days)
• Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club (5 working days)
• JAL Mileage Bank (10 working days)

While the minimum transfer block is 10,000 miles/points (Accor: 5,000 points), the subsequent block is just 2 miles (Accor: 1 point). In other words, you could choose to transfer 10,002 miles or 20,958 miles, which is a great way of avoiding orphan points. 

The new rewards platform is exclusive to the HSBC SG mobile app, with redemptions no longer available via phone banking or online banking. 

Watch the ratios!

Do remember that not all partners share the same ratio, so your effective mpd depends on which partner you choose. 

For example the HSBC Revolution earns 10 points per S$1 on its bonus categories, but that only works out to 4 mpd if you pick a partner with a 25,000 points = 10,000 miles transfer ratio. 

Depending on which partner you pick, the earn rate could go as low as 2 mpd, so choose wisely. 

There’s also one quirk that needs to be highlighted: it makes no sense at all to convert HSBC points to Qatar Privilege Club. The ratio for these transfers is 3.5 points = 1 mile ratio, but you could instead convert points to British Airways Avios at 2.5 points = 1 mile, and then convert British Airways Avios to Qatar Avios at a 1:1 ratio.

HSBC is refunding Mileage Programme fees

With the shift to the new rewards platform, the previous HSBC Mileage Programme is now defunct. If you paid your membership fee from June 2023 onwards, you will be eligible for a full refund, which will be credited to your card account by 31 July 2024.

For more on this, refer to the article below.

HSBC offering full refund of Mileage Programme annual fee

HSBC’s boasts the most transfer partners in Singapore

HSBC’s list of transfer partners now dwarfs the competition, with its next closest competitor Citibank having “only” 11 to choose from.

Of course, there’s quantity of partners, and then there’s quality. Some of HSBC’s partners are programmes no serious miles chaser should consider (Club Vistara, Hainan Fortune Wings, Malaysia Airlines Enrich and Airasia Rewards to name a few), and keep in mind that all of Citi’s partners share the same transfer ratio, unlike HSBC.

Still, I’m all for more choice, and hopefully this motivates other banks to play catch up. 

Conclusion

HSBC’s new rewards platform is being rolled out ahead of schedule, bringing points pooling across all cards and new transfer partners for Revolution and Visa Infinite cardholders. 

This is probably being done in stages, so if you don’t see the option on your HSBC app yet, give it a couple of days (the official implementation date is not until Tuesday 28 May anyway).

It’s just a shame that the HSBC Revolution Card has been on the receiving end of multiple nerfs this year, because it’s the only realistic way of earning HSBC points at a reasonable pace.