HSBC Canada has an in-house rewards currency known as HSBC Rewards. As with American Express Membership Rewards or RBC Avion points, HSBC Rewards is another useful transferable points currency to have at your disposal.
As a reminder, transferable points are highly valued, since they’re flexible and can be redeemed in a variety of ways. In Canada, HSBC Rewards can be transferred to three airline loyalty programs, including British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
When planning out a redemption, it’s important to be mindful of the transfer times to various loyalty programs. In this guide, we’ll take a look at how long it takes for your HSBC Rewards points to transfer into airline partner programs.
Transferring Points from HSBC Rewards
In Canada, there are three credit cards offered by HSBC that earn HSBC Rewards points: the HSBC +Rewards Mastercard, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, and the HSBC Metal World Elite Mastercard.
Credit Card
Best Offer
Value
The three cards range from a base-level card with no annual fee, to a top-tier card that’s only available to HSBC Private Banking Clients. By and large, the most popular card for earning HSBC Rewards points is the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, a mid-tier product.
As with other transferable points currencies, it’s best to only transfer points out of your account once you have a specific redemption in mind. This is because transfers from HSBC Rewards are one-way only, which means that you’re unable to get them back once they’ve left your account.
In Canada, HSBC Rewards points can be transferred into British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
To initiate a transfer, sign in to your HSBC Rewards account. Once there, select the “Travel” dropdown menu, click on “Rewards for Miles”, and then select the partner program to which you’d like to transfer points.
Keep in mind that for all three partners, HSBC requires a minimum of 25,000 HSBC Rewards points to initiate a transfer, and then increments of 10,000 points thereafter.
The below chart summarizes the estimated transfer time as listed by HSBC, the realistic transfer time, the minimum transfer amount, and the transfer ratio for each partner program. Further down, we’ll go into a bit more detail about the nuances of each loyalty program.
Transfer Partner | Estimated Transfer Time | Realistic Transfer Time | Minimum Number of Points to Transfer | Transfer Ratio |
British Airways Executive Club | Up to 30 days | Up to a week | 25,000 | 25:10 |
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | Up to 30 days | Up to a week | 25,000 | 25:8 |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Up to 30 days | Up to a week | 25,000 | 25:9 |
Transferring to British Airways Executive Club
HSBC Rewards points transfer to British Airways Executive Club, giving you access to Oneworld airlines.
The transfer ratio is 25:10, which means that if you transfer 25,000 HSBC Rewards, you’ll have 10,000 Avios arrive in your British Airways Executive Club account.
This is the most favourable transfer ratio amongst the three HSBC Rewards transfer partners; however, it’s worth noting that it’s less competitive than with Amex MR or RBC Avion, which transfer at a 1:1 ratio.
HSBC Canada says to allow for up to 30 days for HSBC Rewards to land in your British Airways Executive Club account; however, you should see the points arrive in your account within a week at most.
In the past, we’ve seen transfer bonuses of up to 30%. During these events, the transfer ratio would improve to 25:13, as you’d wind up with 13,000 Avios in your British Airways Executive Club account after transferring 25,000 HSBC Rewards.
If you’re able to wait for a transfer bonus event, you’ll get the best bang for your buck.
Transferring to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
As with American Express Membership Rewards and RBC Avion, HSBC Rewards can also transfer to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. With Asia Miles, you have access to Oneworld airlines, as well as an increased inventory of Cathay Pacific award flights.
The transfer ratio from HSBC Rewards to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is 25:8, or 25,000 HSBC Rewards = 8,000 Asia Miles. Compared to the 1:1 transfer ratio with RBC Avion, or even the 1:0.75 transfer ratio with Amex MR, this is indeed a less competitive rate.
HSBC Canada lists a general transfer time of up to 30 days; however, assuming the details between both accounts line up, the points should be in your Asia Miles account in around a week.
Keep in mind that Asia Miles is generally more strict than other programs when it comes to checking account details, so be sure that the information in both accounts matches exactly. If there are any discrepancies, your points could be in limbo for longer than expected.
We’ve seen transfer bonuses to Asia Miles of up to 15% in the past. This would improve the transfer ratio to 25:9.2, as you’d wind up with 9,200 Asia Miles when transferring 25,000 HSBC Rewards.
If you’d like to redeem your HSBC Rewards points for Asia Miles, it’s best to wait for a transfer bonus to boost the transfer ratio in your favour.
Transferring to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
The third and final transfer partner of HSBC Rewards is Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. In Canada, HSBC Rewards is the only transferable points currency with direct access to the program.
If you’ve ever had your eyes on an aspirational flight in Singapore Airlines First Class, KrisFlyer is the only program that will get you there.
The transfer ratio from HSBC Rewards to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles is 25:9, which means that you’ll get 9,000 KrisFlyer miles for every 25,000 HSBC Rewards you transfer.
Once again, HSBC Canada suggests that transfers can take up to 30 days; however, you can expect the points to arrive in your KrisFlyer account within a week.
Given that Singapore Airlines has long-haul business class seats available on Aeroplan, the value proposition of its own miles very much lies with First Class and Suites Class tickets. As there are no other ways for Canadians to access KrisFlyer’s own loyalty program without dabbling in US-issued credit cards, HSBC Rewards is the only option.
We’ve seen transfer bonuses from HSBC Rewards to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer of up to 15% in the past, which would improve the transfer ratio to 25:10.35, or 25,000 HSBC Rewards = 10,350 KrisFlyer miles.
It’s worth noting that KrisFlyer transfer bonus events are relatively rare compared to British Airways Executive Club or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, but if you can take advantage of one, it’s surely in your best interest.
Keep in mind that KrisFlyer miles expire 36 months after they arrive in your account. Therefore, you’ll only want to transfer points in if you have a specific redemption in mind – otherwise, you may wind up losing out if you don’t use them in time.
On the plus side, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer allows award holds. This means that if you find a flight for which you’d like to redeem points, you can call KrisFlyer, place the award on hold, and then transfer points in without having to worry about losing your seat.
Conclusion
HSBC Rewards is another useful transferable points currency available in Canada, with options to redeem points in three different airline loyalty programs.
Of these, perhaps the most intriguing is Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, since it’s the only direct pathway for Canadians to access the program.
Transferring HSBC Rewards to British Airways Executive Club or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles can be a useful way to top up your account for a redemption, too.
It will take up to a week for your HSBC Rewards points to arrive in any of the three programs. Just be sure to have a specific redemption in mind, make use of any transfer bonus events, and utilize award holds, when available.
Thanks for the article – any idea why they haven’t offered the 30-40% boost to Avios in June like they have in the previous years?