Originally Posted by
TTT103
I'm curious what people see as being attractive in the HSBC World Elite MC for $395 a year? I'm looking for a replacement for my City National Bank Crystal Infinite card, and will likely go with the Chase Sapphire Reserve once travel resumes. Similarly, the HSBC Premier MC has a few OK perks for no fee with an HSBC funded account, but again, not sure if it's worth moving money for. Just wondering if I'm missing something?
You're not missing anything. Are the cards alright? Yeah. Are they better than AMEX/Chase offerings? Not really. I wouldn't go out of my way to get this card (opening an account just for this). AMEX Platinum is good for perks and Chase Sapprhire Reserve is good for easy (but not the most generous) points earning.
What I like about my HSBC World Elite card
- Boingo benefit (this was removed from AMEX Platinum). This works well in Asia and at a few airports in the US.
- The $100 Uber/Lyft credit and $100 travel credit are straight forward to use. This doesn't require jumping through hoops like with AMEX.
- Not many points transfer partners but they have the ones I use most anyway (SQ and BA).
- Other MasterCard benefits (not unique to HSBC) is the Postmates $5 off $25, $5 Fandago credit when you buy 2 tickets, $10 Lyft credit when you take 5 rides in a month.
- 1.5cpp through their travel portal (see IT comment below)
- I haven't tested this yet but I believe these cards are Chip and Pin (I set up a pin via their phone system). This would in theory let you use things like vending machines for train tickets in Europe.
What I don't like
- HSBC IT is pretty bad. Looks like they haven't updated anything from the early 2000s. This includes their benefit administrator who runs the credit card rewards and travel portal.