I have some Aeroplan-specific questions about the HSBC Star Alliance credit card (currently an Australia-only offering). I've searched FT pretty thoroughly and can find very little (other than this general thread), so I don't think this has already been discussed - apologies if that's not the case.

As you can see from the linked thread above, general FF reaction to the credit card was 'meh' - it's not a very compelling offering. However a combination of circumstance has made me decide to give it a go:

• Aeroplan's current offer of 50K AP miles (in addition to *G status) for 4K of spend in 90 days
• The ongoing 'introductory special offer' of no annual fee for the first year
• and the fact that Asiana (which is my main *A FFP) apparently really will be acquired by KE (now the EU has approved the merger) and cease to exist as a *A airline.

Which brings me to my question. I need to meet the spending requirement in 90 days, which means sometime from mid-January to mid-April. However I can't figure out what period I'd be granted status for - does anyone know? And would that be affected by what date during that Jan-Apr period I qualified (ie should I be trying to ensure I don't qualify until March or early April)?

There seems to be somewhat contradictory statements regarding this in the T&Cs.

In the Star Alliance T&C under 'conferral of status', it says " Generally, the Status Period of the conferred status will be at least twelve months unless, if, during those twelve months you qualify, by any means, for a higher status with your chosen Participating Status FFP. Exceptions may apply according to the rules of the Participating Status FFPs".

In the Aeroplan page's T&C it says "Status will be granted within 30 days after reaching the qualifying spend of $4,000, provided that your account is active and not in arrears. Your status will be granted until the first anniversary of your account opening or earlier, if you qualify for a higher status with your selected Frequent Flyer Program by any means."

Based on the Aeroplan statement, it sounds like if I qualified for status in, say, April it would only be valid until mid-January, which is when I opened the account, however that would be substantially less than the 'at least twelve months' statement in the Star T&Cs. Obviously I'd hope to get status for 2025 as well, in the same way as if earning status through flying. Any thoughts on this? Has anyone actually qualified this way and if so what was your experience?

Thanks!