sxc

It says that club points earned through spending will be credited once per year in March. So your Jan to Dec club points spending will be in your account the following March….not convenient if you need to get some club points at the end of your Marco Polo year.

blandy62

not really attractive product unless you are priority banking customer. AE was a superior product

sxc

And I think the new Explorer card is better than the old Amex Cathay Pacific card.

CX HK

It appears that Premium Banking customers also get the annual fee waived, so technically the lowest amount needed to park in an SCB account is HKD 200,000 - then you will get this SCB Cathay card for free.

It does beat AE in the sense that you won't have to worry about paying HKD 1000+ for a mileage card.

apsrinomecker

so if I am willing to maintain a HKD 1 million account (including MPF or mortgage) with SCB, I can get the CX card (priority banking version) with no annual fee, which comes with 4 lounge access per year and priority check-in and boarding with no spending requirement? I think it is quite attrative as compared to other local HKD 1 million account (e.g. HSBC, Hang Seng, Citibank)?

blandy62

that's what I meant. if you are willing to maintain 1M there, the product is fine. Othersiwe I think think AE is better

apsrinomecker

i think they are more like two different types of products - one is banking product giving you some perks (the club point earning feature is of very limited value), while the other is a credit card product for earning miles (which I believe there are better options depending on the situation out there (e.g. HSBC red for online spending)

Cambo

Being non-HK based and as such not having any personal interest in this, though when having HKD 1M+ available to just "put" in an account, I hardly can imagine you would not fly J on your own dime and as such, get these perks with the ticket right away.

Earning club-points/miles through spending is a long way to go, unless you use the card for large scale business purchases. Then, things start adding up hefty (effectively that much, you drown in the miles, especially during Covid-19 times). But for regular purchases ? Assume you spent USD 5K a month with the card. That's USD 60K a year. That would give you 60K miles (when lucky), which is not even enough for a J class one-way HKG-EU. Do that USD 5K on food, and you get fat to.

OMAAT promotes cards, etc, but when you carefully read, your real benefits does come from switching cards and its sign-up bonuses.

ernestnywang

I respectfully disagree

CX HK

I respectfully disagree with Cambo as well. HKD 1m is actually quite common in HK - it's a very wealthy city/society. It's also a very expensive city. HKD 1m wouldn't be enough to get you a parking space in my upscale neighborhoods, there is no way that just having a spare HKD 1m would give you the freedom to just buy J tickets on your own dime...

Actually, this is one of the more common complaints in HK - that HSBC Premier or SCB Priority means nothing because literally everyone is Premier or Priority. It is why they launched the Jade / Priority Private tiers, and why some banks will have a higher requirement (Citibank Gold (Premier and Priority equivalent) requires something like HKD 1.5m or 2m.)

apsrinomecker

KPMG's report said in 2019 there were over 170,000 people (out of a population of 7.5 million) with over USD 1 million (HKD 7.8 million) assets for investment in Hong Kong. I would imagine the number of population with over HKD 1 million assets much higher (1 or 2 million?), especially after COVID-19?

one only need to put HKD1 million at the Standard Chartered account (which can include retirement contribution and mortgage) - cant imagine all of these people would pay for their own J tickets

Cambo

Thanks for the respect

Let me elaborate: To just "put" HKD 1M (free cash) in an account to get a card with some freebies, I expect, somebody doing so, does have at least 10 times that amount (in free cash) available elsewhere. Or, maybe living myself in more affordable locations, I simply don't understand HK people and they way the treat their holy wealth ...... Like being prepared to move their finances to another bank for just the card frills, I would not do that (there is no such thing like a free lunch).

Though given the reactions, HK people seem to be quite sensitive for such offers and CX might have hit the nail on its head with this offer

Added: What's the value of 4 lounge vouchers ? USD 200 ?

garykung

Actually not so much. Many choosing HSBC or Citibank because of its (international) network.

You would be surprised if you know the actual reality - just because they appear to be "rich", their lifestyles are not correspondent.

In Hong Kong, many consider getting a Y award ticket is an achievement.

Before making such comparison, I would strongly advise you to understand the lifestyle in Hong Kong first.

Lucky's blog's scope is very limited when it comes to overseas, i.e. cabin reviews only.

Beside - Lucky is not always correct (He is one of the curprit in the mistake CX Wing F PP story).

Indeed. You will know better about this if you have to wait in line in a branch.

The increased requirement of Citigold was actually due to a global product re-alignment.

Wrong assumption.

Then why would you express your opinion like you know?

I believe the (most) consensus is this product sucks. CX is really screwed.

There is no value. While lounge access is redeemable, it can't be purchased.

ernestnywang

I'm not HK-based, either, so it's all hypothetical, and I am prolly disclosing a bit too much about myself here, but:

Will I put 1 million HKD cash in a bank to get a card like this one? No, especially considering the earn rate and the fact I'm already GO.
Do I have 1 million HKD free cash and will I put that in a bank to get a more attractive card? I do and I will definitely consider.
Do I fly J? Except op-ups and award tickets, hardly. I mostly fly Y, for work or for leisure.
Do I have 10 million HKD free cash? No, unfortunately

A portion of my asset is in CD anyway, and you earn more or less the same interest rate no matter which bank you put it in. Once the CD matures, there's pretty much no opportunity cost to move it from 1 bank to another. Perhaps you even earn a slightly better rate. Plus, most banks offer a similar set of investment products. You can still invest via another bank.

I know many people get HSBC Premier or Citigold just to enjoy fee-free international cash withdraw and/or make it easy to transfer funds between countries. Getting a credit card would follow the same logic.

TomYoung

As far as I am concerned it is yet another Cathay Pacific enhancement. I used to have a free Cathay Pacific credit card provided through AMEX. That has been cancelled. If I wish I can apply for a Standard Chartered credit card that is called Cathay. I would have to go through the hassle of opening a new banking relation and reduce my financial flexibility to gain some marginal reward benefit. I can only imagine that Cathay will save some subsidy it used to pass to AMEX and/or will received a kickback from SCB. Thank you for nothing Cathay. Another reason to reduce the weighting I give to buying tickets to fly with you.