What do we think of the new HSBC Premier World Elite credit card benefits?

HSBC has announced details of its refreshed Premier World Elite Mastercard credit card, to take effect from 23rd September.

It has aggressively increased the earning rate for Avios and other airline miles BUT at the expense of a sharp increase in the annual fee and a halving of the sign-up bonus.

Let’s take a look.

There are two things you need to know about the HSBC Premer World Elite Mastercard before we start:

• it is only available to HSBC Premier current account holders

• some of the benefits often mentioned, such as free travel insurance, are actually current account benefits and NOT credit card benefits – you get them just because you have a (free) HSBC Premier account

HSBC Premier has tough eligibility criteria.  See here and scroll down to see the criteria.

As well as opening a HSBC Premier current account, you must ALSO have £50,000 invested with HSBC, either in a savings account or via an investment product.

Alternatively, if you earn over £75,000, you qualify if you just have a HSBC mortgage or any investment or insurance product. The minimum investment in an ‘investment product’ is just £50. You can see the range of HSBC investment funds here.

Getting the card is therefore a substantial faff, given the need for a HSBC Premier current account, compared to applying for any other credit card.

What is changing with the HSBC Premier World Elite credit card?

The big changes are:

• the annual fee increases from £195 to £290

• the earn rate, assuming you choose to take airline miles, increases from 1 mile per £1 to 1.5 miles per £1

• the rate for overseas spend (2.99% FX fee) remains at 2 miles per £1

• the sign-up bonus drops from 40,000 points in Year 1 and 40,000 points in Year 2 (if you spent £12,000 in Year 1) to a one-off 40,000 points in Year 1

The unimportant changes are:

• fast track security benefits at selected airports via Mastercard World Elite

• additional ‘non travel’ reward partners, which are only worth 1p per £1 spent and therefore far (far far) worse than taking 1.5 airline miles

There are no real changes to the list of airline and hotel partners which I discuss in this article. Qatar Airways is joining, but as they use Avios it is a non-event, with BA already a partner.

The key benefit which remains is:

• free Priority Pass airport lounge access, which (unlike American Express) includes airport restaurant partners

The big snag with the Priority Pass benefit is that no guests are allowed, unless you pay £60 to get a supplementary credit card for someone. Children cannot be covered because they cannot hold supplementary credit cards.

Where can I use fast track security?

Last time we looked at this topic (2022), you could get free Fast Track security passes for the following airports:

• Aberdeen
• Glasgow
• Liverpool
• London Gatwick
• Luton
• Newcastle
• Southampton

It didn’t work for Belfast, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Derry, Doncaster Sheffield, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Humberside, Inverness, Isle of Man, Jersey, Leeds Bradford, London City, London Heathrow, London Stansted, Manchester, Newquay, Norwich, Southend or Teesside.

(EDIT: the comments below imply that it is now offered more widely, although not at Heathrow)

Note that some Curve and Currensea cards qualify for a reduced version of this benefit (3 passes per 12 months) and you may want to try to register any other Mastercard cards you have – this article explains the benefit in more detail. You do NOT necessarily need to pay £290 to HSBC to get it.

Are these changes good value?

Let’s assume the only thing you care about is the airline miles, and that you value an Avios or other mile at 1p.

The break-even point is £19,000 of spending per year:

• if you spend more than £19,000 per year, the value of the extra Avios you earn (assuming 1p per Avios) is greater than the £95 rise in the annual fee

• if you spend less than £19,000 per year, the value of the extra Avios you earn (assuming 1p per Avios) is lower than the £95 rise in the annual fee

I’m not saying that you should definitely close your card if you spend under £19,000 per year. It depends on what value you get from the other card benefits.

How does the card compare to competing cards?

Comparing HSBC Premier World Elite to British Airways American Express Premium Plus

The American Express card remains the best deal, and in truth would be impossible to beat unless HSBC increased its mileage earn rate to something like 3 miles per £1. The value of the 2-4-1 companion voucher on the Amex card is so high that HSBC’s changes make no impact.

Comparing HSBC Premier World Elite to Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Again, HSBC hasn’t done enough to move the needle here. If anything, its position has weakened. The Barclaycard earns 1.5 Avios per £1 from a £240 annual fee AND offers an annual upgrade voucher. HSBC gives you 1.5 Avios per £1 from a £290 annual fee and offers no annual voucher. HSBC only becomes interesting if you’d use the airport lounge benefit heavily.

Comparing HSBC Premier World Elite to The Platinum Card from American Express

This is more interesting. The Platinum Card fee is £360 more than the HSBC fee, but you earn fewer miles – 1 per £1 vs 1.5 per £1. Both have an equivalent list of airline transfer partners (Amex is better with hotel partners).

HSBC’s airport lounge benefit includes airport restaurant credits, but you’d need to pay £60 to include your partner and you can’t include children at all. Amex Platinum lets you bring four people into a lounge, adults or children. Both offer travel insurance, but you get this from HSBC simply by opening a HSBC Premier account – there is no need to get a credit card at all.

With Amex Platinum offering £300 per year of dining credit and £100 per year of Harvey Nichols credit, Platinum still has the edge because of its other benefits (hotel elite status, Fine Hotels & Resorts credits, Eurostar lounge access etc).

Conclusion

I suspect that most people who have the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard spend more than £19,000 per year on it.

As £19,000 of spending is basically the break-even point for these changes, the majority of cardholders will be better off. If you already have the card, are happy with it and spend over £19,000 per year, there is no reason to cancel.

That said, the card is NOT a no-brainer and there are good reasons to prefer the main competing products – British Airways Premium Plus American Express, Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard and The Platinum Card from American Express.

HSBC Private Banking and HSBC ex-Jade clients will continue to receive the card for free. These are the only people for whom I would unequivocably say ‘go for it’.

We will update our card review nearer to the changeover date of 23rd September.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers: