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I have a US Premier bank account (and a UK one, I’m resident in the UK). I used to hold the UK World Elite card, recently downgraded to the free one, which I’m basically not using. Curve and Barclays (Hilton) out perform it for rewards.
Following the comments at the tail-end of the recent What are HSBC Premier credit card points worth?
article I’ve been taking a look at the US products. There are two: a regular Premier card, and an Elite one. As far as I can tell, they both have the same base earning rate of one point per dollar, and neither charge FX fees. The Elite has some travel benefits, like higher earning rates on travel and dining, plus lounge access, but a whopping USD 395 annual fee.Unless I’m missing something, the Premier (non-Elite) is a no-brainer if you hold a US Premier account already. Unlike the UK, the earning rate on the free card is, for most items, the same as the Elite. Anything wrong in my thinking here? I’m about to chop in my Amex ICC Plat and this would seem like a great dollar (and everything else) card.
It’s an interesting idea. If most of your purchases are in GBP and you are paying the bill from funds in GBP, isn’t there a FX cost to be paid somewhere? The credit card may have zero FX fees but how good is the rate and how are you going to get the funds to pay it off into Dollars without fees? Are there any interesting airline partners for the US card? This could be really useful if it works.
The US Premier World and World Elite cards have an interesting collection of airline partners.
Aer Lingus Aer Club
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways
Emirates Skywards
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
Flying Blue
Iberia Plus
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
TAP Miles&Go
Turkish Airlines Miles&SmilesAvianca LifeMiles and Turkish Miles&Smiles are both rather interesting and potentially generous schemes with some good redemption rates. I think Lifemiles lets you redeem on Lufthansa without surcharges.
Surprisingly there are no American airlines on the list though.
It’s an interesting idea. If most of your purchases are in GBP and you are paying the bill from funds in GBP, isn’t there a FX cost to be paid somewhere? The credit card may have zero FX fees but how good is the rate and how are you going to get the funds to pay it off into Dollars without fees? Are there any interesting airline partners for the US card? This could be really useful if it works.
I typically have to send a few thousand a month to USD anyway … the card spend will get wrapped into that transfer. The cost is reasonable: I’m using Wise at the moment.
The US Premier World and World Elite cards have an interesting collection of airline partners.
Aer Lingus Aer Club
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways
Emirates Skywards
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
Flying Blue
Iberia Plus
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
TAP Miles&Go
Turkish Airlines Miles&SmilesAvianca LifeMiles and Turkish Miles&Smiles are both rather interesting and potentially generous schemes with some good redemption rates. I think Lifemiles lets you redeem on Lufthansa without surcharges.
Surprisingly there are no American airlines on the list though.
I’m surprised the list isn’t the same as HSBC UK — no Cathay?
Avianca is interesting, thanks for the heads up, but I’ll swerve Turkish — hard miles expiry is something to be avoided, even if you think you’re going to redeem immediately. I have 300k+ of Kris slowly expiring following a cancelled trip … even with a couple of years still to go it’s going to be a struggle to spend them.
If you spend in GBP, your US card will build up a balance in USD. And of every month you will pay it down (and assuming you’re earning in GBP) then you will be FX exposed. 2-3% swing against you alone wipes out points gain probably. GBPUSD volatility is very high right now, so can easily move against you even in a couple of days.
Unless you pay it down immediately every time you spend.If you spend in GBP, your US card will build up a balance in USD. And of every month you will pay it down (and assuming you’re earning in GBP) then you will be FX exposed. 2-3% swing against you alone wipes out points gain probably. GBPUSD volatility is very high right now, so can easily move against you even in a couple of days.
Unless you pay it down immediately every time you spend.A good warning @Benilyn. I don’t get paid in dollars at all at the moment, and my US current account is low on funds. I’d figured the currency risk in the short term could only work in my favour, I mean, sterling can’t drop any more, can it? Unfortunately my next big-ish spend is over the next ten days, and there’s no way the card will arrive in time to catch that. I’m closing my dollar ICC, which has the same problem, however, I don’t put GBP or EUR spend on that. I would likely put some GBP spend on the card when it does arrive, in the opening weeks, to ensure I catch the sign up bonus. I might take your advice and pay down regularly. I have other options for day-to-day GBP spend.
@memesweeper I don’t profess to be able to predict currency movements, but very early in my career, the official rate got down to about 1.05, so under parity on the tourist rate. Within about a year it was back to 1.50 and in 1980, when I went to the US for the first time, the rate was 2.47, so all things are possible. The only comfort one can draw is that the current GBP/USD rate is more about USD strength as the € and ¥ are at similar multi year lows, but our economy isn’t looking too promising, although I have a sneaking feeling that some of the more unorthodox strategies we are about to embark upon could conceivably work.
If you spend in GBP, your US card will build up a balance in USD. And of every month you will pay it down (and assuming you’re earning in GBP) then you will be FX exposed. 2-3% swing against you alone wipes out points gain probably. GBPUSD volatility is very high right now, so can easily move against you even in a couple of days.
Unless you pay it down immediately every time you spend.A good warning @Benilyn. I don’t get paid in dollars at all at the moment, and my US current account is low on funds. I’d figured the currency risk in the short term could only work in my favour, I mean, sterling can’t drop any more, can it? Unfortunately my next big-ish spend is over the next ten days, and there’s no way the card will arrive in time to catch that. I’m closing my dollar ICC, which has the same problem, however, I don’t put GBP or EUR spend on that. I would likely put some GBP spend on the card when it does arrive, in the opening weeks, to ensure I catch the sign up bonus. I might take your advice and pay down regularly. I have other options for day-to-day GBP spend.
If you want to trade FX, open a trading account 😉 Just doesn’t seem smart at all to do regular GBP spending on USD card.
How straightforward is it for a UK HSBC Premier customer to open a US Premier credit card with them?
I have Premier accounts in both countries for historic reasons but live in the UK and don’t have a US social security number etc
How straightforward is it for a UK HSBC Premier customer to open a US Premier credit card with them?
I have Premier accounts in both countries for historic reasons but live in the UK and don’t have a US social security number etc
Very unlikely without a SSN. You risk having your US account closed I would say if you poke the bear
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