HSBC World Elite Mastercard [standard/Premier/Jade] - Please read FAQ on page 1

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as travel?
From the rewards program terms & conditions:
"Travel Purchase means a purchase at merchants that are classified in the Mastercard network as airlines, car rental agencies, hotels, cruise lines, passenger railways, tour operators, timeshares and travel agencies"
Airbnb counts as travel.
Taxis and local transit generally don't count as travel.

What can I use the Travel Enhancement Credit for?
Officially: airline baggage fees and seat upgrades, lounge access, etc.
In practice: anything that codes as airline or generic travel.
Online travel agencies like Expedia generally code as generic travel and are eligible for TEC.
Anything that codes as specific travel other than airlines (e.g. hotel, car rental) is not eligible.

When will I receive the statement credit for a points or TEC redemption?
Usually the credit posts in 1-3 business days, sometimes a bit longer. The terms state within two billing periods.

I'm not travelling in the foreseeable future, what do I do with my rewards points / travel enhancement credit
Book a speculative trip and make sure it's refundable so you can always change your plans later on.

Can I set up a pre-authorized debit (PAD) to pay the card automatically?
Yes, please refer to the instructions at https://www.hsbc.ca/fr-ca/credit-cards/ ... ebit-plan/

Am I eligible for the welcome bonus if [I've had the card in the past] [I'm upgrading from a different HSBC card]?
Read the terms and conditions for the current offer. Usually you can't have had the card for at least 12 months.
There have been some scattered DPs of people receiving the welcome bonus for a second time including when upgrading from a lower tier HSBC card that was previously downgraded from the WE. YMMV.

Can I keep my Premier/Jade card after I no longer qualify for Premier/Jade?
There are positive DPs that you can keep the Premier/Jade cards in this scenario. You will be paying the full AF.

I previously made a redemption agaist a travel charge but the same charge still shows as eligible in the rewards portal. Can I make another redemption against the same charge?
Don't do this. The redemption will go through in the rewards portal but you won't get the statement credit. You'll have to call in to get it investigated and eventually the redemption will be cancelled and the points returned to your account.

Wow, great post! Thanks for compiling this

There was an unfinished discussion in the the Premier thread about travel charges showing up as eligible for redemption despite already being redeemed against and/or being older than 60 days:

German6 wrote: ↑ How far back can you claim for travel expenses?

rhw123 wrote: ↑ 60 days.

The rewards portal shows eligible charges from the last two statements so they can be a little older than 60 days, I don't know what happens if you redeem against those.

They also remain on the list after a redemption against them so I think you can redeem multiple times against the same charge. Haven't tried that myself either.

jammin825 wrote: ↑ Redeemed for 2 x travel charges from Oct 29th 2020 sometime last week (around Jan 20th 2021). Was surprised it was still there as it's well past 60 days so gave it a shot. Credit showed up for statement credit this week so all good.

Bad news, the charges are no longer there so can't redeem but unclear if it dropped off after 90 days or just wasn't available after I redeemed. But I believe you cannot redeem the same items multiple times.

redflag wrote: ↑ You can not redeem against 1 transaction for multiple times. Last week I tried for TEC and points redemption since they are technically 2 categories, did not fly.

rhw123 wrote: ↑ How did it not fly? Was one of your redemptions rejected?

As it happens I made a second points redemption against the same travel charge just yesterday and it went through just fine in the portal. I guess I'll find out soon.

redflag wrote: ↑ I made the purchase on Expedia, and I called to get the TEC which went well. When I asked if I can also use my points for the remaining balance( total cost is 400, and I wanted to redeem points for the remaining 300), the CSR told me no. How did you do that, calling CSR or can you do it yourself?

I have an outstanding redemption request against a travel charge already redeemed against previously. I made the redemption request in the rewards portal last Monday and it went through but no credit has been posted yet. Will update once credit posts or redemption is reverted.

rhw123 wrote: ↑ There was an unfinished discussion in the the Premier thread about travel charges showing up as eligible for redemption despite already being redeemed against and/or being older than 60 days:






I have an outstanding redemption request against a travel charge already redeemed against previously. I made the redemption request in the rewards portal last Monday and it went through but no credit has been posted yet. Will update once credit posts or redemption is reverted.

I did a TEC redemption and points redemption on the same travel charge online. The 2 were 30 days apart. This was back in December.

I am not a big fan of Google reviews, but has anyone noticed that their retail locations hover around 2 *?

rhw123 wrote: ↑ There was an unfinished discussion in the the Premier thread about travel charges showing up as eligible for redemption despite already being redeemed against and/or being older than 60 days:

I have an outstanding redemption request against a travel charge already redeemed against previously. I made the redemption request in the rewards portal last Monday and it went through but no credit has been posted yet. Will update once credit posts or redemption is reverted.

Hmmm, It might have something to do with the portal, i.e. I should probably get an account for the rewards portal. Thanks for the DP.

EDL67134234 wrote: ↑ I am not a big fan of Google reviews, but has anyone noticed that their retail locations hover around 2 *?

My take - even if it a 5*, still be cautiously optimistic; if it is a 2*, highly likely to be the true case(or worse)

redflag wrote: ↑ My take - even if it a 5*, still be cautiously optimistic; if it is a 2*, highly likely to be the true case(or worse)

I am always skeptical about 5 stars and 1 stars.

2-3 stars - seems like most likely to be true.

I just find the consistency of clients horrid experience very interesting.. But again, not surprising after dealing with HSBC and reading all the stories in HSBC threads.

EDL67134234 wrote: ↑ I am always skeptical about 5 stars and 1 stars.

2-3 stars - seems like most likely to be true.

I just find the consistency of clients horrid experience very interesting.. But again, not surprising after dealing with HSBC and reading all the stories in HSBC threads.

Wow, thought I'd check in my area in Google Maps. First 6 closest locations....highest rating...2.7 stars!

Then again, highest among my location:
CIBC: 2.8 stars out of 6 locations
TD: 3.3 out of 6 locations
Scotia: 4.1 out of 6 locations
RBC: 4.0 out of 6 locations
BMO: 4.0 out of 6 locations

Mind you the 4s are location specific, same banks have bad rating like HSBC on other branches. HSBC still "wins" at least for my very unscientific and small sample size!

jammin825 wrote: ↑ Wow, thought I'd check in my area in Google Maps. First 6 closest locations....highest rating...2.7 stars!

My local branch has 24 reviews and is rated 1.7 stars, which is no surprise to me at all. I especially agree with the "everyone at the branch I’ve interacted with didn’t seem to know what they were doing" comment. Staff are not very polite, don't smile, and treat you like an annoyance rather than a client. It's how I imagine banking in the Soviet Union might have been like.

Kiraly wrote: ↑ My local branch has 24 reviews and is rated 1.7 stars, which is no surprise to me at all. I especially agree with the "everyone at the branch I’ve interacted with didn’t seem to know what they were doing" comment. Staff are not very polite, don't smile, and treat you like an annoyance rather than a client. It's how I imagine banking in the Soviet Union might have been like.

My HSBC branch is the opposite. It feels like a small town bank, where the tellers know all the regular customers. Most have been there for years and are mostly very knowledgeable. The branch still gets 2.1* on Google but most of the reviews are about the poor hours (they’re only open 10am-4pm and the ATM is closed after hours because of the high homeless population in the area).

rhw123 wrote: ↑
HSBC Jade World Elite Mastercard
https://www.hsbc.ca/jade/world-elite-mastercard/

• Requires HSBC Jade relationship
• Annual fee: $299 (Jade clients receive 100% annual fee rebate)

Wonder why they do it this way? You need to be Jade client to get this card, but then they give you 100% rebate if you're a Jade client.
If you get the card, and then afterwards are longer a Jade client, do they then just charge you AF, instead of downgrading your card?

Maybe add this as a FYI NOTE, looks like it a thing that happen 2 years in a row now in November.


HSBC Rewards has announced a new 35% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios for the month of November 2020, following a similar move they made back in November 2019. Until November 30, 2020, you'll receive an extra 35% bonus when you transfer your HSBC Rewards points to Avios

zzricezz wrote: ↑ Maybe add this as a FYI NOTE, looks like it a thing that happen 2 years in a row now in November.


HSBC Rewards has announced a new 35% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios for the month of November 2020, following a similar move they made back in November 2019. Until November 30, 2020, you'll receive an extra 35% bonus when you transfer your HSBC Rewards points to Avios

Thanks, added to OP.

pentiumvi wrote: ↑ Wonder why they do it this way? You need to be Jade client to get this card, but then they give you 100% rebate if you're a Jade client.
If you get the card, and then afterwards are longer a Jade client, do they then just charge you AF, instead of downgrading your card?

Not sure about that scenario, haven't seen any DPs.
It was confirmed in the old Premier thread that you can't get the Jade card if you don't qualify for Jade, but not whether you can keep it (and pay AF) if you already have it but you no longer qualify for Jade.
If the Jade WE card was open to anyone it would be a pretty good deal. For a net AF of $99 (after redeeming $200 TEC) you get unlimited lounge access on top of everything the standard card provides.

rhw123 wrote: ↑ Not sure about that scenario, haven't seen any DPs.
It was confirmed in the old Premier thread that you can't get the Jade card if you don't qualify for Jade, but not whether you can keep it (and pay AF) if you already have it but you no longer qualify for Jade.
If the Jade WE card was open to anyone it would be a pretty good deal. For a net AF of $99 (after redeeming $200 TEC) you get unlimited lounge access on top of everything the standard card provides.

My parents kept their Jade WE after downgrading from Jade. I opted not to.

ozzie16 wrote: ↑ My parents kept their Jade WE after downgrading from Jade. I opted not to.

Thanks for the DP, added to FAQ.

ozzie16 wrote: ↑ My parents kept their Jade WE after downgrading from Jade. I opted not to.

Did they still waive the fee?

EDL67134234 wrote: ↑ Did they still waive the fee?

No. Fee got charged.

YMMV on this DP.

I've been way under the 100K threshold in my personal accounts after I transferred out the last of my InvestDirect accounts and still haven't been charged for, or had my Premier status revoked. I've had Premier since 2008 and switched qualification countries a few times along the way, so I must have stumbled along a loophole. I also no longer have a designated Premier RM according to the rep I spoke to when I went to a branch a few weeks ago to discuss mortgages. It actually makes things easier as any HSBC rep can help me, whereas with a designated RM everything must go through them.