HSBC Premier Travel card review - Is this the best travel card for Malaysians?

If you’re already an HSBC Premier customer - or if you’re planning on signing up - you can apply for an HSBC Premier Travel credit card¹ to earn air miles when you spend at home and abroad. HSBC Premier Travel rewards include lounge access, free global data roaming, exclusive deals and discounts for card holders. But is it worth it?

Read on as we explore the benefits and drawbacks of the HSBC Premier Travel Mastercard, and also introduce an alternative for comparison - the Wise card. Wise offers powerful international accounts you can use to hold and exchange 40+ currencies, with cards for low cost spending in 150+ countries globally² - more on that later.

What is the HSBC Premier Travel credit card?

The HSBC Premier Travel credit card is available for HSBC Premier customers³. To be an HSBC Premier customer, you’ll need to meet eligibility requirements, including having at least 200,000 MYR saved or invested with HSBC in Malaysia. Once you’re in the Premier club, you can get access to a relationship manager to help you grow your wealth, and unlock other exclusive perks.

If you decide to order an HSBC Premier Travel credit card, you’ll be able to earn air miles which can be redeemed for flights, as vouchers and cash back - or to shop in the HSBC rewards catalogue.

Overall, the HSBC Premier Travel credit card is designed for high wealth individuals saving or investing with HSBC, and looking to find ways to unlock travel and lifestyle benefits as they spend. Here’s a quick review of the key points you’ll need to know:

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HSBC Premier Travel benefits

Being an HSBC Premier customer gets you some extra benefits such as access to a dedicated relationship manager and wealth specialists to help you grow your savings and investments. On top of that, when you opt for an HSBC Premier Travel Mastercard, you can also earn air miles and rewards as you spend⁴. You’ll then be able to redeem your rewards from the HSBC Premier rewards catalogue⁵ - we’ll look at how earning and redemption works in more detail in a moment.

Aside from the opportunity to earn rewards on spending, the HSBC Premier Travel also offers the following benefits:

• HSBC Smart Privileges⁶ - exclusive deals and discounts for card holders
• HSBC Premier Travel card lounge access up to 12 times a year
• Discounts on travel booked with Expedia and Agoda
• Free or discounted global data roaming
• Digital health services with services like DoctorAnywhere
• Ecommerce purchase protection up to 200 USD
• 50% off green fees for golfers at 42 courses
• 1% donation to HSBC’s partner charities, when you give to your own favourite charities

Earning HSBC Air Miles

So, how do you make the most of earning HSBC Premier Travel rewards? You’ll get air miles whenever you spend, at the following earning rate:

As you can see, you earn HSBC air miles at a rate that’s over 4x faster when you use your card to spend in foreign currencies in person or online. That can mean you quickly accumulate points - but it may also mean you end up paying more than you’d expected on your foreign currency spending. When you use your credit card overseas, HSBC will add a 1% foreign transaction fee to your spending when it’s converted back to MYR for billing - this is in addition to any charge the network may add on the rate used for conversion.

It’s important to weigh up the options for foreign currency spending, as using a credit card isn’t always your best bet - even if there are extra rewards on offer. A low cost debit card like the Wise card can be just as flexible to use overseas - and keep down your costs as well.

HSBC Air Miles redemption

You can redeem your HSBC air miles for a selection of rewards like electronic gadgets, kitchen appliances, home improvements, health and beauty purchases, air miles, cash vouchers and cashback. You’ll be able to browse the air miles catalogue to get a feel for the options available, and then redeem online in a few clicks.

Points value does vary depending on how you choose to redeem - here are a few examples:

• Redeem for Malaysia Airlines Enrich points - 15,000 HSBC points can be redeemed for 1,000 Enrich points
• Redeem for cash - 22,000 HSBC points can be redeemed for 50 MYR; or 32,000 points for 100 MYR
• Redeem for dining vouchers with options including KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut - 42,000 HSBC points can be redeemed for a voucher worth 100 MYR

If you’d prefer to use your points to buy something from the HSBC catalogue you can pick from a diverse range of goods from calculators and printer ink, to beauty gadgets and electrical items.

Remember to bring along the Wise card - To minimise conversion fees and maximise your travel experiences

If you’re not eligible for the HSBC Premier Travel Mastercard - or if you just want a cheaper option for spending abroad - you might like the Wise card.

The Wise card is a debit card, not a credit card - which means there’s no annual charge, no minimum income requirement, and no need to hold a specific minimum balance to access an account. Just register a Wise account online or in the Wise app, and order your card for a one time fee of 13.7 MYR, to start spending and making withdrawals in 150+ countries.

There’s no foreign transaction fee to pay, and your MYR balance is converted to the currency you need for your purchase with the mid-market rate and low fees from 0.43%. Plus you can make 2 free ATM withdrawals of up to 1000 MYR a month at home or abroad, with no cash advance fees to pay.

Sign up for your Wise card today 💳

Summary

The HSBC Premier Travel Mastercard offers a good selection of benefits aimed at people who love to travel. But to get a card you’ll need to meet minimum income requirements, and be an HSBC Premier customer, which means locking away at least 200,000 MYR in savings to meet the HSBC total relationship balance rules. If you’re looking for something cheaper and more flexible, an international debit card like the Wise card might be just what you need. Compare your options using this guide, to see which works best based on your own specific requirements.