Card Promotions HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card: Fast-Track to Star Alliance Gold Status

QPProletarian · Mar 16, 2023

Would be worth considering if not for the 3% foreign fee - why are travel cards always so bad for these?

levelnine · Mar 16, 2023

QPProletarian said:
Would be worth considering if not for the 3% foreign fee - why are travel cards always so bad for these?

Insufficiently competitive market. All premium US cards have no FTFs. Australian banks have no reason to cut out this cash cow unless forced to do so — the small exceptions that offer no FTFs haven't made inroads into the major offerings.

QF_Flyer · Mar 18, 2023

levelnine said:
Insufficiently competitive market. All premium US cards have no FTFs. Australian banks have no reason to cut out this cash cow unless forced to do so — the small exceptions that offer no FTFs haven't made inroads into the major offerings.

Which surprises me, as there's some half decent options (albeit limited in numbers). For e.g. CBA Ultimate, which earns 1.2 QF/$1 (or 3xCBA Rewards=1.5 VA/1.0 SQ/various other options) on foreign spend with no fee (and no annual (monthly) fee if you spend $2.5k per month). Weak for domestic spend though. Coles Rewards MC is still a good option too, 1x VA per $1, $99 annual fee. Capped and the earning rate reduces after I think $3k, but this card used to be an absolute goldmine.

Anyway back on topic, decided to apply for this, conditional approval and passed all the tests they put me through, so just waiting. How long does the next step (full approval confirmation, or not) take?

I'm SQ Gold until 3/24, so I'm actually one of the rare ones which have decided earning 32k KrisFlyer miles for zero annual fee is a half decent option, while I'm in waiting periods for literally every other decent option on the market right now.

hazzer008 · Mar 26, 2023

If the card is in my name, would it be fine to apply the Gold Status to my wife's frequent flyer account, even if she has a different last name? i.e. Does it check if the frequent flyer account you nominate for Gold status is actually yours?

QF_Flyer · Mar 26, 2023

hazzer008 said:
If the card is in my name, would it be fine to apply the Gold Status to my wife's frequent flyer account, even if she has a different last name? i.e. Does it check if the frequent flyer account you nominate for Gold status is actually yours?

Yes (as in yes it does check), well when I added my SQ number it appeared to run a verification process anyway.

Mr H · Mar 26, 2023

hazzer008 said:
If the card is in my name, would it be fine to apply the Gold Status to my wife's frequent flyer account, even if she has a different last name? i.e. Does it check if the frequent flyer account you nominate for Gold status is actually yours?

Normally (for cards that transfer points) this would be a big no - the FF account has to be in the same name as the cardholder.

yojohnny · Apr 5, 2023

How soon after meeting the spend, did people receive communication regarding confirming they'd meet the requirement and next steps?

Shinjetter · Apr 5, 2023

How soon after meeting the spend, did people receive communication regarding confirming they'd meet the requirement and next steps? When I met my requirement, they sent an email in a day or two. It just an email informing you that you met spending requirement and select which airline you want to nominate as your main. Then it takes 14 days for them to upgrade you to *A Gold. That's my experience with Air Canada anyway. I'm not sure about SG and UA.

yojohnny · Apr 5, 2023

Shinjetter said:
How soon after meeting the spend, did people receive communication regarding confirming they'd meet the requirement and next steps? When I met my requirement, they sent an email in a day or two. It just an email informing you that you met spending requirement and select which airline you want to nominate as your main. Then it takes 14 days for them to upgrade you to *A Gold. That's my experience with Air Canada anyway. I'm not sure about SG and UA.

Thank you. Very helpful.

sammy.lg · Apr 8, 2023

chiken_nugets said:
If my intent is to use my status to fly Virgin domestically and use lounges, am I correct in saying that there would be no difference between selecting Aeroplan or KrisFlyer for my gold status?

What differences are there when booking / flying award seats on SQ if you have KrisFlyer Gold vs Aeroplan Elite 50K i.e. in which ways is the Aeroplan status worse?

Hello,
Did you figure out the answer to this? I'm also stuck on whether to get Aeroplan of Krisflyer gold status. Mostly around getting Krisflyer reward seats and whether you can still get star alliance gold status privlidges or not when flying.

sammy.lg · Apr 8, 2023

blacksultan said:
One year from activation or meeting spend ?

Anyone know yet if you cancel your card early, do you loose your *A gold status. For example if you join Aeroplan and don't renew for the 2nd year, do you keep your 50k status for the remainder of the calender year?

sammy.lg · Apr 8, 2023

Anyone figure out if you can book on an airline using their ff program and then get *A gold status privileges with another.

I am hoping to use Kris Flyer reward flights with Air NZ flights and Aeroplane (Air Canada) 50k status (*A gold) for lounge access/priority.

I am wondering if it is better just to get Kris Flyer gold status, as $450 isn't worth the extra year, just incase HSBC revokes gold status when the card is closed.

Viridis · Apr 9, 2023

I believe it has been referred to earlier up thread by others that the T&Cs state that if you cancel your card your status will also be cancelled if it was established as a consequence of holding the card (ie if you earned status by travelling it would remain)

Mr H · Apr 9, 2023

Viridis said:
I believe it has been referred to earlier up thread by others that the T&Cs state that if you cancel your card your status will also be cancelled if it was established as a consequence of holding the card (ie if you earned status by travelling it would remain)

It is correct that this is what the T&Cs say, but the question is whether that actually happens in practice. I guess nobody was to be the canary in the mine...

QF_Flyer · Apr 9, 2023

sammy.lg said:
Anyone figure out if you can book on an airline using their ff program and then get *A gold status privileges with another.

I am hoping to use Kris Flyer reward flights with Air NZ flights and Aeroplane (Air Canada) 50k status (*A gold) for lounge access/priority.

I am wondering if it is better just to get Kris Flyer gold status, as $450 isn't worth the extra year, just incase HSBC revokes gold status when the card is closed.

Can confirm this works fine, same as if you did it with Oneworld. I used my Copa Airlines matched status years ago to access SQ lounges in Y, no different to Oneworld or SkyTeam in a similar situation.

Ideally after booking you’d switch the FF#, but sometimes that’s easier said than done, either way you’re entitled to the benefits you’ve earned, whether matched or otherwise.

Also I’m not sure what you mean here “I am wondering if it is better just to get Kris Flyer gold status, as $450 isn't worth the extra year, just incase HSBC revokes gold status when the card is closed.”?

Paying $450 in year 2 won’t continue your Star gold status unless you’ve spent $60k on the card in year one; you get 12 months gold after spending $4k as a SUB, and then if you stick the card in a drawer with no spend, you’re just paying $450 per year for nothing. Personally, I’d spend the 4K, take year one gold, then keep the card until the end of year one and cancel, because HSBC’s terms state that they will revoke it, if it’s earned by card spend (doubt many will test this theory unless they are guaranteed not to need it again).

Danger · Apr 9, 2023

QF_Flyer said:
...

Paying $450 in year 2 won’t continue your Star gold status unless you’ve spent $60k on the card in year one; you get 12 months gold after spending $4k as a SUB, and then if you stick the card in a drawer with no spend, you’re just paying $450 per year for nothing. Personally, I’d spend the 4K, take year one gold, then keep the card until the end of year one and cancel, because HSBC’s terms state that they will revoke it, if it’s earned by card spend (doubt many will test this theory unless they are guaranteed not to need it again).

I wouldn't be surprised if those you took Aeroplan status and have a 12/24 expiry have their status unimpacted if (a) they don't meet the ridiculous $60K spend but (b) pay the second $450 fee. It's far from guaranteed, though.

blacksultan · Apr 9, 2023

sammy.lg said:
Anyone figure out if you can book on an airline using their ff program and then get *A gold status privileges with another.

I am hoping to use Kris Flyer reward flights with Air NZ flights and Aeroplane (Air Canada) 50k status (*A gold) for lounge access/priority.

I am wondering if it is better just to get Kris Flyer gold status, as $450 isn't worth the extra year, just incase HSBC revokes gold status when the card is closed.

Yes you can .

nightelves · May 1, 2023

Can someone explained to me AC status? So If I get gold right now with AC then I will have it for all of this year and the end of next year? But if I get gold at the start of next year then I will have it for all of next year till the end of 2025?

blacksultan · May 1, 2023

nightelves said:
Can someone explained to me AC status? So If I get gold right now with AC then I will have it for all of this year and the end of next year? But if I get gold at the start of next year then I will have it for all of next year till the end of 2025?

That’s right .

nightelves · May 1, 2023

blacksultan said:
That’s right .

Fantastic will be targetting this card for next year to maximise the status.

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