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

Fast track to Star Alliance Gold status with the HSBC Star Alliance credit card!​

Learn more and apply for this card:

HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card Guide

The HSBC Star Alliance credit card is the first of its kind, allowing Australian cardholders to earn Star Alliance Points and Gold status.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

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What are the main benefits of this card?

1. Signup bonus: Fast Track to Star Alliance Gold Status, when you spend $4,000 or more on eligible purchases in the first 90 days from account opening
2. Keep your Star Alliance Gold status each subsequent year that you spend at least $60,000 on your card
3. Earn 1 Star Alliance Point per $1 on eligible purchases, up to $3,000 per statement period and 0.5 Star Alliance Points per $1 spent on eligible purchases thereafter, uncapped
4. No annual fee in the first year and $450 p.a. thereafter

Why we like the HSBC Star Alliance credit card

Launched in 2022, the HSBC Star Alliance credit card is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. You'll earn Star Alliance Points which are transferable to a choice of seven Star Alliance member airlines at a time of your choosing. You can also earn Star Alliance Silver or Gold status just by spending on the card, with no flying required!

Once you qualify for the welcome offer and are fast tracked to Star Alliance Gold status with any of the seven participating carriers, you’ll soon be enjoying perks like airport priority lanes and lounge access when flying across the whole Star Alliance network. It is the largest airline alliance in the world with 25 member airlines, including Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, United and Turkish Airlines.

Please note that the welcome offer is not available to existing HSBC customers transferring from another HSBC credit card, or if you have previously held a HSBC Star Alliance credit card within the last 18 months. Refer to the full T&C’s for more information:

HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card Guide

The HSBC Star Alliance credit card is the first of its kind, allowing Australian cardholders to earn Star Alliance Points and Gold status.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

AFF members are welcome to discuss this card in this thread.

 

[aspro2]

I got mine in Nov 23, and must have qualified in Jan 2024. The expiry is dec 2025. According to star A/HSBC my status should expire in Jan 25. We’ll wait and see!

There must be other folk who have now reached year two… dunno what’s happened with their status?

Answered earlier in this thread. Status is valid until the end of the following calendar year, BUT status expires the moment you cancel your HSBC card.

 

[nthd_nthd]

I had missing points - took a lot of work to prove and get it back
i cancelled after 12 months
didnt excite me with their service

I went and checked - P2 got 7 statements, I got 8 statements so far and We either have exact points as expected or extra 100/200 points.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Answered earlier in this thread. Status is valid until the end of the following calendar year, BUT status expires the moment you cancel your HSBC card.

I wasn’t sure in this.

I don’t think there have been any reports of anyone paying the $450 and keeping status for the second year?

 

[I love to travel]

I wasn’t sure in this.

I don’t think there have been any reports of anyone paying the $450 and keeping status for the second year?

Would be good to get a first hand report of this.

 

[Danger]

As I've noted upthread, I didn't come anywhere close to spending the ridiculous $60K in my first year to secure Aeroplan Gold in year two. However, in January this year (which was 12 months after applying), the expiry of my Gold status on the Aeroplan website changed from 12/24 (which is what it was after I met the minimum spend 12 months ago) to 12/25. The app shows the same and I recently received a new physical card also showing 12/25. This all happened before the second year annual fee was levied. My credit card is still active, but I will be cancelling it when a disputed transaction is closed.

I paid the annual fee but, through luck and agent incompetence, had it refunded. I've kept the card open and my Aeroplan 50K status remains in tact.

 

[Mattg]

There's now a 25% bonus offer on transfers to KrisFlyer until the end of October.

Transfer Star Alliance Rewards points to KrisFlyer with 25% bonus until 31/10/24

HSBC Star Alliance cardholders can transfer their Star Alliance Rewards points to KrisFlyer by 31 October 2024 to get 25% bonus KrisFlyer miles. I think this is the first bonus we've seen from this rewards program? Details on the Singapore Airlines website...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[SOPOOR]

Can someone kindly explain how this card programs setup works. As i just dont get it yet

My 1 year is in about 5 to 6 weeks
I thought if you spent$50k your Annual fee was waived, (my mistake)

So ill be closing it, as AFs dont make fin sense to me

Someone just told me i actually has 50k aeroplan points as well.which i can redeem for a domestic economy flight

If i cancel the hsbc card will that close my aeroplan and star alliance acc?

Happy to transfer star alliance miles onto kris as i use that

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Can someone kindly explain how this card programs setup works. As i just dont get it yet

My 1 year is in about 5 to 6 weeks
I thought if you spent$50k your Annual fee was waived, (my mistake)

So ill be closing it, as AFs dont make fin sense to me

Someone just told me i actually has 50k aeroplan points as well.which i can redeem for a domestic economy flight

If i cancel the hsbc card will that close my aeroplan and star alliance acc?

Happy to transfer star alliance miles onto kris as i use that

You can redeem the 50k points for a business class ticket, one way, as far as bangkok, flying SQ. Topping up with a 100% bonus would get the return as well in the region of $900.

So the points can be far more valuable than a return domestic flight.

Any star alliance points you have you could transfer to SQ. The aeroplan points… i dunno… you could orobanche wash them through some sort of hotel program (into the hotel program and then out again), but that would done at a cost.

For me, as a regular user of Aeroplan, the $450 annual fee for an extra year of gold is literally worth its weight… with calls answered almost instantly instead of being in hold for 1-2 hours.

 

[kamchatsky]

You can redeem the 50k points for a business class ticket, one way, as far as bangkok, flying SQ. Topping up with a 100% bonus would get the return as well in the region of $900.

So the points can be far more valuable than a return domestic flight.

Any star alliance points you have you could transfer to SQ. The aeroplan points… i dunno… you could orobanche wash them through some sort of hotel program (into the hotel program and then out again), but that would done at a cost.

For me, as a regular user of Aeroplan, the $450 annual fee for an extra year of gold is literally worth its weight… with calls answered almost instantly instead of being in hold for 1-2 hours.

Just wondering why would you need to call when you can book everything online? Is it because you need to cancel or change routes so that you need to call to have ticket reissues?

My card anniversary is due next month so I am thinking whether to keep or cancel the card.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just wondering why would you need to call when you can book everything online? Is it because you need to cancel or change routes so that you need to call to have ticket reissues?

My card anniversary is due next month so I am thinking whether to keep or cancel the card.

I have some reasonably complex itineraries, usually involving stopovers. While the online tool can return some ‘ok’ results, calling in can maximise the best flight combinations in terms of carrier, timings and transit points.

My most recent booking involved two PNRs because of different starting points for two pax… but there was a quirk where booking 1 business class seat on TAP would zero out all other availability on the particular route for the day! The call centre was needed to book the itinerary for two, split the PNR, then change the origin for one pax.

Often as a non status pax you can’t even get into the aeroplan queue, and if you do, you could be waiting close to two hours. As gold i’m through in 5 mins.

 

[kamchatsky]

I have some reasonably complex itineraries, usually involving stopovers. While the online tool can return some ‘ok’ results, calling in can maximise the best flight combinations in terms of carrier, timings and transit points.

My most recent booking involved two PNRs because of different starting points for two pax… but there was a quirk where booking 1 business class seat on TAP would zero out all other availability on the particular route for the day! The call centre was needed to book the itinerary for two, split the PNR, then change the origin for one pax.

Often as a non status pax you can’t even get into the aeroplan queue, and if you do, you could be waiting close to two hours. As gold i’m through in 5 mins.

Thank you for the explanation. I have not redeemed on Aeroplan yet and I have just under 80k points. My aim is to save (or buy) to 90k points and redeem SQ J that way.

If I want to add stopover at SIN (say syd-sin-bkk), would I need to call or it can be done online?

 

[I love to travel]

Thank you for the explanation. I have not redeemed on Aeroplan yet and I have just under 80k points. My aim is to save (or buy) to 90k points and redeem SQ J that way.

If I want to add stopover at SIN (say syd-sin-bkk), would I need to call or it can be done online?

Stopovers can be done online. Go to the multi city tab and then the stopover function there.

 

[kamchatsky]

Stopovers can be done online. Go to the multi city tab and then the stopover function there.

Great to hear. The last thing I want is to call them up.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Great to hear. The last thing I want is to call them up.

Aeroplan agents are fantastic! All canada based and they really know their stuff. Pretty much like calling AA or similar. If you got gold through HSBC calling up is painless.

For stopovers you need an extra 5k per time, so you might need 95 or 100k all up.

 

[RooFlyer]

Aeroplan agents are fantastic! All canada based and they really know their stuff. Pretty much like calling AA or similar. If you got gold through HSBC calling up is painless.

Yes, but you usually need to time your call - their time zone is 'Eastern' (Canada and US), so avoid evenings over there. I think I got through about 1am their time, last time.

 

[SOPOOR]

You can redeem the 50k points for a business class ticket, one way, as far as bangkok, flying SQ. Topping up with a 100% bonus would get the return as well in the region of $900.

So the points can be far more valuable than a return domestic flight.

Any star alliance points you have you could transfer to SQ. The aeroplan points… i dunno… you could orobanche wash them through some sort of hotel program (into the hotel program and then out again), but that would done at a cost.

For me, as a regular user of Aeroplan, the $450 annual fee for an extra year of gold is literally worth its weight… with calls answered almost instantly instead of being in hold for 1-2 hours.

thanks for the suggestion,
id be very very happy with a one way Business class to bangkok in SQ

"Topping up with a 100% bonus would get the return as well in the region of $900."
are you referring to just adding/paying for another 50k, or is there a bonus scheme on now?

would cancellng the HSBC card cancel my aeroplan and the star alliance subscription/account?

ive said this before, and its been a unpopular comment, but status really doesnt do much for me, so hence the annual fee is a big deterrant

 

[aspro2]

would cancellng the HSBC card cancel my aeroplan and the star alliance subscription/account?

No

 

[MEL_Traveller]

thanks for the suggestion,
id be very very happy with a one way Business class to bangkok in SQ

"Topping up with a 100% bonus would get the return as well in the region of $900."
are you referring to just adding/paying for another 50k, or is there a bonus scheme on now?

would cancellng the HSBC card cancel my aeroplan and the star alliance subscription/account?

ive said this before, and its been a unpopular comment, but status really doesnt do much for me, so hence the annual fee is a big deterrant

you need 45k for the one way to bangkok. So next time they have a sale at 100%, just buy the remaining 40k (to take you to 90), or a bit extra if you want a stopover.

I agree on status generally, it’s doesn’t add much when flying premium… however if you need to make regular contact with a call centre… be it QF, VA or here AC… it has its benefits! In your case, and unless you are going to become a regular aeroplan user, it’s prolly not needed for something simple you can do online.

 

[SOPOOR]

you need 45k for the one way to bangkok. So next time they have a sale at 100%, just buy the remaining 40k (to take you to 90), or a bit extra if you want a stopover.

I agree on status generally, it’s doesn’t add much when flying premium… however if you need to make regular contact with a call centre… be it QF, VA or here AC… it has its benefits! In your case, and unless you are going to become a regular aeroplan user, it’s prolly not needed for something simple you can do online.

sorry, what is this 100% sale?

No

looks like I can keep both accounts open, and not have time pressure to book a J flight to asia

 

[MEL_Traveller]

sorry, what is this 100% sale?

looks like I can keep both accounts open, and not have time pressure to book a J flight to asia

Aeroplan has semi-frequent points sales. Some are better than others, with the low end around an 80% bonus and the usual high-end being 100% (they had a 125% bonus a couple months ago, but we hadn’t seen one of those since the launch a few years ago).

Buying the points on sale will give you a price of (aud) 1.9 cents. So asia = $900 one way, ISA $1600 one way and Europe $2200 one way, plus minor taxes.

The 50k bonus points with the card were worth around $1000.