If I didn’t have many other PP options I’d be keen on the Elite. I will use HSBC checking as main US account at least but if they make me jump through any more hoops on the card o think I’m gonna concede!
My experience with HSBC has been completely different. As I said, I just gave them some payslips and bam card sent to Australia in 24 hrs via DHL.
I'm honestly still trying to math out a way to make the Elite work out because I always get so close every time but never quite get there.
495 AF, 10/m "rideshare" credit (not just uber, but also traditional taxis, etc). I can easily use this, so AF for me is 375.
5x on almost any type of transport imaginable, myki, opal, Wish gift cards on QF marketplace, etc. I'm sure I could spend 10k USD on "travel" every year without trying
too hard, so that is 50k points.
You can just redeem 37.5k points to offset the annual fee.
Every time I get to this point, I'm like "great, the Elite Card is an obvious choice! I should look to apply for it soon."
Then I remember that HSBC US's transfer partners are honestly aggressively mediocre and I'm not sure how useful 12.5k points or even 50k points are. 4 avios flavours, 2 poor value hotels, QF, EK and then the rest are 1.25:1 and honestly, I don't think they are all that great in Australia. AF, EVA and TK.
So I'm basically giving up 2-3 SUB worth of spending per year for an unlimited priority pass. Which is nice, I guess, but then again there is always the risk of QF marketplace not coding as Airfare, just like how Coles Hawthorn LTD doesn't code as Groceries despite coding as groceries.