New 40,000 point welcome bonus and no fee in the first year for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard

 
Earlier this week HSBC's revealed a new offer for their HSBC World Elite Mastercard that is better than the standard welcome offer we've seen since late December but by no means does it come close to the 100K offer they ran for the last four months of 2020. The new offer provides up to 40,000 bonus HSBC Rewards Points along with having the first year $149 annual fee waived on the primary card.  The bonus is awarded as follows:

• 20,000 Point Welcome Bonus on your first purchase
• 20,000 when you spend $5,000 in the first 180 days

The 40,000 points once achieved are worth $200 in travel rewards but this card isn't just a travel points card, it is actually a Hybrid Card. This means points can also be converted to partners outside of HSBC Rewards. In this card's case, they can be transferred to British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. The points convert as follows:

• 2.5 points to 1 Avios
• 3 points to 1.35 KrisFlyer Miles 
• 3 points to 1.2 Asia Miles 

This means the sign up bonus is worth 16,000 Avios in British Airways' Executive Club although I would only convert them when HSBC runs their transfer bonus promotion which we several times per year. The last transfer bonus was this past November and it offered a 35% boost.

Here are some options to check out that you can utilize with British Airways:

• How to get select Canada to U.S. award flights faster by utilizing British Airways' Executive Club 
• How you can easily get a free flight between Toronto and Dublin, Ireland (pre taxes/fees) or 4 flights for $240+fees 

The card also features No Foreign Transaction fees which is a big deal right now if you do a lot of online shopping from the U.S. plus it also comes with a $100 annual travel enhancement credit (to use on bag fees, seat selection etc) and like all World Elite Mastercards in Canada it has airport lounge access membership via LoungeKey.

Recommend Reading: No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians  & The Ultimate No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Card Portfolio

Now, with travel being curtailed due to the Coronavirus pandemic you may be more interested in cash back options to help with your financial situation and this card does have that option. The points can also be redeemed for many other non-travel items like merchandise, experiences, gift cards, HSBC financial products and even for any purchases made on the card. HSBC calls this last option their Cash Back Rebate and is 25,000 points for a $75 statement credit. That works out to a 0.9% to 1.8% return (based on 3 points for everyday spending and 6 points for travel) and also makes the welcome bonus of 40,000 points worth $120 in cash back rebates. 

Ultimately this offer is nowhere near the 100,000 points seen at the end of last year or even the 60,000 points seen prior to that. The offer runs until April 19, 2021 which at that time we hope they increase it to one of the even better offers!

Learn more about and/or apply for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard here.

I would also recommend reading our review of the card.