[OFFER EXPIRED] Last Day for the 40,000 point welcome bonus and no fee in the first year for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard

 
THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED

Today is the last day to apply for the elevated offer of 40,000 points for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. As of tomorrow the standard welcome offer of 20,000 points with an annual fee will be back. By no means does this 40K offer come close to the 100K offer they ran for the last four months of 2020 and we are hopeful a bigger bonus will be seen from them in the near future. If you do need to the grab the card sooner than later then go for it today as it 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. We are hopeful to see one of those offers come back soon!

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

I would also recommend reading our review of the card.