HSBC are offering a 25% transfer bonus when you convert HSBC Reward Points to British Airways Avios before 31st August 2019.
HSBC Reward points are a flexible currency that you can earn via the HSBC Premier Mastercard or the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard.
They are similar to American Express Membership Rewards points and Marriott Bonvoy points in that they can be converted to a number of different frequent flyer programs.
You can currently transfer HSBC Reward points to:
- British Airways Avios (British Airways Executive Club)
- Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
- Etihad Guest (Etihad Airways)
- Singapore KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines)
The conversion rate is:
2 HSBC Reward points = 1 frequent flyer mile.
As always, this bonus is great if you were planning on sending your points to BA eventually anyway. However, if you don’t have any immediate plans for the Avios, you might prefer to keep your options open and retain the flexibility of sending them to Etihad Guest, Singapore Krisflyer or Cathay Asia Miles in the future. For perspective, there was a 20% bonus when converting HSBC Reward points to Etihad Guest miles earlier this year.
How to get the 25% bonus
As has been in the case in the past, HSBC are not going out of their way to advertise the bonus and if you don’t use online banking on your computer, there’s every chance you would miss this offer entirely.
On the desktop version of the site (no mention in the app as far as I can tell), you’ll see a small banner in the bottom right corner:
You can find more details of the offer in this PDF.
The 25% extra Avios will be awarded 14 days after you redeem your Points in exchange for Avios. These extra Avios will be applied automatically and will be reflected as ‘Bonus Avios’ separately in your Avios statement.
Verdict
HSBC used to run this promotion about once a year but it disappeared for a couple of years before making a (targeted?) return last year.
It’s rare to see UK transfer bonuses from credit card points to Avios or indeed any other airline program. Compare this with the fairly regular ~40% transfer bonuses that pop up in the US and you can’t help but feel slightly envious. It’s therefore pleasing to see HSBC offering a decent incentive to convert your points. Amex – feel free to follow suit!