HSBC has brought its popular travel credit card to India. It launched the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card today. There are definitely some positives, some hits, and misses. Here is how the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card Fares.
HSBC TravelOne Credit Card at Glance
| Particulars | HSBC TravelOne Credit Card |
| Card Type | Travel |
| Annual Fees | INR 4999+GST |
| Welcome Benefits | 3000 Bonus Points on Spending INR 100K in 90 Days |
| Fee Waiver | INR 800K |
| Lounge Access [Domestic] | 6 Visits |
| Lounge Access [International] | 4 Visits |
| Forex Markup | 3.5%+GST |
| Basic Points Earning | 2 Per INR 100 |
| Travel Points Earning | 4 Per INR 100 |
| Milestone Spending | INR 12 Lakh |
| Milestone Benefits | 10000 Points |
| Maximize Earning | Achieve Milestone |
| Maximize Redemptions | Transfer to Partners |
Welcome Benefits
If you spend INR 100K in 90 days, you will receive 3000 Points. On top of that, if you download HSBC App and spend INR 10K within 30 days of the Credit Card opening, you will also receive the following:
- INR 1000 CashBack
- INR 3000 PostCard Hotel Voucher
- 3 Months EazyDiner Prime Membership
I’m a bit disappointed with the welcome benefits. This is a travel card, and you won’t earn transferrable reward points as welcome benefits unless you spend INR 100K in 90 days. The amount of INR 100K is huge. The other welcome benefits of INR 1000 CashBack and PostCard Hotel Voucher are tied to app download. The App download is okay, but the INR 3000 PostCard Voucher is on the lower side, and you may not probably use it.
Points Earning
- Earn 4 Points for INR 100 on:
- Airlines
- Travel aggregators
- Foreign Currency Spends
- A Monthly Cap of 50000 Points applies that is spend up to INR 12.50 Lakh
- Earn 2 Points for INR 100 on all other spends with no cap. However, the exclusion applies
Exclusions
With HSBC TravelOne Credit Card, you will not earn any points on the following:
- Bail and bond payments (9223)
- Education and Government (9399, 8299, 8220, 8211, 8241, 8244, 8249, 9222, 9402, 9211, 9405)
- E-wallets (6540)
- Financial institutions (6010-6012)
- Fuel (5541, 5983, 5172, 5542, 5552)
- Insurance (6300, 5960)
- Jewellery (5944, 5094)
- Money transfers (4829)
- Non-financial institutions (6051)
- Real estate agent and managers (6513)
- Tax payments (9311)
- Utilities (4900)
Earning Potential
Since this travel card earns transferrable points, you would want to maximize the points earned. Here is how many points you can earn if you use HSBC TravelOne Credit Card to maximum potential:
| Particulars | Accelerated Categories | Non-Accelerated Categories |
| Spending | INR 12 Lakh | INR 12 Lakh |
| Earnings | 48000 | 24000 |
| Milestone | 10000 | 10000 |
| Total Earnings | 58000 | 34000 |
This card has a milestone benefit on INR 12 Lakh. So, you can only maximize your earnings if you spend INR 12 Lakh in a year; otherwise, it doesn’t make sense to have this card.
The Reward points earned with the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card are valid for three years from the end of the month in which they were earned.
Lounge Access
The HSBC TravelOne Credit Card Lounge visit is standard for the card’s fees.
- Domestic: 6
- International: 4
Discount Promotions Valid Till 31st Dec 2025
HSBC TravelOne also offers discount promotions for travelling and dining. These discounts are specific to this card and can really save you money.
- Yatra/EaseMyTrip: 15% Flat Discount for Domestic/International flights & Hotels up to INR5K. Available Twice in a year.
- PayTM: 15% Discount on Domestic or International Flights up to INR 5K. Valid Twice in a year.
- ClearTrip: 15% Discount on Domestic or International Flights up to INR 5K. The discount for domestic flights is INR 3K. This promotion is available every six months and is valid until 31 December 2026 on the Mastercard Credit Card variant.
- Zomato (Valid Once Per Month):
- 10% Discount on Events upto INR 1000 on Events(HSBCTOEVENTS) & Dining(HSBCTODINING).
Purchase Protection
HSBC TravelOne Card comes with purchase protection for items purchased with this card. However, there is a long list of exclusions, including AC and Refrigerator. At the same time, the maximum protection for each occurrence is INR 250K, which is decent. A 25% depreciation is applied on items which are 0 to 90 days old from the invoice date, and 50% depreciation if the invoice date is 91 to 180 days old. Thereafter, there is no coverage.
Refer to Policy Wordings here.
HSBC TravelOne Credit Card Transfer Partners
The HSBC TravelOne Transfer partners are the only reason I took this card since the transfer ratio is 1:1 for all cases except for Air Asia, which is 1:3. I think we may also see a transfer bonus promotion from HSBC, but we probably would have to wait for it.
Airline Transfer Partner
| Airlines | Frequent Flyer Program | Airline Alliance | Conversion Ratio | Transfer Time (Working Day) |
| Air Canada | Aeroplan | Star Alliance | 1:1 | 1 |
| Air Asia | AirAsia rewards | None | 1:3 | 1 |
| Air India | Maharaja Club | Star Alliance | 1:1 | 5 |
| Etihad Airways | Etihad Guest | None | 1:1 | 1 |
| AirFrance/KLM | Flying Blue | SkyTeam | 1:1 | 1 |
| British Airways | Executive Club | OneWorld | 1:1 | 1 |
| Eva Airlines | Infinity MileageLands | Star Alliance | 1:1 | 1 |
| Hainan Airlines | Fortune Wings Club | No Alliance | 1:1 | 5 |
| Japan Airlines | JAL Mileage Bank | OneWorld | 1:1 | 10 |
| Singapore Airlines | Krisflyer | Star Alliance | 1:1 | 1 |
| Thai Airways | Royal Orchid Plus | Star Alliance | 1:1 | 1 |
| Turkish Airlines | Miles&Smiles | Star Alliance | 1:1 | 1 |
| United Airlines | United Mileage Plus | Star Alliance | 1:1 | 1 |
| Qantas Airways | Qantas Frequent Flyer | OneWorld | 1:1 | 1 |
| Qatar Airways | Privilege Club | OneWorld | 1:1 | 1 |
| Vietnam Airlines | Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles | SkyTeam | 1:1 | 1 |
Finally, someone’s sense prevailed and at least kept Air Asia at a 1:3 transfer ratio. As Air Asia points are approximately worth INR 0.2 per point, you can get a value of INR 0.6 per HSBC TravelOne Card Point. At the same time, they Introduced EVA Air as a transfer partner, which is decent. And having all transfer partners at 1:1 is exceptional.
There is another partner, Intermiles, which also has a 1:1 transfer ratio.
Hotel Transfer Partner
Here are the Five HSBC Hotel Transfer Partners:
| Hotels | Conversion Ratio |
| ALL-Accor Live Limitless | 1:1 |
| IHG One Rewards | 1:1 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1:1 |
| Shangri-La Circle | 5:1 |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 |
Again, the transfer ratio at 1:1 is decent, and having Accor and Shangri-La both at 1:1 is great. Accor Points have 2000 points, equivalent to EUR 40, and Shangri-La 15 points are equivalent to 1 USD. The points are expected to take one day to transfer.
What didn’t work for the HSBC TravelOne Card?
We all get excited whenever we hear about travel credit cards. But this card isn’t so great. Here’s why.
- There is no Decent Sign-up Bonus, which also requires significant spending to earn that 3000 points.
- Lower Earning Potential: You must spend INR 12 Lakh to earn a maximum of 58K Points. For reference, you can earn these many points for less with other travel cards like Axis Atlas.
- No Major Milestone Benefit: The milestone benefit of 10K at INR 12 Lakh spending is okay; however, with lower base earnings, the milestone benefit could have been better.
- Lower Accelerated Earnings: They offer 4 Points for every INR 100 spent on Airlines and Travel Agents, a standard earning feature of the Axis Atlas Credit Card.
- No Accelerated Earnings on Hotels: They are not offering any Accelerated Earnings on hotel spending.
- No Domestic Hotel Transfer Partner (ITC).
What Works with the HSBC TravelOne Card?
Here is what works for HSBC TravelOne Card:
- Standard Transfer Ratio Across Partners and several transfer partners.
- No Capping of Transfer (as of now): Axis Bank and even HDFC cap the transfer/redemption of points. So that is a big plus. But at the same time, the earnings are low.
What is still to be answered?
- HSBC does allow points polling in Singapore. So, it would be interesting to see if, in the future, HSBC TravelOne and HSBC Premier Credit Card points can be pooled. That would be a good upgrade for sure.
Bottomline
HSBC TravelOne can not be in the wallet as a standalone card. If you have exhausted your options for earning or transferring credit card points, then you may look at this card as a secondary or probably tertiary or later card. It is a low-earning card but does have a good number of partners and a standard 1:1 transfer ratio.
