The reason why I don’t recommend the HSBC credit card. Poor airport lounge services, No travel insurance

Hi, Everybody has credit card right? Basically, it is difficult for foreigners to get a credit card in foreign country. So maybe you are using credit card you got in your home country. I also wanted to make a credit card in Malaysia where I live now. However it was difficult to make it for a few years. But I finally got my card. I actually could make a credit card a few years ago, but I turned it down. “I don’t really like using credit card. I prefer to use cash. so I don’t need it this time.” That was a big mistake. I wasted a few years on that. I’ve only used debit cards in the past. But credit card is so useful. When I buy something on online shopping Lazada or buy airline ticket or something. Even if Alipay and other electrical money become popular soon, we will still need credit card. So, I applied again and checked the ancillary services of the HSBC credit card I received. As the result of checking, I concluded this credit card is not so good. I’m thinking of applying for another credit card next year. I read the terms and conditions of the credit card and writing some research result on this blog for you. Even if you get credit cards from HSBC as the same, It may somehow differ from other countries. I think service for credit card is depending on country. so this article content is only about HSBC in Malaysia.

 

 

 

The reason why I don’t recommend the HSBC credit card

 

Comparing of HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card and HSBC Premier World Credit Card

I will review the contents of the card I received at first.  “HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card” is the top-of-the-line card. and HSBC Premier World Credit Card” is next best thing. I received them both cards at the same time, but the envelopes are kind of different too. Left is HSBC Premier World Credit Card. Right is HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card. The right side looks cooler than the cheap looking white envelope.

 

 

Let me explain common service on these card simply.

 

■Boingo wifi service is available

 

■10% off when you book with Expedia

https://www.expedia.com.my/hsbcpremier

As I chekced terms and conditions, （https://cdn.hsbc.com.my/content/dam/hsbc/my/docs/premier-world-mastercard-terms-and-conditions.pdf）I found following mentions.

“The coupon can only be used for bookings within the next 12 months. If a booking is made for a stay beyond 12 months, the coupon cannot be used.”

Regarding Expedia’s discount,  may be able to apply for the only first year.  Below Agoda supposed to be a 7% discount with no expiration date.

 

■7% off when you book with Agoda

https://www.agoda.com/hsbcpremier

 

■Website you can spend accumulated mile and point

https://sp.hsbc.com.my/rewardspremiertravel/

 

■Voucher

https://www.homeandaway.hsbc.com/

 

■You will receive a Grab promo code worth 80RM via SMS when the purchase value of the flight ticket is above 2500RM
When you purchase a plane ticket, you can write ‘Airline’ in the promo code blank. That will be recognized by HSBC.
Minimum ticket purchase of 2500rm is required.

■Reimbursement of up to $100 USD for lost wallets overseas (In accordance with E-commerce & Wallet Protection Insurance by Mastercard. But I couldn’t find more detail information on the web)

 

Now, let’s talk about the differences between these two cards.

 

■About the annual membership fee

HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card has an annual fee of RM600. There is no annual fee for the first year. but from the next year onwards, there will be no annual fee if spend more than 45,000RM per year. Although it was not mentioned in the documents, Banker said “if depositor put money more than RM300,000 into the bank account, it will be free of charge.” and I was strongly recommended “HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card” by banker. Banker seems want customer to have this one. I guess “HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card” has some quota. That’s why they recommended “HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card” to me. They said if you don’t need “HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card”, can call me to cancel after 6 months so you will be free of charge. As I supposed to apply only 1 credit card. But I applied 2 card with that reason.

 

There is no annual fee for HSBC Premier World Credit Card.

 

■You get miles or point when you spend

Since you have HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card, you will get 1.1 miles for every RM1 spent abroad.  1 miles will be awarded for every 4RM spent in domestic. The HSBC Premier World Credit Card earns points for spending, not miles.

 

Here’s a list of the shops specified.

https://cdn.hsbc.com.my/content/dam/hsbc/my/docs/mall-merchant-list.pdf

 

 

Airport Lounge Service

First, I would like to show an overview of airport lounge services.

Airport Lounge Service is a service that allows you to use the VIP lounge at the airport. You can use the lounge service freely depending on the service attached to your credit card. I looked into it and found that these airport lounge services are contracted with each lounge at each airport around the world. and Those companies headquarter are in the UK, Hong Kong and other countries. They aggregate the a lot of lounge service into one large product and sell it. The companies that issue credit cards have contracts with those lounge service companies. and then credit card company issue to customer. So customer can use that lounge services.  There are four main companies that consolidate lounge services as follows.

 

1. Priority Pass: A British company called Collinson Group has this service. The Airport Lounge Program which gives you access to airport lounges around the world, such as this one The world’s largest airport lounge access program in the world

https://www.prioritypass.com/

 

2, DragonPass : 12 airports all over the world. It is less lounge compare to another.

https://en.dragonpass.com.cn/

 

3, LOUNGE CLUB : 350 lounges in 200 airports around the world.

https://www.loungeclub.com/en/

 

4、Plaza Premium Lounge : Access to lounges at 46 airports around the world. Plaza Premium Lounge is brand name. Hong Kong-based company named Plaza Premium Group is handling this lounge services. HSBC credit card also using this program. I understand why HSBC using this program. It is related to Hong Kong base.
https://www.plazapremiumlounge.com/en-uk

I guess Most famous lounge service is Priority Pass. I have heard that name many times. Plaza Premium Lounge is provided by HSBC is kind of different from Priority Pass. The biggest difference is the number of lounges available.

A list of Plaza Premium Lounge available airports can be found at the following website

https://cdn.hsbc.com.my/content/dam/hsbc/my/docs/list-of-airport-lounges-ptc.pdf

Honestly, there aren’t too many of them. Let’ take a look at check and compare to Priority Pass. Plaza premium lounge is only available at Jakarta International Airport in Indonesia.

 

However, Priority Pass has many airport lounges available in Indonesia. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this covers almost everything. Wherever you go indonesia, you can be relax at lounge service no matter which airport you go to.

 

 

With Priority Pass, you can have access to two lounges. Even at the regional airport, Medan

 

With Plaza premium lounge, As for the Philippines, only Cebu International Airport is available. It is kind of useless. Lounge service is available at regional airport But capital airport at NAIA in Manila is not available. so half way.

As far as I can see, the airport lounge service provided by HSBC’s credit card is about as lucky as if you would had the opportunity to use lounge service while traveling abroad.

As for Malaysia, there seem many airports where you can use lounges.

• If you live in Penang and use Penang airport a lot.
• If you live in Kota Kinabalu and use the Kota Kinabalu airport a lot.
• If you live in Kuching and use Kuching airport a lot.
• If you live around Kuala Lumpur and book Malaysia Airlines and Malindo Air a lot.

If you match above category, I think you’ll be able to use the lounge well. However, in case of that you live in the Kuala Lumpur area and use AirAsia (KLIA2) a lot, It is unlikely to be of much use it.

As for the HSBC Premier World Credit Card’s lounge services, the It comes with something like a trial version of the Plaza premium lounge. Only the following 3 airport lounges are eligible

• KL International Airport (KLIA1 only)
• Singapore Changi Airport
• Hong Kong International Airport

Regarding a limited number of times, HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card is only available for the cardholder and 12 times in a year. Family members are not allowed to use it. 25% discount for companions. After the 12th use, regular charges will be applied. HSBC Premier World Credit Card is available only 6 times a year. It’s a very small service. For now, I don’t think this lounge service is very high quality.

 

Removed ancillary services for travel insurance

Both HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card and HSBC Premier World Credit Card has not any additional travel insurance. This card’s name is HSBC Premier Travel Credit Card. So I thought travel insurance has already included without asking banker or anything. I did not think like that. I checked and asked the banker later, I found that previous Travel card had included travel insurance. I wonder why they deleted good service. I can not believe.

 

Comparing of another bank

You don’t have to choose Priority Banking to create a credit card. It’s not necessarily to get a good credit card with big deposit. AmSignature and Standard Chartered Priority seems to have travel insurance, too. Even if it’s not a bank credit card, the AEON Credit Service card is also a good choice for travel insurance. It is included in the package.

 

UOB Privilege Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 500,000
Citibank Citigold eligibility min. deposit/investment 400,000
Rakyat Xclusive eligibility min. deposit/investment 300,000
OCBC Premier Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 300,000
Maybank Premier Wealth eligibility min. deposit/investment 250,000
Public Bank Red Carpet Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 250,000
AlRajhi Affluent eligibility min. deposit/investment 250,000
Standard Chartered Priority Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 250,000
CIMB Preferred eligibility min. deposit/investment 250,000
HSBC Premier eligibility min. deposit/investment 200,000
Hong Leong Priority Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 200,000
RHB Premier Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 200,000
Alliance Bank Privilege Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 200,000
Bank Muamalat Prime Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 200,000
KFH Priority Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 200,000
AmSignature Priority Banking eligibility min. deposit/investment 200,000

 

 

Conclusion

Airport lounge services (Plaza premium lounge) that is provided by HSBC card is not good. But may could be very useful depending on where you live and your lifestyle. I was surprised that there is no travel insurance included.

 

Summary

This is somehow good experience for me. I’ve enjoyed learning about service of credit card and airport lounge. I had never paid much attention to it before. I can see through the industry between the banks and the card provider and the companies that supply the services associated with their cards. There is one very famous credit card in Japan. That name is “Rakuten Premium Card”. I did not know the reason why that credit card is so praised by everybody. That card has an annual fee of almost 100 US$. But that card holder come with Priority Pass that is entitled PRESTIGE class that can enter any lounge and unlimited. That’s a great service. Normally 600RM has to pay for highest rank PRESTIGE. I’m jealous of that card so much. Anyway I hope you will find your favorite card. See you.