HSBC TravelOne Card Review | What You Need To Know

Utilize 4x Complimentary Airport Lounge

• You are entitled to 4 complimentary lounge visits per year to over 1,300 global airport lounges for primary cardholders. But since it is issued according to the calendar year, you can get a total of eight visits during your first membership year. For example, if your card is approved in May 2025, the following will apply:

  • Upon approval: 4x visits (valid until 31 December 2025)

  • Starting 1 January 2026: 4x visits (valid until 31 December 2026)

• Note that unused complimentary lounge visit cannot be rolled over to the following year, so make sure to utilise it within the calendar year

Make Use of Complimentary Travel Insurance

• You are entitled to complimentary travel insurance when you use your HSBC TravelOne Card to purchase air tickets or pay for taxes and surcharges on a ticket redeemed with airline miles. This insurance covers S$75,000 for accidental death, S$150,000 for overseas medical expenses, and up to S$1 million for emergency medical evacuation, along with protection for travel inconveniences such as flight delays and lost luggage.

Use HSBC’s Free Entertainer Program

• You can get 1-for-1 discounts for dining places etc., and 15% discounts for selected restaurants with HSBC’s ENTERTAINER programme

Take Advantage of Mastercard Benefits

• Priceless™ Specials: explore exclusive perks and a world of privileged access with handpicked offers and benefits from Mastercard.

Best for Redeeming Miles with Airlines Other Than Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer

• With 20 transfer partners (including 8 new ones), HSBC now has the most options in Singapore for using points. See “Transfer Partners” below.
  • For example, you can use just 25K miles to redeem a one-way business class ticket with Infinity Mileagelands on Eva Air to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, or Korea, instead of 35K to 40K miles on Singapore Airlines for the same flight class and destination.

Exclusion List:

• 4829 – Money Transfer
• 4900 – Utilities – Electric, Gas, Water and Sanitary
• 5199 – Nondurable Good
• 5960 – Direct Marketing – Insurance Services
• 6010 – Financial Institutions – Manual Cash Disbursements
• 6011 – Financial Institutions – Automated Cash Disbursements
• 6012 – Financial Institutions – Merchandise, Services, and Debt Repayment
• 6050 – Quasi Cash—Customer Financial Institution
• 6051 – Non-Financial Institutions – Foreign Currency, Non-Fiat Currency (for example: Cryptocurrency), Money Orders (Not Money Transfer), Travelers Cheques, and Debt Repayment
• 6211 – Security Brokers / Dealers
• 6300 – Insurance Sales, Underwriting, and Premiums
• 6513 – Real Estate Agents & Managers – Rentals
• 6529 – REMOTE STORED VALUE LOAD – MEMBER
• 6530 – REMOTE STORED VALUE LOAD – MERCHANT
• 6532 – PSP-MEMBER-PAYMENT TRANSACTION
• 6533 – PSP-MERCHANT-PAYMENT TRANSACTION
• 6534 – MONEY TRANSFER-MEMBER
• 6536 – MONEYSEND – INTRACOUNTRY
• 6537 – MONEYSEND – INTERCOUNTRY
• 6538 – MONEYSEND FUNDING
• 6540 – Non-Financial Institutions – Stored Value Card Purchase/Load
• 6555 – Mastercard Imitated Rebate
• 7299 – Other Services–Not Elsewhere Classified
• 7349 – CLEAN/MAINT/JANITORIAL SER
• 7399 – Business Services Not Elsewhere Classifie
• 7511 – Quasi Cash – Truck Stop Trxns
• 7523 – Automobile Parking Lots and Garages
• 7801 – Government Licensed On-Line Casinos (On-Line Gambling) (US Region only)
• 7995 – Betting, including Lottery Tickets, Casino Gaming Chips, Off-Track Betting, and Wagers at Race Tracks
• 8062 – Hospitals
• 8211 – Elementary and Secondary Schools
• 8220 – Colleges, Universities, Professional Schools, and Junior Colleges
• 8241 – Correspondence Schools
• 8244 – Business and Secretarial Schools
• 8249 – Vocational and Trade Schools
• 8299 – Schools and Educational Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
• 8398 – Charitable Social Service Organizations
• 8651 – Political Organizations
• 8661 – Religious Organizations
• 8999 – Professional Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
• 9211 – Court Costs, Including Alimony and Child Support
• 9222 – Fines
• 9223 – Bail and Bond Payments
• 9311 – Tax Payments
• 9399 – Government Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
• 9402 – Postal Services – Government Only
• 9405 – Intra-Government Purchases – Government Only
• 9754 – GAMBLING-HORSE RACING DOG RACING STATE LOTTERIES

and such other categories of transactions which HSBC may exclude from time to time.

Nerfs:

• Effective 01 October 2025, the minimum income requirement will change depending on your total relationship balance with HSBC; existing cardholders will not be affected by this

Advantages:

• 4 complimentary Lounge visits
• Travel Insurance coverage of up to US$100,000
• Points pooling with other HSBC Cards is now possible!
• No transfer fee (extended to 31 Jan 2025)
• After the first 10,000 miles, there is a minimum conversion block of just 2 miles (It is best to just use it to avoid orphan miles)
• Since it expires by the end of 37-month period, you have about 3 years to plan your travel itineraries! Can’t use it after 3 years? You could transfer to Krisflyer first and enjoy another 3 years of miles validity

Disadvantages:

• The earn rate is very low as compared to HSBC revolution card with the same points validity period. Might be difficult to earn miles fast enough.

Here are the list of their current transfer partners:

• You should choose the ones with conversion rate of 25:000 to 10:000 for the best value. Since I find that conversion to hotel partners isn’t always worthwhile, so I’m sticking to airline partners.

Airline Partner	Conversion Ratio
	50,000:10,000
	35,000:10,000
	35,000:10,000
	35,000:10,000
	35,000:10,000
	35,000:10,000
	30,000:10,000
	30,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000

With the recent update with the conversion rate, transferring to Singapore KrisFlyer will offer less value compared to other transfer partners.

Hotel Partners	Conversion Ratio
	30,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:10,000
	25,000:5,000

• How is my miles calculated?: For every S$1, you can get 1.2 miles per dollar on local spend, and 2.4 miles per dollar on overseas spend.
  • Let’s say you spent S$100 locally (S$100 x 1.2 miles per dollar = 120 miles earned)
• Where do I redeem: You can redeem here
• When is the miles credited: This usually credits when the transaction posted, usually takes 1 business day
• When does points expire: Points expire in 37 months
• Update on Mileage Programme Annual Fee:
  • In line with the upcoming updates on the rewards system, HSBC Cardholders who already paid for the Mileage Programme Annual fee last June 2023 will be receiving a full refund. All cash or points will be credited on your account by 31 July 2024
  • Starting on May 28, 2024, point redemptions will only be made through the HSBC Singapore app.
  • Rewards points that are set to expire on May 31, 2024, will automatically be extended by HSBC by one month (June 30, 2024)
  • Points will be pooled across all credit cards, but if you’re planning to cancel a credit card, make sure to redeem all points you’ve earned, or you won’t be able to use them later.

Read Terms and Conditions here