HSBC World Elite: Winter 2022 Offer Worth $400+!

The HSBC World Elite Mastercard has just announced its welcome offer for the fall and winter of 2022, which will last until February 28, 2023.

In terms of the amount of the welcome bonus, this offer is exactly the same as the previous Spring 2022 offer, representing $400+ in value the first year or $450+ if you decide to renew the card for a second year.

As before, the HSBC World Elite’s welcome bonus is divided into two separate offers: one for non-Quebec residents and one for Quebec residents, both of which carry a net value of at least $300.

Let’s take a closer look at the details for both offers. Keep in mind as well that the HSBC World Elite Mastercard will undergo some changes as of February 1, 2023.

Non-Quebec Offer: Up to 80,000 Points + First Year Free

The offer for non-Quebec residents is as follows. The primary cardholder’s annual fee of $149 will be rebated for the first year*, and you will earn the following as a signup bonus:

• 20,000 HSBC Rewards points* welcome bonus, upon completing your first purchase
• 40,000 HSBC Rewards points* upon spending $6,000 in the first six months (although you’ll still have to wait the full six months before receiving these points)
• 20,000 HSBC Rewards points* as an anniversary bonus upon renewing your card for a second year
• Total of up to 80,000 HSBC Rewards points*

Let’s first take a look at what you would earn in the first year. 

At a minimum, HSBC Rewards points are worth 0.5 cents per point (cpp) each when redeemed against eligible travel purchases (i.e., purchases made from merchants that are classified in the Mastercard network as airlines, car rental agencies, hotels, cruise lines, passenger railways, tour operators, timeshares and travel agencies) made using your HSBC credit card at a ratio of 200 HSBC Rewards points = $1.

Therefore, the 60,000 HSBC Rewards points you’d earn in the first year would already be worth at least $300 when redeemed for an eligible travel purchase.

But that isn’t the end of the story. In terms of the returns on daily spending, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard allows you to earn:

• 6 HSBC Rewards points per dollar spent on eligible travel purchases
• 3 HSBC Rewards points per dollar spent on all other purchases

So if we were to add the points that you earn from meeting the $6,000 spending threshold to the above calculations, then we can conclude that you’d earn at least 18,000 HSBC Rewards…