HSBC trims Qantas Platinum credit card points, boosts perks

HSBC credit card customers may soon earn fewer Qantas frequent flyer points every month under changes taking place from November 1 2017: but from the same date, the bank is also introducing several new perks to make the card more useful when travelling and dining out.

Centre to the changes is a new monthly earning cap of 7,500 Qantas Points, although cardholders will continue to earn one Qantas Point per dollar spent up to $2,500 per month, and 0.5 Qantas Points per dollar spent thereafter.

This replaces a yearly earning cap of 300,000 Qantas Points, although as the 'everyday' frequent flyer earning rate is unchanged, cardholders would only earn fewer points each month than they do today if spending more than $12,500 monthly.

Spend less than this each month and the number of points you can earn is unchanged, even with the new cap – so with a monthly bill of $5,000, for example, a cardholder would continue to earn 3,750 Qantas Points in total, being one point per dollar spent on the first $2,500 (2,500 points), and 0.5 points per dollar spent on the next $2,500 (1,250 points).

To offset this change, HSBC is ramping up its complimentary insurance offering to include coverage for luggage delays; refunds of cancellation fees and lost deposits where owed; and meals and accommodation cover during travel disruptions when travelling domestically within Australia.

Also being introduced is domestic car rental insurance, with HSBC Platinum Qantas Visa cardholders being treated to complimentary membership in the HSBC Instant Savings program as well, which includes a Frequent Values membership from Entertainment Publications valued at $89.95 (more commonly known for its ‘Entertainment’ coupon book).

The program offers savings at a range of businesses including 25% off the bill at hundreds of restaurants around Australia, plus other discounts and benefits.

Available now, new ‘HSBC My Card Controls’ also permit customers to limit their spending, such as by blocking purchases larger than a certain value, and blocking certain types of transactions if they’re not typically used, such as Paywave purchases, Apple Pay, ‘card not present’ purchases (like online shopping) and more.

The same facility also allows users to block or allow transactions from specific countries – so if you never travel overseas, you might allow purchases only within Australia: whereas if you frequently travel globally, you might choose to ‘blacklist’ only those countries you never visit, to help prevent any fraudulent transactions on the account.

HSBC is one of the last credit card issuers to update its products in light of the RBA’s new interchange fee regulations which came into effect from July 1, with ANZ, Citibank, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, St. George, Westpac and most other providers having announced or implemented changes prior to that date.

That said, we’re happy to see that the number of points HSBC cardholders can earn each month is only reduced for those spending in the five figures, meaning most others will continue earning the same number of points on their purchases with the added benefit of these new perks from November 1.

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.