Earlier this week, HSBC launched a promotion for clients who open a new mortgage or transfer their existing mortgage to HSBC. Qualified customers will earn 200,000 HSBC Rewards points for every $200,000 (CAD) of a mortgage, up to 1,000,000 HSBC Rewards points.
If you’re in the the market for a mortgage, the bonus points earned through this promotion could unlock some aspirational travel experiences in some of the world’s best airline products.
Earn Up to 1 Million HSBC Rewards Points with an HSBC Mortgage
HSBC’s latest travel rewards mortgage offer is available to new clients who open a mortgage with HSBC, or to anyone who transfers their existing mortgage to HSBC. The promotion runs from March 2, 2023 to September 3, 2023.
The terms and conditions for the offer state that you must open a five-year fixed rate or five-year variable rate closed term mortgage with HSBC. You must also apply for and have the mortgage fully funded within 120 days of the start date, and no later than September 30, 2023.
Furthermore, you must either already hold an HSBC World Elite Mastercard or HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard, or you must apply and be approved for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, since the two were recently merged into a single product.
Assuming you have met the above requirements, as well as all other terms for the offer, you’ll receive 200,000 HSBC Rewards points for every $200,000 (CAD) of your mortgage, up to 1,000,000 points.
The following table summarizes the number of HSBC Rewards points you stand to earn, depending on the amount of your mortgage:
Amount of Mortgage (CAD) | HSBC Rewards Points Earned |
Up to $200,000 | 0 |
$200,000–399,999 | 200,000 |
$400,000–599,999 | 400,000 |
$600,000–799,999 | 600,000 |
$800,000–999,999 | 800,000 |
$1,000,000+ | 1,000,000 |
The points will be credited to your HSBC Rewards account within 60 days of the mortgage being funded, and they’ll become available within the first two statements after the day they have been awarded. In other words, the HSBC Rewards points from this offer won’t become immediately available, and it appears that it could take up to four months for you to have access to them.
This is certainly an interesting offer for anyone shopping around for a mortgage or looking to transfer their existing mortgage to HSBC. Of course, you’ll want to compare rates with other institutions to ensure that opening one with HSBC gives you the best deal for your personal situation.
What Can You Do with HSBC Rewards Points?
HSBC Rewards is a valuable currency to have at your disposal, as you can choose to redeem them against travel purchases at a rate of 0.5 cents per point, or you can choose to transfer them to one of three airline loyalty programs.
If you choose to redeem them for a statement credit, you’d earn between $1,000–5,000 (CAD) to put towards travel expenses as a statement credit, as summarized in the following chart:
Amount of Mortgage (CAD) | HSBC Rewards Points Earned | Value as a Statement Credit |
Up to $200,000 | 0 | 0 |
$200,000–399,999 | 200,000 | $1,000 |
$400,000–599,999 | 400,000 | $2,000 |
$600,000–799,999 | 600,000 | $3,000 |
$800,000–999,999 | 800,000 | $4,000 |
$1,000,000+ | 1,000,000 | $5,000 |
Redeeming your points this way can be useful to lower the cost of travel experiences that are otherwise difficult to book with points. For example, you can use them for booking independent hotels, cruises, car rentals, vacation packages, or anything else that codes as travel.
While HSBC Rewards can be a great currency to use to offset the cost of travel, you could also possibly benefit more by transferring them to one of three airline loyalty programs: British Airways Avios, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
(Note that you have to redeem at least 25,000 points to begin with, and then in chunks of 10,000 thereafter. So, even though you may have 200,000 HSBC Rewards points through this offer, you’d only be able to redeem a maximum of 195,000, and you’d always have 5,000 leftover.
Therefore, in the below charts, the number of points earned through the transfer reflects the value at 195,000, 395,000, 595,000, 795,000 and 995,000, respectively).
HSBC Rewards transfer to Avios at a ratio of 25:10. So, with the mortgage offer, you can earn up to 398,000 Avios, depending on the amount of your mortgage.
Amount of Mortgage (CAD) | HSBC Rewards Points Earned | Number of British Airways Avios |
Up to $200,000 | 0 | 0 |
$200,000–399,999 | 200,000 | 78,000 |
$400,000–599,999 | 400,000 | 158,000 |
$600,000–799,999 | 600,000 | 238,000 |
$800,000–999,999 | 800,000 | 318,000 |
$1,000,000+ | 1,000,000 | 398,000 |
One of the best ways to redeem Avios is by booking a combination of Qatar Airways Qsuites and Qatar Airways First Class from North America to Bangkok via Doha for 95,000 Avios. You could also squeeze even more value out of the points by booking a multi-carrier award.
HSBC Rewards transfer to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer at a ratio of 25:9. So, with the mortgage offer, you can earn up to 358,200 KrisFlyer miles, depending on the amount of your mortgage.
Amount of Mortgage (CAD) | HSBC Rewards Points Earned | Number of Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles |
Up to $200,000 | 0 | 0 |
$200,000–399,999 | 200,000 | 70,200 |
$400,000–599,999 | 400,000 | 142,200 |
$600,000–799,999 | 600,000 | 214,200 |
$800,000–999,999 | 800,000 | 286,200 |
$1,000,000+ | 1,000,000 | 358,200 |
HSBC Rewards is one of the only ways to access KrisFlyer miles in Canada, aside from transferring Marriott Bonvoy points or dabbling in US credit cards.
KrisFlyer is the best way to score a ticket in one of the world’s best First Class cabins, Singapore Airlines Suites Class. One-way flights in Suites Class on the A380 fifth freedom route between New York (JFK) and Frankfurt start at 97,000 KrisFlyer miles.
If you compare the cash price of the flight with what you’d receive if you redeem your points for a statement credit, you’ll certainly get much more value through KrisFlyer. The only catch is being able to find one or more seats at the Saver level, which you’ll have to keep a keen eye out for.
Lastly, you can transfer HSBC Rewards to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at a ratio of 25:8. So, with the mortgage offer, you can earn up to 318,400 Asia Miles.
Amount of Mortgage (CAD) | HSBC Rewards Points Earned | Number of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles |
Up to $200,000 | 0 | 0 |
$200,000–399,999 | 200,000 | 62,400 |
$400,000–599,999 | 400,000 | 126,400 |
$600,000–799,999 | 600,000 | 190,400 |
$800,000–999,999 | 800,000 | 254,400 |
$1,000,000+ | 1,000,000 | 318,400 |
Asia Miles are very useful for booking Cathay Pacific First Class and business class, as the program has access to a greater number of seats than other partner airlines. For example, you can fly from Western North America to Hong Kong in First Class for 110,000 Asia Miles, or from the Eastern United States for 125,000 Asia Miles.
You can also redeem Asia Miles for an aspirational Oneworld multi-carrier award, trying out a number of premium products on Oneworld airlines along the way.
Keep in mind that there are also occasional transfer bonuses to the airline loyalty programs, which would only inflate the number of points earned through this offer even further.
In any event, if you choose to pursue this mortgage promotion with HSBC, you can certainly get plenty of value from the additional boost of points.
Conclusion
HSBC has launched a unique promotion for clients who apply and are approved for a mortgage with HSBC. Between March 2, 2023 and September 3, 2023, you can earn up to 1 million HSBC Rewards points by getting a mortgage with HSBC.
As is always the case when looking at mortgages, you’ll want to ensure that the rate offered to you is the best possible rate given your personal situation. If it is, then this is certainly a worthwhile promotion to consider.
HSBC Rewards points are easy to use as a statement credit against travel purchases, and can also be transferred to three popular loyalty programs. Hopefully, the trip you take with the points takes a bit of the sting away from the amount of interest you’ll have to pay on your mortgage over the years.