HSBC India TravelOne Credit Card: From eligibility to rewards; all you need to know

HSBC Bank has joined the party very late in comparison with HDFC, Axis and American Express Bank. Now, they're trying to get a suite of the best credit cards. HSBC Bank has recently launched HSBC India TravelOne Credit Card, making it a travel-focused card. So, let’s discuss more about this card.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, you must be an Indian resident between 18 and 65 years old. Your annual income should be at least ₹4,00,000 if you are a salaried individual. Additionally, you should live in one of the following cities: Chennai, Gurgaon, Delhi NCR, Pune, Noida, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, or Kolkata.

However, as per our own research and market analysis, HSBC has fairly stringent underwriting policy and they do have a high rejection rate for self-employed folks. But, we are not saying to not apply.

Annual charges and welcome benefit

The joining fee when you take out a new card is ₹4,999 along with extra 18% GST. Afterwards, the annual fee is ₹4,999 or free if you spend more than ₹8,00,000 a year.

The foreign currency markup fee is 3.5% + GST (4.13%), which results in a negative net return of -- 0.13% despite the higher reward rate on forex spends.

As soon as you get the card, there is a welcome benefit wherein you need to download and log in to the HSBC India Mobile Banking app, then spend ₹10,000 within the first 30 days of opening account to enjoy:

• ₹1,000 cash back
• A ₹3,000 voucher for The Postcard Hotel
• 3 months of EazyDiner Prime Membership
• Additionally, earn 3,000 bonus reward points when you spend ₹1,00,000 in the first 90 days.

This Offer is only applicable to new HSBC TravelOne Primary Credit Cardholders who apply between 1 December 2024 to 31 December 2025.

Reward rate

HSBC follow 2 different types of reward rates, i.e,

• Earn 4 reward points for every ₹100 spent on flights, travel aggregators and in foreign currency with capping at 50,000 reward points a month. In technical spend, you need to spend ₹12.5 lacs.
• Reverts to regular earn rate, gets 2 reward points for every ₹100 spent on anything else, with no cap.

However on following transaction you will not any reward points:

• Bail and bond payments (9223).
• Education and government (9399, 8299, 8220, 8211, 8241, 8244, 8249, 9222, 9402, 9211, 9405), e-wallets (6540).
• Financial institutions (6010-6012), fuel (5541, 5983, 5172, 5542, 5552), insurance (6300, 5960), jewellery (5944, 5094), money transfers (4829), non-financial institutions (6051).
• Real estate agent and managers (6513), tax payments (9311), utilities (4900).

Other card benefits

Beyond the regular and accelerated rewards on certain categories, you get some more travel related benefit, which are as follows:

• Yatra: 15% off on domestic flights and hotels with capping of 3,000 whereas for international, capping is ₹5,000. However, this offer is applicable twice per card per year and not valid on any affiliated marketing channels. Plus, the offer is applicable to select hotels only.
• EaseMyTrip: 15% off on both domestic and international flights and hotels with some capping and maximum upto ₹5,000 with similar terms and conditions.
• Paytm: 15% off on both domestic and international flights with upto ₹5,000 discount (minimum value, ₹5,000). However, this offer is applicable twice per card per year.
• ClearTrip: 15% off on both domestic flights with upto ₹3,000 discount and for international flights capped at ₹5,000 discount. However, this offer is valid once per card every 6 months and only on retail bookings.
• StayVista: 11% off on hotel bookings with upto ₹3,000 discount and, this offer is valid twice per card per calendar year.
• AdaniOne Duty-free: 20% off upto ₹3,000 on minimum order value of ₹8,000 at Adani Airports once per card per year.
• Golf access: Enjoy 4 complimentary rounds of golf and 12 complimentary lessons per calendar year (max 1 per calendar month). Plus, get 50% off your green fees for additional rounds through Mastercard World Elite India Golf Program.
• Purchase protection: This benefit provides you coverage for accidental damage, covered purchase (some exclusions too) and theft under certain conditions. The card provides annual aggregate limit upto ₹16,66,600 and per occurrence limit of ₹2,49,990 under underwriting of TATA AIG.
• Lounge access: Get 6 domestic and 4 international airport lounge visits every year at select airports.
• Zomato: 10% off on events and dining. Plus, BOGO upto 200 on the second ticket.

Redemptions

The reward point you earn can be redeemed on hotel and airline loyalty programmes along with voucher and merchandise. Also, you can expect your redemption to be completed instantly or within 1 working day for most redemptions. There are five hotel and 17 airline partners listed.

Milestone benefit

Earn 10,000 bonus reward points when you spend more than ₹12,00,000 in a year on all sales transactions (excluding refunds) count towards the milestone and no exclusions apply for the milestone benefit.

Conclusion

The HSBC TravelOne Credit Card is tailored for travellers, making it a great option for frequent flyers. However, better alternatives exist, like the Axis Atlas Credit Card. Still, for those looking for instant redemptions and diverse hotel and airline transfer options, the HSBC TravelOne card remains a strong contender.

Rohit Gyanchandani is Managing Director at Nandi Nivesh Private Limited