Vacation Smarter, Not Harder: 3 Travel Hacks to Make the Most of Your HSBC TravelOne Credit Card

Ace your upcoming holiday plans with these credit card travel hacks, courtesy of the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card.

When you think of the month of December, what immediately comes to mind? For most of us, it’s synonymous with fun, holidays, and the winter season (if you’re looking to escape the year-round Singapore heat). But with everyone travelling at the same time, this peak travel period also brings about its own fair share of challenges.

Flight tickets and accommodation bookings are often competitive, overbooked, and just flat-out expensive during this period. And without any sort of frequent flyer miles to cushion some costs, paying out of pocket can prove difficult – especially if you’re travelling as a family or in a big group.

In such times, you’d be surprised how much credit card travel hacking can come in clutch. Yes, your regular credit card spending – with a travel credit card like the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card – might just ‘sponsor’ your next holiday abroad.

Table of contents

• Use as designated travel card
• Easier and instant travel reward redemption 
• Enhanced travels with exclusive rewards and free travel insurance

3 travel hacks to maximise the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card 

#1: Double-up as your travel card

Although multi-currency cards might be all the rage right now, they don’t allow you to earn miles directly unless you’re miles-hacking. Sometimes, simplicity is key, and you just want a travel credit card to match and earn miles on your spending habits in a straightforward way. Enter: the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card – the latest miles credit card that gives you high earn rate for avid travellers, with no cap on miles/points earned.

The HSBC TravelOne Credit Card earns you an accelerated 2.4 miles per S$1 (mpd) on foreign currency spend^#. This rate outperforms that of its peers like the DBS Altitude Card, OCBC 90°N Card or SCB Journey Card. Otherwise, the 1.2 mpd rate on local spend is competitive too. 

💡Pro-tip: All eligible local and overseas transactions under the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card are as good as gold, as long as the merchant doesn’t fall under the MCC exclusions, your transactions will earn you bonus miles/points.

Plus, HSBC TravelOne credit cardholders can earn an additional 1% cashback on eligible transactions when you open an HSBC Everyday Global Account (EGA) and qualify for the Everyday+ Rewards programme^-.

Read more:
HSBC TravelOne Credit Card Review: Travel & Earn Rewards All on One App
HSBC TravelOne: Best Credit Card to Start Earning Your Revenge Travel Stripes

#2: Easier and instant travel reward redemption⁺

Given the generous (and growing!) list of travel partners offered by the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card, settling flight and hotel bookings just got a whole lot easier. With over 12 airline and hotel partners in its roster to date, it’s expected to expand to over 20 partnerships.

With all the air miles and hotel points accumulated, you get to redeem instantly all within HSBC Singapore app. You no longer have to wait for reward conversion before you book your next trip. 

Best of all, the conversion fee for air miles or hotel points has been waived until 31 May 2024. You can convert as many HSBC Reward points into miles or hotel points to your heart’s content at zero cost! 

This is great news for both solo travellers and big groups alike – why? Allow us to illustrate.

When travelling alone, you’ll want to be prepared for unforeseen situations, like travel delays, weather hazards, or medical emergencies. After all, there’s nothing more frustrating than paying exorbitant hotel room prices for an extra night or two. 

In these situations, instant reward redemption of hard-earned hotel points and miles would be a lifesaver to redeem those extra few nights’ stays. Even if you don’t have enough hotel points to fully offset the extension, hotels will usually allow a redemption combo of both points and cash. 

Meanwhile, for big group travels it’s often more of a challenge to find good and cheap flight and accommodation deals to accommodate for everyone’s interests as opposed to a single individual. HSBC TravelOne’s comprehensive list of travel partners allows you to have more options in redeeming your miles and hotel points when you are searching for the best deals. 

Your Reward points^# earned from your spend on HSBC TravelOne Credit Card will come in handy to redeem free hotel stays worldwide, with access to over 10,000 hotel branches. You read that right - you’ll definitely be spoilt for choice and never have to struggle over finding the right accommodation for your stay.

Overall, HSBC TravelOne credit cardholders stand to yield greater cost savings regardless of the travel circumstances. But don’t just hear it from us, check out all of their exciting partners for yourself below:

Plus, all redeemed hotel points or miles will be completed either instantly or within one business day – with the exception of Accor Live Limitless which might take up to five business days.

#3: Enhance your travels with exclusive rewards, complimentary travel insurance and 4 airport lounge visits annually

Apart from HSBC TravelOne’s travel partners, they also offer many exclusive travel offers to elevate your holiday to the next level. 

Check back their rewards catalogue regularly for the most up-to-date promos!

But that’s not all; All HSBC TravelOne credit cardholders are entitled to up to US$100,000 complimentary travel insurance^ when paying for flights with the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card. This covers key components such as overseas medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation, and overseas hospitalisation allowance.

This coverage rivals, and even, outperforms other credit cards with complimentary travel insurance because many of them lack certain components. For instance, some credit cards only cover for personal accidents and travel inconveniences and omit any protection for medical expenses.

All in all, the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card, its extensive breadth of coverage ensures that you and your loved ones can have fun knowing that you’re safeguarded against any travel woes.

And lastly, primary cardholders are entitled to 4 complimentary access visits to over 1,300 airport lounges via Mastercard Travel Pass (MTP) in a year. This perk is more than welcomed considering that other travel credit cards typically allow only 2 airport lounge visits per year. 

💡Pro-tip: To maximise your perks even further, download the ENTERTAINER with HSBC app and use it to enjoy more than 1,000 one-for-one offers locally and overseas. Also do look out for the HSBC WOW deals that feature one-for-one offers along with a wide range of categories including exclusive discounts on overseas accommodation and travel activities.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, there’s no one ‘best’ miles credit card out there, but the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card checks off the boxes for travel lovers all around! 

Converting your miles and maintaining hotel loyalty via hotel points can be quite complicated to keep track of these days. But the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card simplifies this process tremendously, thanks to its robust instant reward redemption programme, points-to-miles conversion fee waiver, and travel benefits including insurance coverage and lounge visits. 

Needless to say, this array of card benefits gives it an extra edge over its competitors. 

So if you want to work smarter (not harder) for your miles before your holiday, we recommend giving the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card a go! 😉✈️🌍

This article was written in partnership with HSBC Singapore.

⁺Air miles and hotel points will be completed instantly or within 1 business day. For Accor Live Limitless, it will take up to 5 business days. Please note that this list may be updated from time to time.

^# HSBC TravelOne Credit Card Reward points programme terms and conditions apply. 

^-SGD deposits are insured up to S$75k by SDIC. HSBC Everyday+ Rewards Programme Terms and conditions apply.

^ Travel insurance coverage is underwritten by HSBC Life (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited is not the underwriter nor the distributor of this insurance plan. It is not an obligation of, deposit in or guaranteed by HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited (Company Registration No. 201420624K).

^~~Welcome Gift: Applicable when you apply for a TravelOne Credit Card from 11 May to 31 August, spend at least S$800 in eligible spend within the qualifying spend period, pay the annual fee of S$194.40 (inclusive of GST) and provide marketing consent to HSBC. Please refer to full terms and conditions here.

Terms and conditions apply for all offers listed in this article. Visit www.hsbc.com.sg/travel or https://www.homeandaway.hsbc.com/sg/en-gb/travel/ for more details. HSBC is not the supplier of and accepts no liability for the goods and/or services provided by the merchants) involved in the promotions and offers set out above. These promotions and offers are subject to the terms and conditions of the merchant(s) providing the relevant goods and/or services; please refer to the respective merchant(s) for details. HSBC reserves the right to vary the terms of, or withdraw, these promotions and offers at any time without prior notice. All information is correct at the time of posting online.