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HSBC Premier Upgrades Free Card With a Bigger Sign-Up Bonus and 50% Better Earnings
HSBC has just relaunched its free credit card with a better earn rate and a great welcome bonus.
You’ll now earn 1.5 HSBC Rewards Points per £1 spent, up from the old 1 Point per £1 rate. On foreign currency spend, you’ll earn 2 points per £1, although a 2.99% FX fee applies.
There’s also a 20,000 HSBC Reward Points sign-up bonus when you spend £2,000 in the first 90 days.
Worth It?
Before considering this card, you’ll need a HSBC Premier current account, which requires either £100,000 or more in individual annual income paid into the account, £100,000 or more held with HSBC UK in savings or investments, or existing Premier status overseas.
HSBC Rewards Points can be converted into airline miles or hotel points, most often at a rate of 1 HSBC Reward Point = 0.5 airline miles, so you’re effectively earning 0.75 airline miles per £1 in sterling, or 1 mile per £1 on foreign currency spend before taking the 2.99% FX fee into account.
You can earn higher rates on some co-branded airline cards, but you’ll have more flexibility in what you can transfer your points into with HSBC.
Points can be transferred to a wide range of partners, including BA, Qatar, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Flying Blue, Emirates Skywards, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Air India.
Hotel transfers are also available for IHG One Rewards and Wyndham Rewards members.
There are also regular transfer bonuses of up to 30% (currently 25% to BA), which further improve the rate.
For a free card, there’s a great range of benefits. You receive a Priority Pass membership, though lounge visits are charged at £24 per person. There’s also the option to add another cardholder.
Your other option is the paid HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard, which comes with a £290 annual fee. You’ll receive benefits such as:
- A 40,000-point welcome bonus when you spend £2,000 in 90 days.
- 3 points per £1 in sterling or 4 points per £1 in foreign currency
- Unlimited Priority Pass lounge access. Your Priority Pass will also include restaurant credit options, which are not included with a Priority Pass issued with your AMEX card.
If you’re not yet a Premier customer, HSBC is currently offering an incentive worth up to £750 if you open a Premier account by 23rd February 2026 and meet the switching or funding criteria. The account itself has no monthly fee and includes worldwide travel insurance, digital GP access, and a range of travel and lifestyle benefits. Find out more about this and apply here.
If you qualify for HSBC Premier, this card is well worth some consideration.
You can find out more and apply on the HSBC Premier website here >>>
Leaders Club: Up to 100% Buy Points Bonus
Until 3rd April 2026, you’ll receive a bonus of up to 100% when you Buy or Gift Points. The bonus you receive depends on the number of points purchased:
- 50% bonus – 2,000-11,000 Points
- 75% bonus – 12,000-29,000 Points
- 100% bonus – 30,000 – 50,000 Points
You can purchase up to 50,000 Points per year (excluding the bonus). Points are purchased in increments of 1,000 and cost $120 (£89) per 1,000 points. If you’re planning a redemption soon, keep in mind it may take up to 10 days for the points to appear in your account.
As always, we only recommend purchasing points if you have a redemption in mind and the cash price is higher than the value of paying with points.
With many Buy Points offers from competitors, the cash value is often better than paying with purchased points. When researching this offer, I found most LHW hotels to be much better value when paying with points purchased with this offer.
For example, when booking the Carlton Hotel St. Moritz, you can book a night in a Deluxe Suite for 58,549 points or £3,485. If you were to purchase the points, you could purchase 30,000 with a 30,000 bonus for $3,600 (£2,671), saving £814 on a one-night stay!
There are also 10 fantastic new Leaders Club hotels to keep in mind, including:
- Anantara Palais Hansen Vienna Hotel, Austria
- Palazzo Venezia – Como, Italy
- Palacio de los Ángeles La Rioja, Spain
- Atlantis Bay – Taormina, Italy
- Hôtel Barrière L’Hermitage La Baule, France
- Imperial Hotel, Kyoto, Japan
- Espacio Nagoya Castle, Nagoya, Japan
- NIHI Rote & Hospitality Academy, Bo’a, Indonesia
- Soori Penang – Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
- Le Gray, Beirut, Lebanon
View the Buy Points page here >>>
Avios.com February 2026 Offers
If you’re not already clicking via Avios.com for your everyday spend, you’re losing out on a lot of Avios. It’s one of the easiest (and most overlooked) ways to earn extra Avios besides flying and credit card points. There are alternatives such as Virgin Red, but the point is you should always have at least one shopping portal in mind before you spend online. It’s a great habit to get into.
Here are the top bonuses this month:
Travel Offers
- Avios Hotels – 15 Avios (up from 10) – View our news about this here
- IHG Hotels & Resorts – 15 Avios (was 3)
- Accor – 15 Avios (was 8)
- Viator – 14 Avios (was 4)
- Thistle Hotels – 12 Avios (was 4)
- Agoda – 10 Avios (was 6)
- GetYourGuide – 10 Avios (was 7)
- Radisson Hotels – 8 Avios (was 4)
- Hotels.com – 8 Avios (was 5)
- Hilton – 6 Avios (was 4)
- Booking.com – 6 Avios (was 4)
- Premier Inn – 5 Avios (was 1)
- Holiday Extras – 4 Avios (was 2)
For example, you book a £125 tour via Viator for 4 people – a £500 spend, you’ll earn 7,000 Avios – not bad for remembering to click through!
Shopping Online
- Kiehl’s – 15 Avios (was 5)
- Harrods – up to 13 Avios (was 5)
- Selfridges – up to 12 Avios (was 6)
- Canterbury – 12 Avios (was 10)
- Burberry – 11 Avios (was 7)
- Lancome – 10 Avios (was 4)
- Antler Luggage – 10 Avios (was 3)
- Lego UK – 10 Avios (was 3)
- H&M – 10 Avios (was 3)
- Gucci UK – 10 Avios (was 5)
- Bensons for Beds – 8 Avios (was 5)
- TK Maxx – up to 6 Avios (was 3)
- Holland & Barrett – 6 Avios (was 3)
- M&S – 4 Avios (was 2)
- B&Q – 4 Avios (was 2)
- Pets at Home – 4 Avios (was 2)
Shopping In Store
- Molton Brown – 12 Avios (was 5)
- Oakley UK – 12 Avios (was 8)
- GANNI UK – 6 Avios (was 2)
To receive bonus points from in-store purchases, make sure your card is linked to your Avios.com account.
