If there is one international bank that’s quietly but steadily improving its offerings in India, it’s HSBC. Over the last few years, HSBC has been making small yet meaningful upgrades across its credit card portfolio, and now it’s the turn of HSBC Premier Banking.
The latest refresh brings in new benefits that cover everything from airport transfers to luxury shopping, and most of them are directly linked to the HSBC Premier Credit Card.
While the program itself is broader than just the card, for most of us, the credit card is where the real value lies. Let’s take a closer look at what’s new.
HSBC Premier Credit Card
- New All-Black Design
- 20,000 Reward Points (Until Dec 2025)
Earlier, HSBC Premier Credit Card used to offer 12K INR Taj vouchers, but now they’ve replaced it with 20K reward points. The good part is, these points can be transferred to airline and hotel partners at 1:1 ratio.
With Accor, for example, that’s easily worth about ₹40,000, which is a fantastic value.
That aside, I personally feel the old design looked more elegant. The new all-black version feels a bit plain, so I’m planning to hold on to the current design for sometime. If you need the new design, a card replacement would do.
Airport Transfer
- 2 Complimentary Domestic Airport transfers via Avis / Year
- Transfer in a Toyota Hycross / Invicto or similar
- Upto 50Kms
- Refer T&C for more
Airport transfers are becoming a must-have benefit in this segment, and it’s great to see HSBC Premier adding it. This makes airport travel a lot more comfortable, especially for frequent flyers.
Airport Meet & Greet
- 4 Complimentary Domestic Meet & Greet / Year
- 2 Complimentary International Meet & Greet / Year
- Powered by Adani One
- Refer T&C for more
This is another welcome addition. Meet & Greet services are super useful if you want hassle-free airport experiences. What’s nice is that HSBC has also included international meet & greet, which is rare.
Covered airports: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Trivandrum, and Mumbai.
Note: The benefits offered are now slightly different for true premier with 40L INR TRV criteria and others onboarded via Mortgage or Salary Criteria. Above are for true Premier.
Luxury Shopping
- Bicester Collection – Private Suite Access & more
- TataCliq – HSBC Luxe Avenue
The TataCliq benefit doesn’t really add much value, but the Bicester Collection benefit is great to see.
You now get access to a Private Suite, hands-free shopping and more. I tried this recently in Ireland at Kildare Village, and the experience with apartment access was truly premium.
There might be some more benefits added to the program as well, but above are the key changes that I’ve noticed son far.
Final Thoughts
Overall, HSBC has done a solid job with this upgrade. The airport transfers and international meet & greet benefits are valuable additions, while the reward points shift makes the card more flexible for those who love airline and hotel transfers.
Of course, it would have been even better if HSBC had also added Overseas Medical Insurance. Hope that gets added in the next refresh.
Until then, this upgrade along with the recently added benefits like 1:1 points & miles transfers and accelerated rewards makes the HSBC Premier Credit Card one of the most rewarding premium banking cards in India.
