How to score flights to Ireland for as little as $120 plus taxes and fees

The 100,000 bonus HSBC Rewards points on the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® was set to end on January 31 but it has now been extended to April 4, 2021. On top of the 100,000 point bonus on the HSBC World Elite Mastercard this current welcome bonus also provides no annual fee in the first year for the primary cardholder. Those 100,000 points are worth $500 towards any travel! Since Quebec doesn't allow the first year free waiver the offer there is a whopping 130,000 points worth $650 towards travel but you do have to pay the annual fee so you end up with $501 in travel value.

The bonus outside of Quebec is awarded as follows:

• 20,000 Point Welcome Bonus on your first purchase
• 50,000 points when you spend $6,000 in the first 180 days 
• 10,000 points when you add an authorized user
• 20,000 points as a card anniversary bonus
  

and its purchase earn rates are as follows:

• 6 points per eligible dollar spent on all eligible travel spending - This earn rate is only awarded on the first $50,000 spent in this category annually
• 3 points per dollar spent on all other spending

The 100,000 points bonus once achieved are worth $500 in travel rewards but in fact you will have at least 118,000 points as you would be earning a minimum 3 points per dollar on the $6,000 in required spend. HSBC lets you, well actually you have to, book travel on your own and then redeem points against the charge once it posts to your account. This is the kind of flexibility we love but this card isn't just a travel points card, it is actually a Hybrid Card. This means points can also be converted to partners outside of HSBC Rewards. In this card's case, they can be transferred to British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and this new welcome bonus is very attractive for those people looking to boost their accounts in these frequent flyer programs. 

The points convert as follows:

• 2.5 points to 1 British Airways Executive Club Avios
• 3 points to 1.35 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles 
• 3 points to 1.2 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 

This means the sign up bonus is worth up to 40,000 Avios in British Airways' Executive Club which if you have followed us for sometime now know that is a good amount for a lot of various redemptions.

Here are just some options to check out with British Airways:

• How to get select Canada to U.S. award flights faster by utilizing British Airways' Executive Club 
• How to score flights to Ireland for as little as $120 plus taxes and fees

If you play your cards right and wait to convert however you can earn more than 40,000 Avios as HSBC Rewards offers limited time promotions where they will give you a bonus on transfers to British Airways. These usually happen once or twice per year and the last time they ran it it was a 40% bonus. That would mean you could actually get as much 56,000 Avios for the 100,000 HSBC Rewards points. Now the transfer bonuses have varied but they tend to be 30%, 35% or 40%. All good but of course your best value is if you can get 40%.

Recommend reading: HSBC World Elite Mastercard Review 

The sign up bonus isn't the only good feature about this card however.  One of its best selling features is that it has No Foreign Transaction fees which saves you 2.5% on average on all non-C$ purchases. It also comes with a $100 annual travel enhancement credit (to use on bag fees, seat selection etc) and like most World Elite Mastercards in Canada it has airport lounge access membership via LoungeKey, free Boingo WiFi and more.

Recommend Reading: No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians  & The Ultimate No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Card Portfolio

Now, with travel still off the cards for some people you may be more interested in cash back options and this card does have that option. The points can also be redeemed for many other non-travel items like merchandise, experiences, gift cards, HSBC financial products and even for any purchases made on the card. HSBC calls this last option their Cash Back Rebate and is 25,000 points for a $75 statement credit. That works out to a 0.9% to 1.8% return (based on 3 points for everyday spending and 6 points for travel) and also makes the welcome bonus of 100,000 points worth $300 for cash back rebates which isn't too bad.!  

Click here to learn more about and/or apply for the card.

FYI The increased welcome bonus for HSBC's low interest card the HSBC +Rewards Mastercard of 30,000 points with no annual fee in the first year on the primary card has also been extended.