The HSBC Star Alliance credit card is the world’s first global airline alliance credit card. The big selling point of the card is that it offers the chance to gain Star Alliance gold status across a range of Star Alliance members.
Air Canada is taking the offer a step further, offering members the chance to earn 50,000 bonus Aeroplan points. As a result, qualifying cardholders are able to receive both Aeroplan 50K status and 50,000 Aeroplan points.
That’s enough points to redeem a flight from Australia to North America. Beyond that, you could use the 50,000 Aeroplan points to gain access over 1,300 destinations globally.
In addition to the Star Alliance status and Aeroplan bonus points, HSBC offers a $0 Annual Fee in the first year (normally $450).
Key Details
In order to take advantage of this offer, you will need to:
- You will need to apply and be approved for an HSBC Star Alliance Card by 29 February 2024
- Spend $4,000 AUD or more on eligible purchases in your first 90 days from account opening (this will also fast-track you to Star Alliance Gold Status).
- Log on to Star Alliance Rewards and select Aeroplan as your preferred status airline.
Points will be posted to your Aeroplan account within 6-8 weeks of meeting the qualifying spend.
Aeroplan 50K
As mentioned, one highlight of the card is that you have the chance to gain Aeroplan 5oK status. This gives a number of benefits, such as
- cabin class upgrade credits,
- complimentary preferred seats,
- three complimentary checked bags
- access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide through Star Alliance
Depending on timing, you could gain the status for 23 months.
The 50,000 Aeroplan Points
As mentioned, 50,000 Aeroplan points is enough to get you from Australia to North America (one way).
You can take advantage of Air Canada’s increased route capacity, including daily flights to Vancouver from Sydney and Brisbane and increased flights from Sydney to Vancouver throughout December.
For details on the number of points required for flight rewards and other destinations, visit Air Canada’s Points Predictor tool.
The HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card
As mentioned, the offer is based on applying for the HSBC Star Alliance Credit card. While you can use the card to earn points across a range of Star Alliance carriers, for this promotion you will need to select Air Canada Aeroplan as your nominated airline.
Star Alliance Gold
The highlight of this card is that you can gain Star Alliance Gold tier through spend on the card. In the first year, you can gain Star Alliance Gold by spending $4,000 on eligible purchases within 90 days of opening the card.
In the case of this offer, you will gain Aeroplan 50k status. This will then be valid for 12 months. In order to retain the status, you will then need to spend $60,000 per year in eligible purchases.
Earn Rate
The card earns Star Alliance Points which are then converted to your chosen airline’s points. The earn rate is as follows:
- 1 Star Alliance Point per $1 of eligible spend on up to $3,000 per month.
- 0.5 Star Alliance Point per $1 thereafter, uncapped.
For most airlines, the points are then converted at a rate of 0.80 Airlines Points for each 1 Star Alliance Point. As a result, the $3,000 per month could earn you 2,400 Aeroplan Points.
Thoughts
This seems like a good deal. Under the offer you can get 50,000 Aeroplan Points, Star Alliance Gold status, with the annual fee waived for the first year. You do have to spend $4,000 in the first 90 days, so you will need to factor that in.
