HSBC TravelOne
₹25,200 a year, after fees
₹4,999 fee · Lounges in India and abroad · 20 transfer partners · Reward rate 4%–8%
HSBC credit cards: 6 you can apply for
The best one for most people is HSBC TravelOne.
₹25,200a year after fees, at ₹75,000 a month
It pays back the most of the 6 HSBC cards open to apply that we can value.
Points and where they go
HSBC's main points currency is HSBC Reward Points, worth ₹2.00 a point: 20 airline and hotel programmes take them. Its cards earn 3 kinds of points in all.
| Programme | Worth a point | Cards | Partners |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSBC Reward Points | ₹2.00 | 7 | 20 |
| Taj Reward Points | ₹0.85 | 1 | none |
| HSBC Spencer's Retail Reward Points | ₹0.25 | 1 | none |
2 more cards pay cash back. Values are what we think a point is worth in India.
Every HSBC transfer partner 20 routes
| Transfer to | Ratio | One point becomes | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 | ₹1.10 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| The British Airways Club (Avios) | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios) | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| Air India Maharaja Club | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | 5 working days |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | 1:1 | ₹1.10 | 10 working days |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| Thai Royal Orchid Plus | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles | 1:1 | ₹1.00 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 2:1 | ₹0.50 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| United MileagePlus | 2:1 | ₹0.50 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings | 2:1 | ₹0.50 | 5 working days |
| AirAsia Rewards | 1:3 | ₹0.69 | instantly or within 1 working day |
| ALL - Accor Live Limitless | 1:1 | ₹2.15 | instantly, or within 1 business day |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1:1 | ₹0.50 | instantly, or within 1 business day |
| IHG One Rewards | 1:1 | ₹0.55 | instantly, or within 1 business day |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 | ₹0.65 | instantly, or within 1 business day |
| Shangri-La Circle | 5:1 | ₹1.27 | instantly, or within 1 business day |
Ratios read HSBC Reward Points : the partner's points. One point becomes = what it is worth once it lands, at our value for the partner.
Compare every route, including longer ones through other programmes
Recent changes
- HSBC extends the RuPay Cashback card's 0% forex and ₹500 welcome to 31 December 2026 Better for you · Improvement · HSBC
- HSBC extends the RuPay Platinum card's ₹500 welcome to 31 December 2026 Better for you · Improvement · HSBC
- HSBC stretches its zero-forex window to 31 October Worse for you · Fee change · HSBC
- HSBC Live+ switches on its international lounge visit, and adds a 1GB global eSIM Changed · Lounge change · HSBC
- HSBC's RuPay Platinum welcome suite lapses — ₹500 cashback, EazyDiner and the UPI ₹250 all end together Worse for you · Devaluation · HSBC
- HSBC's RuPay Cashback welcome suite lapses — ₹500 cashback, EazyDiner and the UPI ₹250 all end together Worse for you · Devaluation · HSBC
All 20 HSBC cards
Fees run ₹0 to ₹2,75,000, and 6 of them are genuinely free for life. We cannot value 9 of them: HSBC publishes no fee or no earn table for those cards, so they are listed as "Not valued". Each card shows what it pays back a year after its fee at ₹75,000 a month, and our verdict: 14 keep, 1 downgrade, 5 cancel.
Open to apply 6
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HSBC TravelOne
₹25,200 a year, after fees
₹4,999 fee · Lounges in India and abroad · 20 transfer partners · Reward rate 4%–8%
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HSBC Live+
₹12,700 a year, after fees
₹999 fee · Lounges in India and abroad · 1.99% forex markup · Reward rate 1.5%–10%
Ranked higher: its bonus category adds ₹10,400 a year
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HSBC Platinum
₹10,100 a year, after fees
₹0 fee · 20 transfer partners · Reward rate 1.3%–8%
Ranked higher: its bonus category adds ₹6,000 a year
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HSBC RuPay Cashback
₹4,800 a year, after fees
₹499 fee · Lounges in India and abroad · Reward rate 1%–10%
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HSBC Premier (Metal)
₹30,800 a year, after fees
₹12,000 joining + ₹20,000/yr · Lounges in India and abroad · 0.99% forex markup · Reward rate 6%
Invite only 2
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HSBC Privé
−₹2,15,100 a year, after fees
₹2,75,000 fee · Lounges abroad · No forex markup · Reward rate 6.7%
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HSBC Taj
−₹1,02,800 a year, after fees
₹1,10,000 fee · Lounges in India and abroad · Reward rate 0.9%–2.8%
Business cards 4 cards
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HSBC Corporate Travel and Entertainment
Not valued fee or rewards not published
₹2,000 fee · Lounges in India
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Closed or paused 8 cards
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HSBC Smart Value
₹9,000 a year, after fees
₹0 fee · 20 transfer partners · Reward rate 1%–3%
Ranked higher: its bonus category adds ₹5,400 a year
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HSBC Advance Platinum
₹12,000 a year, after fees
₹0 fee · 20 transfer partners · Reward rate 1.3%–6.7%
Ranked higher: its bonus category adds ₹9,600 a year
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HSBC Spencer's Retail Classic
₹6,500 a year, after fees
₹0 joining + ₹250/yr · Reward rate 0.8%–2%
Ranked higher: its bonus category adds ₹1,400 a year
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HSBC in RBI's figures
- Cards in force
- 10,07,489
- 0.8% of India's cards
- Spent in August 2026
- ₹2,061 crore
- 68% of it online
- Spend per card
- ₹20,460
- a month, on average
Source: the Reserve Bank of India's monthly card statistics, August 2026. Every bank's figures
Sources
The HSBC documents that state its fees and charges, and RBI's release. Each card's page lists its own sources too.
- Official Shared Platinum / Live+ tariff sheet — Live+ ₹999 a year, reversed with GST above ₹2,00,000 of eligible spend, and 1.99% on foreign currency where Platinum pays 3.5% read
- Official Important Terms and Conditions — tariff sheet: joining ₹1,10,000 + taxes, first-year annual fee NIL, ₹1,10,000 + taxes from year two, 3.5% foreign-currency markup, 3.75% a month finance charge read
- Official MITC — joining ₹2,75,000 + taxes, first-year annual fee Nil, ₹2,75,000 + taxes from year two, "Charges towards Foreign currency transactions — NIL", invitation only on a Private Banking relationship read
- Official Shared RuPay MITC tariff sheet — RuPay Cashback joining ₹499, annual ₹499 reversed with GST above ₹2,00,000 of eligible spend, and 3.5% on foreign currency read
- Official Shared RuPay MITC tariff sheet — RuPay Platinum joining NIL and annual NIL, 3.5% on foreign currency, and 48 days of free credit read
- Official Tariff/MITC PDF (fees, 2.99%/mo, 0.99% currency-conversion charge, the three Qualified-Premier criteria — ₹50L quarterly TRB / ₹40L if the Premier account opened) read
- Official TravelOne Important Terms and Conditions (mitc-t1) — 3.75%/mo finance charge, 2.5% cash advance (min ₹500), 3.5% forex, late fee 100% of minimum due (₹250–₹1,200) read
- Official Reserve Bank of India: ATM, Acceptance Infrastructure and Card Statistics for the Month of August 2026 read