HSBC Premier (Metal)
Keep3% on nearly everything, if you're rich enough for HSBC to say yes.
a year at ₹40,000 a month, after the fee
Skip the arithmetic — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
What it's worth to you, after the fee
Welcome: 20,000 reward points on first spend (cards issued through 31 Dec 2026) — the Taj Epicure/EazyDiner membership welcome quietly ended by Apr 2026
Active offers: HSBC Premier introductory offer — 20,000 reward points on first swipe (ends in 92 days)
Priced on the everyday mix — 30% groceries · 10% utilities · 20% travel · 6% fuel · 34% everything else — with this card's published category rules applied: it earns nothing on fuel here, so that spend is dropped, not paid at the headline, and stops pacing milestones and the waiver. Plus milestones, minus the fee. No accelerator credit — the ranking model on /compare adds ~20% of spend at the card's best accelerator, so its ₹ for this card reads higher.
How these numbers are computed — and why the rankings show a bigger one →
Spend tiers, milestones and fee waivers included, at our house ₹/point. Portal and category multipliers can push higher — run your exact number →
Pays for itself at ₹60,000 a month
At ₹60,000 a month — ₹7,20,000 a year — on the everyday mix this card returns ₹20,300 gross (earn ₹20,300) against its ₹20,000 fee = ₹300 net — the first rung at or above ₹0. The ladder runs in ₹1,000 steps to ₹1,00,000 a month and ₹10,000 steps to ₹5,00,000; figures are rounded to the hundred, and the accelerator is never credited.
3 notes on the card itself: how it is issued · the network variants · why it ranks #7
Why #7 Moved up on the one property our own score under-weights and 2026 has been taking away from everyone else: the exit. Twenty programmes, most of them at 1:1 — KrisFlyer, both Avios houses, Maharaja Club — with no catalogue haircut on the way out, plus unlimited domestic AND international lounge access that no quarter's spend gates. It now sits above IDFC FIRST Private and IndusInd PIONEER Private, which out-earn it on paper into currencies that reach fewer places (IDFC's point is worth ₹0.25 the moment you book outside IDFC's own app; PIONEER reaches two programmes). It does NOT pass Olympus, Burgundy Private, Emeralde Private, Diners Black, Magnus for Burgundy or Infinia, all of which out-earn it on our own numbers. The enthusiast community ranks Premier at or above Infinia; our own model puts it outside the top ten on earn alone. We seated it where those two readings meet, and we weighted our model.
Our #1 for Hotel points; joint #1 for Transfers (2 cards level); #2 for Rent; #3 for Air India miles — 4 of the 23 questions this desk ranks.
Best real exit: Accor Live Limitless (ALL) at ₹2.15/pt (1:1 transfer, above house value).
The take
The Premier metal card is the quiet monster of the catalog: 3 points per ₹100 on almost every category — including utilities, insurance and government spend that other issuers zero out, though since 1 Apr 2025 that whole basket shares a single ₹1 lakh-a-month earning cap and fuel earns nothing — feeding the same 20-partner transfer stable as TravelOne, mostly at 1:1. Add unlimited lounges and a 0.99% forex markup and the maths embarrasses cards costing more. The gate is the whole story: you need an HSBC Premier relationship (a ₹50 lakh quarterly relationship balance or a ₹3 lakh monthly salary credit), and the fee waives only through it. If you clear that bar, this belongs in the top handful of cards in India.
Your renewal — keep, downgrade or cancel
Here is the fee, the spend that clears it, and everything that has moved under this card since you last decided.
Keep, downgrade or cancel
₹20,000/yr at stake · 5 spend bands
The charge ₹12,000 joining, then ₹20,000/yr
Break-even ₹60,000 a month — ₹7,20,000 a year — is where this card's value crosses its fee.
At your spend
−₹11,500 a year, net of the fee, at ₹3,00,000 of annual spend
−₹3,100 a year, net of the fee, at ₹6,00,000 of annual spend
₹13,800 a year, net of the fee, at ₹12,00,000 of annual spend
₹81,500 a year, net of the fee, at ₹36,00,000 of annual spend
₹1,49,200 a year, net of the fee, at ₹60,00,000 of annual spend
Everyday earn plus milestones, minus the fee — the same model as the value panel above, so the two cannot disagree. run your exact spend →
Your copy of this card
You hold this card.
Kept on this device, in your browser. It is never sent to us, never synced, and nothing else on the site reads it yet.
The downgrade the issuer publishes
HSBC's own service guide names the step down: "changing the card type to a lower category card. E.g. Premier credit card to a TravelOne credit card" — the bank gives thirty days' notice before the account moves.
HSBC's own document · read 29 Aug 2026
What has changed under this card
- 23 Sep 2026 Axis EDGE brings Accor back, drops ITC, and adds Cathay, Miles & More and Hilton a program these points reach
- 15 Sep 2026 Wyndham splits its three flat free-night tiers into four a program these points reach
- 8 Sep 2026 Flying Blue splits award tickets into Light / Standard / Flex — a 25% rise for the same product a program these points reach
We price what is in force today — a change that has not happened yet is not in these numbers. the full archive for this card →
If you call to cancel
What the bank offers to keep you is the one fact this desk cannot compute. We are collecting those reports — dated, and only in aggregate — before publishing any: an offer one reader was made is not one you are owed. Called about this card? Tell us what they offered →
The desk publishes subscribable .ics feeds for the dates it knows — offer deadlines, devaluations, expiry audits. Your renewal date is not one of them: only your statement knows it.
What's good
- 3 RP/₹100 on nearly all categories — utilities and insurance included, up to ₹1L/month
- Same 20-partner transfer stable as TravelOne (KrisFlyer, Avios, Maharaja), 15 airlines + 5 hotels
- Unlimited lounge access + 8 international guest visits; 0.99% forex markup
- Fee effectively nil for Premier relationship holders
Watch out
- Premier relationship required: ₹50L quarterly TRB (₹40L for pre-2026 accounts) or ₹3L/month salary credit
- ₹20,000 renewal fee if your relationship lapses (₹12,000 joining in year one)
- Fuel earns zero, and utilities/insurance/education/govt/e-wallets/jewellery/tax share one ₹1L-a-month earning cap (from 1 Apr 2025)
- AirAsia 1:3; United, Turkish, Hainan 2:1; Shangri-La 5:1 — check the route before transferring
What these points actually fly
You hold this — the numbers below are your own points.
These points feed 23 programmes that publish an award chart. Cheapest verified seat per cabin, priced in YOUR points with this card's own ratio already applied:
- Bengaluru → Colombo Economy 6,500 HSBC Reward Points via Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) at 1:1 the play
- Chennai → Colombo Business 14,000 HSBC Reward Points via Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair) at 1:1 the play
- Mumbai → Delhi First 50,000 HSBC Reward Points via Air Canada Aeroplan at 2:1 (through Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) the play
What earns, what doesn't
13 sourced rules · 2 pay zero
Premier has its OWN exclusion table in the HSBC rewards T&C ('Exclusion Criteria (HSBC Premier)'): fuel is the only hard zero; every other restricted category still earns 3 RP/₹100 up to a CUMULATIVE ₹1,00,000/month of spend across the whole bucket (≈3,000 RP max), then zero. Apr-2025 devaluation announced full exclusions; partial rollback landed on this ₹1L combined cap (TechnoFino/LiveFromALounge). The cap is published in rupees of SPEND already, so nothing has to be converted — but it is ONE bucket over seven categories and HSBC publishes no split of it, so no per-category share of it is claimed anywhere below.
- Fuel · excluded MCC 5541/5983/5172/5542/5552 — the only category Premier zeroes outright
- Rent & property management · capped MCC 6513 'Real Estate and Managers' earns 3 RP/₹100 inside the cumulative ₹1L/month bucket it shares with utilities, insurance, education, government, e-wallets and jewellery — one of the only cards in the catalog earning on rent at full rate, though HSBC publishes no split of that ceiling, so none of it belongs to rent alone
- Wallet loads · capped E-wallets 6540 + money transfer 4829 + financial institutions 6010/6011/6012/6051 — all earn inside the ₹1L bucket shared with rent, utilities, insurance, education, government and jewellery; rare wallet-load earn, though HSBC publishes no split of that ceiling, so none of it belongs to wallet loads alone
- Utilities (electricity/water/gas) · capped MCC 4900 — earns 3/₹100 up to the ₹1L/month combined bucket (the 'earns on utilities' pitch is real, but the cap is shared with 10 other categories); HSBC publishes no split of that ceiling, so none of it belongs to utilities alone
Where the miles go
20 programs
Ratios read card points : partner miles — 2:1 means 2 points become 1 mile. Never the other way round.
every HSBC route, side by side → · the HSBC Reward Points hub →
Lounge access
43 of 793 tracked doors
Gate: Premier relationship required
Opens 43 of 793 tracked lounge doors across 24 airports , via Mastercard India — see the full map →
Memberships included
2 included · ₹9,500/yr
- Taj Epicure (IHCL) ₹29,500 ₹7,500welcome Epicure membership + ₹12,000 Taj Experiences gift card on card activation
- EazyDiner Prime ₹2,495 ₹2,000welcome complimentary annual Prime membership on card activation
Not counted in our net-value math above — worth ₹9,500 a year only if you'd actually use them. Sticker prices struck through; our number assumes you show up. The full matrix →
Can you get it?
income, age and the route in
The cutoffs and the actual route in — not the "apply now" button, the door that opens.
Gated on an HSBC Premier banking relationship — income alone won’t open this door.
There is no trick — the card is downstream of the account, and HSBC states you must hold a Premier relationship to apply. The official routes in: ₹50L quarterly relationship balance, a ₹3L+/month salary credit, or a ₹1.15Cr+ mortgage with the balance built within 12 months. Two underused official doors: Premier status in any other country qualifies you in India directly, and a qualifying customer can extend Premier to family. Open the account first; the card is the easy part.
per the official HSBC MITC — figures marked (community) aren't in the PDF; the issuer won't say · filter the board by what you can get →
The fine print
6 of 7 MITC rows published
What the MITC actually says — the rates, fees and cutoffs the brochure skips.
Joining ₹12,000 (charged post-activation); renewal ₹20,000 but waived while the Qualified Premier relationship holds — the card is only offered on that relationship and HSBC can reclassify it if the relationship lapses. Missing the TRB also costs 0.2% of the shortfall per quarter (max ₹2,000 + taxes) after one grace quarter. Lowest revolving APR (2.99%/mo) and cheapest cash-advance minimum (₹300) in this file. Card replacement ₹100. Fuel surcharge waiver on ₹400–₹4,000 transactions.
per the official HSBC MITC · reviewed 10 Jul 2026
What's changed for this card
8 dated changes
Devaluations and buffs that touch this card directly, its issuer, or the points and programs it earns and transfers to. Every one is dated here; the tracker carries each one's before → after and the write-up.
- 23 Sept 2026Axis EDGE brings Accor back, drops ITC, and adds Cathay, Miles & More and HiltonAccor and Marriott off the grid since 2 April 2026; Club ITC live; no Cathay, Miles & More or Hilton → Accor live at the punished rates; ITC removed; Cathay, Hilton and Miles & More live; Marriott still gone
Axis's own Travel EDGE terms, re-read 25 September 2026, already show the grid that went live on 23 September. Accor ALL is back, and not at the old Atlas 1:2: EDGE Miles convert at 2:1 (Olympus 1:2) and EDGE Rewards at 5:1, with Magnus for Burgundy at 5:2 and only Burgundy Private still at 5:4. Club ITC is off the table. Three partners are new. Cathay Asia Miles sits on that same punished grid. Hilton Honors is the ordinary one: EDGE Miles 1:2, EDGE Rewards 5:2, Burgundy 5:4. Lufthansa Miles & More is the exception on Atlas, which converts 1:1 there while every other standard airline on that card is 1:2; the EDGE Rewards side of Miles & More is the ordinary 5:2. Marriott stays removed. Qatar Privilege Club was already back. Flying Blue, Air India and Qantas moved into Group A, which is the capped group. The Axis Rewards credit card's Amex network is advertised as joining-fee and annual-fee nil for a limited period; there is no separate Amex variant on this board, so that offer is not modelled as a fee change.
- 15 Sept 2026Wyndham splits its three flat free-night tiers into four
- 8 Sept 2026Flying Blue splits award tickets into Light / Standard / Flex — a 25% rise for the same product
- 1 Sept 2026HSBC Live+ switches on its international lounge visit, and adds a 1GB global eSIM
- 1 Sept 2026HSBC's RuPay Platinum welcome suite lapses — ₹500 cashback, EazyDiner and the UPI ₹250 all end together
- 1 Sept 2026HSBC's RuPay Cashback welcome suite lapses — ₹500 cashback, EazyDiner and the UPI ₹250 all end together
- 31 Aug 2026HSBC's 0% forex window on the RuPay Cashback card closes
- 25 Aug 2026Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles opens a broad SkyTeam status match — up to Elite Plus
Every HSBC change we've dated → 9 events since 1987, 6 of them nerfs — worst year 2026.
Verified against HSBC's own documents on · the net-annual-value engine, at our house ₹/point
Every document behind this page — 7 of them, each with the day we read it
- official Product page (joining ₹12,000, renewal ₹20,000 waived for Qualified Premier, 3 RP/₹100, unlimited lounges + 8 international guest visits, 0.99% forex, 20,000-pt welcome)
- 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)
- official Premier Credit Card Service Guide — Rewards Programme clause 2 (the ₹1,00,000/month capped categories) and clause 12, which names the downgrade: Premier → TravelOne
- official Introductory-offer T&C — 20,000 reward points on the First Transaction, cards issued 9 Oct 2025 – 31 Dec 2026
- official Premier rewards page — Premier's OWN transfer table, identical to TravelOne's 20-partner stable (15 airlines + 5 hotels; AirAsia 1 pt = 3 miles, Hainan/Turkish/United 2:1)
- community CardExpert review (joining ₹12,000 / renewal ₹20,000, ₹12,000 Taj gift card, 3 RP/₹100, 0.99% forex)
- official Premier account eligibility — TRB/salary/mortgage routes + overseas-Premier reciprocity