BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium vs HSBC Premier (Metal) (2026)
#7 against #11 on our board, ₹38,640 apart in ranking value at ₹3L a month.
Head to head
| BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium | Metric | HSBC Premier (Metal) |
|---|---|---|
| #7 — wins this row | Our rank | #11 |
| ₹5,000/yr — wins this row | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹12,000 joining, then ₹20,000/yr |
| ₹5,00,000 spend | Fee waiver | None |
| Nil — 0% markup, Premium-specific (the non-premium Etihad Guest pays 1%) — wins this row | Forex markup | 0.99% + GST |
| 3.75%/mo (45%/yr), from transaction date; same rate on cash advances | APR | 2.99%/mo (35.88%/yr), computed from transaction date — Premier-specific rate (all other HSBC cards 3.75%/mo) |
| 2.0% | Headline earn rate | 3.0% — wins this row |
| Etihad Guest | Currency | HSBC Reward Points |
| ₹1.00/pt | House value | ₹1.00/pt |
| 15,000 Guest miles — 10,000 on ₹25k in 60 days + fee payment, 5,000 more at ₹50k (doubled window till 31 Aug 2026; standard offer is 7,500) | Welcome benefit | 20,000 reward points on first spend (cards issued through 31 Dec 2026) — the Taj Epicure/EazyDiner membership welcome quietly ended by Apr 2026 |
| 72 of 789 | Lounge doors opened | 72 of 789 |
| not published | Income — salaried | Qualified Premier relationship: ₹3L+ net monthly salary credit, or ₹50L quarterly TRB (₹40L if the account opened before 1-Jan-2026), or ₹1.15Cr+ mortgage plus the TRB criterion |
| not published | Income — self-employed | Same Premier relationship gates — TRB or mortgage routes |
Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →
Ranking-value face-off
Everyday spend at each card's base rate plus a realistic ~20% at its best accelerator (less for narrow or capped boosters) — milestones, fee waivers and the redemption haircut all at our house ₹/point. That's why the biggest headline rate doesn't automatically win. This is the ranking model, the one that orders the board; each card page prints the earn-rate-only net annual value instead, which reads lower for any card with an accelerator (both models, side by side). Tune it to your own spend in the calculator.
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium out-earns HSBC Premier (Metal) at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
How the gap moves with spend
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹12,720 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹20,400 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹1L (₹56,880).
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium pays one annual spend milestone, at ₹12,00,000 a year, and HSBC Premier (Metal) pays none; BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium runs a 6.0% booster on Etihad Airways (etihad.com), where HSBC Premier (Metal) earns one flat rate.
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium draws above the line, HSBC Premier (Metal) below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium | HSBC Premier (Metal) | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹1,720 | −₹11,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹12,720 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹19,440 | −₹2,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹21,440 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹26,160 | ₹7,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹19,160 |
| ₹1L | ₹72,880 | ₹16,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹56,880 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹79,600 | ₹25,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹54,600 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹86,320 | ₹34,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹52,320 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹93,040 | ₹43,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹50,040 |
| ₹2L | ₹99,760 | ₹52,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹47,760 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹1,06,480 | ₹61,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹45,480 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹1,13,200 | ₹70,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹43,200 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹1,19,920 | ₹79,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹40,920 |
| ₹3L | ₹1,26,640 | ₹88,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹38,640 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹1,33,360 | ₹97,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹36,360 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹1,40,080 | ₹1,06,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹34,080 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹1,46,800 | ₹1,15,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹31,800 |
| ₹4L | ₹1,53,520 | ₹1,24,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹29,520 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹1,60,240 | ₹1,33,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹27,240 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹1,66,960 | ₹1,42,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹24,960 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹1,73,680 | ₹1,51,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹22,680 |
| ₹5L | ₹1,80,400 | ₹1,60,000 | BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium by ₹20,400 |
Transfer reach
Only HSBC Premier (Metal)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios)
- The British Airways Club (Avios)
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
What to watch out for
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium · 1 more →
- Single-program currency: miles auto-transfer to Etihad Guest and redeem nowhere else
- Long exclusion list: telecom, education, hospitals, government, rent, wallets, insurance — and all rail/bus/toll transport — earn zero
- 1% processing fee on rent and wallet loads; utility fee ≥₹50k; fuel fee ≥₹10k (MITC)
HSBC Premier (Metal) · 1 more →
- 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)
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium nets ₹72,880 against ₹16,000 — a ₹56,880 gap. At ₹5L/month, BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium nets ₹1,80,400 against ₹1,60,000 — a ₹20,400 gap. Lounge chasers get no tiebreak here: both open 72 of 789 tracked doors.
Our standing verdicts: BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium — Keep; HSBC Premier (Metal) — Keep. On our board, BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium sits at #7 to HSBC Premier (Metal)'s #11 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →
Straight answers
Which is better, BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium or HSBC Premier (Metal)?
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium. It sits at #7 on our board to HSBC Premier (Metal)'s #11. BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium takes 6 of the 7 rounds we can score. BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium out-earns HSBC Premier (Metal) at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium or HSBC Premier (Metal) — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium nets ₹1,26,640 against ₹88,000 — a ₹38,640 gap. Those are ranking-value figures: everyday spend at the card's base rate plus a realistic slice at its best accelerator, net of the fee.
Which costs less to hold, BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium or HSBC Premier (Metal)?
BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium — ₹5,000/yr against ₹12,000 joining, then ₹20,000/yr. BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium waives its fee at ₹5,00,000 of spend; HSBC Premier (Metal) at no spend level — there is no waiver.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium or HSBC Premier (Metal)?
Lounge chasers get no tiebreak here: both open 72 of 789 tracked doors. Visit quotas, guest charges and spend gates are per card — the lounge map carries each one.
How current is this comparison?
Card records last re-verified against their issuers' own documents: BOBCARD Etihad Guest Premium on 2026-07-26, HSBC Premier (Metal) on 2026-08-09. Every figure on this page — the ranking values, the fee rows, the lounge counts, the transfer ratios — is recomputed from those records each time the site builds, so a devaluation changes the call the day we log it.