HSBC Premier Mastercard Upgrading Airport Lounge Benefit, Earn Rates And More

HSBC Premier Mastercard has announced significant changes to its card benefits, which will take effect from 19 August 2025.

Cardholders will soon receive unlimited lounge access, better earn rates and other benefits. Here’s a breakdown of what’s changing.

Key changes at a glance

Benefit	Old Benefits ^{(Till 18 Aug 2025)}	New Benefits ^{(From 19 Aug 2025)}
SGD Spend	1.2 mpd ^{(3 points per S$1)}	1.68 mpd ^{(4.2 points per S$1)}
Foreign Spend	2 mpd ^{(5 points per S$1)}	2.76 mpd ^{(6.9 points per S$1)}
Lounge Access	Premier: 4 visits/year Premier Elite: 6 visits/year	Unlimited for primary and up to 3 supplementary cardholders
Airport Limousine	Premier: 1 ride/quarter ^{(min. S$12k spend)} Premier Elite: 2 rides/quarter ^{(min. S$12k spend)}	Premier: 2 rides/quarter ^{(min. S$12k spend)} Premier Elite: 2 rides/quarter ^{(no min. spend)}
Golf	N/A	Premier Elite: 6 complimentary games in Singapore and Asia
Annual Fee	S$490.50 ^{(waivable for Premier and Premier Elite customers)}	S$708.50 ^{(waivable for Premier and Premier Elite customers)}

HSBC Premier Mastercard upgrading airport lounge benefit, earn rates — Image: HSBC

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How to qualify for HSBC Premier?

To be eligible for the HSBC Premier Mastercard, you’d need to be an HSBC Premier customer aged 21 years and above, with a minimum annual income of S$30,000.

To qualify for HSBC Premier in Singapore, you’d need to maintain a Total Relationship Balance (TRB) of at least S$200,000 (incl. deposits, investments, insurance).

Note: HSBC has different Premier requirements for every country. Being an HSBC Premier customer in one country, makes you an HSBC Premier customer worldwide. However, if you’re not a HSBC Singapore Premier customer (no S$200k TRB), you’ll need to pay the annual fee on this card.

What about Premier Elite?

To qualify for HSBC Premier Elite, you must maintain either:

S$1.2 million in TRB and qualify as an Accredited Investor
An HSBC Global Private Banking Singapore relationship

Improved earn rates

From 19 August 2025, the uncapped base earn rates on the HSBC Premier Mastercard will be as follows:

Local spending: 1.68 mpd (up from 1.2 mpd)
Foreign currency spending: 2.76 mpd (up from 2 mpd)

With this change, it’ll be the best miles card in Singapore for general spending in Singapore Dollars, though not nearly as rewarding as specialized miles cards with (capped) 4mpd earn rates. The earn rate on foreign currency spending will remain poor, due to its 3.25% foreign currency junk fee.

It is also worth pointing out that HSBC has a poor transfer ratio to some frequent flyer programs like KrisFlyer and Aeroplan (probably better to buy Aeroplan points instead).

Related: Best Miles cards in Singapore

Unlimited Airport Lounge access

The standout improvement is the introduction of unlimited airport lounge access for both primary and up to three supplementary cardholders, through Priority Pass.

Previously, access was capped at only 4 visits per year for Premier customers and 6 for Premier Elite. This makes the HSBC Premier Mastercard much more competitive against other premium cards in the market, but note that lounge access is limited to the primary cardholder only (just get supplementary cards for your guests if they need it!)

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Better Airport Limousine benefit

The complimentary airport limousine service is also getting a (small) upgrade.

Premier customers will soon receive 2 rides per quarter (up from one) with the same S$12,000 minimum spend in the preceding quarter, while Premier Elite customers will get 2 rides per quarter with no minimum spend required.

Complimentary Golf benefit

HSBC is also adding a golf privilege for its Premier Elite customers, with 6 complimentary golf games across Singapore and Asia.

Increased annual fee

Also from 19 Aug 2025, the annual fee for the HSBC Premier Mastercard will increase from S$490.50 to S$708.50. However, this is completely waivable as long as the Premier customer maintains a TRB of min. S$200,000.