Welcome to another Rewards Canada Clash! This time we have another Clash of the Credit Cards that pits two of the best No Foreign Transaction fee cards in Canada against each other! Those cards are theHSBC World Elite® Mastercard® and theScotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card
In this clash we look at over half a dozen criteria to compare the cards against one another along with a head to head detailed table comparison.
Annual Fees / Sign Up Bonus
The annual fees for both these cards are quite close however the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Card has the HSBC World Elite Mastercard beat by $10 as it costs $139 per year versus $149. On the supplementary or additional card front Scotia again has HSBC beat as the first supplementary card with Scotia is free and then all others are $50. HSBC charges $50 for each additional card. You must note however that HSBC frequently offers the World Elite card with an annual fee rebate in the first year thus saving you that $149. We have yet to see such an offer on the Scotia card. If you are thinking long term hold then the Scotia card has the slight edge here with their lower annual fee.
For the standard sign up bonus, there is definitely a difference between the cards. Both cards offer 20,000 points as their standard welcome offer but when redeem that for travel that works out to $200 in value for the Scotia card and $100 in value for the HSBC card. Those are just standard welcome bonuses however. Both card do tend to come with limited time offers, the HSBC card more so and we have seen the bonus range fro 40,000 to 60,000 all the way up to 100,000 points. That translates from $200 to $500 in travel redemption value. While the Scotia card does on occasion get bumped up to 30,000 points which is worth $300. Please don't take into account Scotia's current marketing of up to 30,000 points or when they say up to 40,000 points when they offer the increased sign up bonus of 30,000 points. The reason being is they are building in the standard 10,000 point bonus when you spend $40,000 or more on the card during a year. For welcome bonus points the nod goes to HSBC World Elite Mastercard thanks to its frequent increased welcome bonus offers.
Rates
Both cards are very similar with their rates with a slight edge going to the HSBC card as is does have lower interest rates. And of course neither card charges foreign transaction fees! It should also be noted that a lot of data points show Mastercard provides a better overall exchange rate over Visa. While ever so slight the HSBC wins this category for having rates that are 0.9% lower than Scotia's.
Bonus Features & Benefits
As mentioned above the Scotia card offers an extra bonus of 10,000 points when you reach $40,000 in spending on the card within a year and this bonus is awarded annually. On top of that they award an additional 2,000 bonus points for every $10,000 spent in a year after that initial $40,000 spend. These are some nice additional bonuses...
Continuing on the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Card it's next big benefit is the lounge access it comes with. The card offers a standard Priority Pass membership which means it covers the annual US$99 fee associated with it. On top of that Scotia provides six free lounge access passes each year. With each individual lounge access via Priority Pass costing US$32 this means those six passes are worth US$192. Combined the Scotia's lounge access benefit is worth US$291.
Not to be outdone the HSBC World Elite Mastercard also comes with a lounge access benefit. The benefit entitled Mastercard Airport Experiences Provided by LoungeKey is essentially the same as the Priority Pass membership the Scotia card sees. What it provides is that annual membership and while LoungeKey doesn't publish a price for it we can assume it has the same value as Priority Pass which is US$99. What the HSBC card does not offer are any annual free passes which means you have to pay the US$32 fee per person to enter a lounge.
To partially make up for this the HSBC card does provide an annual $100 travel enhancement credit that can be used towards travel related charges like seat selection fees, baggage fees, lounge access passes and more. The HSBC card also provides global Wi-Fi access via Boingo which includes free Wi-Fi access on select airlines including WestJet.
This is another category that is almost too close to call. We see the Scotia card reward higher spending and the value of its lounge access program outweighs HSBC's value. But then the HSBC card provides a bit more flexibility as its $100 credit can be used not just for lounge access but other travel related charges and depending on how you spend with your card the HSBC card's base earn rate could easily make up or beat the additional bonus points provided by Scotia.We'll call this category a draw.
Points Earning & Redemption
Points earning on these two cards is where we find some differences. The HSBC card has two earn rates - 6 points per dollar for travel purchases which equates to a 3% return when redeemed for travel and 3 points per dollar on all other spending which is the equivalent of a 1.5% return. The Scotia card on the other hand has more accelerated categories providing a bit more earn. It earns 2 points per dollar spent on grocery, dining, entertainment and transit purchases. That equates to a 2% return on those purchases when redeeming for any travel. All other spending on the Scotia card earns 1 point per dollar, the equivalent of a 1% return. Both card's accelerated category spend bonuses are capped at $50,000 annually. Ultimately it comes down to an individual's spending habits but for most Canadians those category bonuses on the Scotia card put it ahead of the HSBC card.
On the redemption side, we'll first compare redeeming points via both program's proprietary programs, HSBC Rewards and Scene+. Both programs allow you to book any travel with any provider at anytime and then redeem points against the charge when it posts to your account. With HSBC you have up to 60 days after the charge posts to redeem while Scotia provides an awesome 12 months after the charge posts to redeem points against it. The value when redeeming for any travel for the HSBC card is 0.5 cents for 1 point and Scotia is 1 cent for 1 point with Scotia. The value of those redemptions when you look at both sides of the equation (earn and redeem) works out to a 1.5% to 3% return for the HSBC card and a 1% to 2% return for the Scotia card. This does not take into account the annual spend bonuses from Scotia. On paper HSBC looks better but it will come down to an individuals spending habits as to what their actual return will end up being - spend a lot on groceries, dining etc. and the Scotia card will come out ahead, spend a lot on travel or areas where there is no category bonus (think Costco & Walmart) and the HSBC card comes out ahead. I would put this category as a draw since the HSBC card has the better base earn rate but the Scotia card gives you a longer time period to redeem points for a charge.
Continuing on with redemption we look at the cash equivalents when redeeming points. This is even more so relevant now due to the pandemic if you aren't looking at building up balances for future travel. The HSBC card has a simple 25,000 point redemption for a $75 statement credit. This works out to a cash back return of 0.9% to 1.8%. The Scotia card on the other hand has a tiered cash back or statement credit (see our chart below) that provides a 0.67% to 1.39% return. Again this will come down to an individuals spending habits as to what their actual return will be.
Finally we look at one more redemption option on these cards and that's the option to convert points to other programs. This is where the HSBC card outshines the Scotia card. HSBC Rewards has three airline partners you can convert your points to and they are British Airways, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. This option is huge if you know how and can utilize it and that's because you can redeem points from those programs for business class and first class flights. Typically those type of redemptions provide a much better and sometimes an outsized value when compared to the travel anywhere redemption rates outlined above of 1 to 3%. It isn't unheard of to be able to get 5 cents or more of value per point or mile in those programs which means spending on the HSBC card can easily eclipse a 10% return. For example the earn rates of 3 points and 6 points per dollar equate to 1.2 to 2.4 British Airways Executive Club Avios which at 5 cents per point (well Avios) means a return of 6% to 12%. And there's one more item to add to this - during certain times of the year HSBC offers limited time bonuses for these conversions. For example in fall of 2020 they offered a 35% bonus when converting to British Airways which would boost your returns as to as high as 16%! Because of this option and the potential for higher returns in the other travel and cash back redemption options we have to give the nudge to the HSBC card here.
Insurance
The last factor to look at when comparing these cards is the insurance that is provided on each of them. Both cards come with pretty impressive suite of insurances but one card definitely stands out and that is the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Card. It has flight delay insurance whereas the HSBC does not, Scotia's baggage delay kicks in after 4 hours, HSBC only after 12. HSBC does provide a bit more value in their lost or damaged baggage insurance however Scotia makes up for that with more value in their Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption insurance. HSBC's out of province medical provides 6 more days of coverage for those up to age 64 but then Scotia offers 10 days of coverage for those 65 and up whereas HSBC has no coverage for that age group. Scotia also provides hotel burglary insurance and price protection as well. For the insurance category the Scotia takes the cake.
Conclusion
This clash has proven to be a very difficult one as these two cards are so closely matched! In the end it is very hard to pick a winner and it will come down to the individual's preferences but for Rewards Canada we have to pick one and because we so highly value flexibility in rewards we pick the HSBC World Elite Mastercard as the winner in this clash. While both cards offer any airline at anytime rewards the HSBC card's option to convert to British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines gives the card that potential for amazing outsized value when redeeming for business class or first class flights with those respective airline's frequent flyer programs. Add in a higher earn rate for non-category purchases, frequent increased welcome bonus point offers (with annual fee waivers) and the HSBC just inches past the Scotia card. That being said if you covet business class lounge access, need very strong insurance benefits and/or don't need to convert to airlines then the Scotia card is the way to go.
10,000 points if you spend $40,000 or more on the card per year. The bonus then continues as you will earn 2,000 bonus points for every $10,000 spend after that.
Travel
6 points per dollar spent^
1 point per dollar spent
Grocery
3 points per dollar spent
2 points per dollar spent^
Dining
3 points per dollar spent
2 points per dollar spent^
Entertainment
3 points per dollar spent
2 points per dollar spent^
Transit
3 points per dollar spent
2 points per dollar spent^
All other purchase
3 points per dollar spent
1 point per dollar spent
Value of points per $1 spent*
1.5 to 3 cents
1 to 2 cents
*Valuations are based upon redeeming the points for travel purchases as those provide the best value - see the next section for cash back redemption options
^ up to $50,000 spend annually
* Terms and Conditions apply
®/TM Mastercard and World Elite are registered trademarks, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Used pursuant to licence
Rewards Canada can be found on the following social media channels:
Disclaimers:
Our goal at RewardsCanada.ca is to present readers with reliable financial advice and product choices that will help you achieve your financial goals.
Rewards Canada receives compensation from some companies issuing financial products, like credit cards and bank accounts, that appear on this site.
Unless a post is clearly marked “Sponsored”, however, products mentioned in editorial articles and reviews are based on the author’s subjective assessment of their value to readers, not compensation. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link / learn more link.
Sponsored advertising. The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) is not responsible for the contents of this site including any editorials or reviews that may appear on this site. For complete information on this TD credit card, please click on the Apply Now button.
and the 
