India’s travel and tourism industry has been booming for the last few years. Hotels are one of the biggest beneficiaries of this boom. Within the hotel industry, we have budget hotels, mid-range hotels, and luxury hotels at the top that provide premium experiences to guests. Banks have also recognised the boom in the travel industry and have been offering travel-centric credit cards. While generic travel cards have existed for some time, now we have started seeing hotel co-branded credit cards.
The Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card was the first hotel co-branded credit card. Recently, HSBC Bank announced the launch of the HSBC Taj Credit Card, the second hotel co-branded credit card. What are the features and benefits of this card, and is it for you? Let us discuss.
The HSBC Taj Credit Card is a co-branded credit card launched by HSBC Bank India in partnership with IHCL (Indian Hotels Company Limited). IHCL operates various hotel brands like Taj, Selections, Vivanta, Gateway, Ginger, etc. It is India’s largest hotel group operating 350+ hotels with 39,000+ rooms at 150+ locations spread across 12+ countries. The IHCL group hotels cater to the hotel accommodation needs of customers across various income categories. The Ginger brand offers budget hotels, and the Taj brand provides luxury experiences at the top end of the spectrum.
With the HSBC Taj Credit Card, customers can experience the ultimate in luxury, from tailored stays at Taj hotels to unrivalled privileges that match their lifestyle. They can unlock a curated collection of benefits like exquisite stays, gourmet dining, exclusive access, bespoke experiences, and more at various IHCL group properties. In short, the HSBC Taj Credit Card provides the rarest key to unlock a world of luxury.
The card is packed with powerful features and benefits as follows.
On card activation, the customer gets hotel stay vouchers at participating hotels as follows. A voucher that entitles the customer to a one-night room stay and breakfast for two persons at any one of the nine participating Taj palace hotels. Some of these include the Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, Umaid Bhavan Palace, Jodhpur, Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad, etc.
You also get two vouchers for a one-night stay inclusive of breakfast for two persons at participating hotels in India.
The card provides access to exclusive privileges with NeuPass Taj InnerCircle Platinum Tier membership. You earn 8 Neu Coins for every Rs. 100 of eligible spends at participating IHCL hotels. The cardholder can avail of a two-hour early and priority check-in and two-hour late check-out, subject to availability.
You can get unlimited upgrade e-vouchers that provide complimentary upgrades to the next category of room booked. You also get four upgraded e-vouchers to Taj Club rooms. The cardholder can enjoy happy hours at designated lounge/bars across all participating hotels. During happy hours, the customer can enjoy complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages between 6:00 and 8:00 PM on all days of the week.
The card provides five reward points for every Rs. 100 spent at participating IHCL properties. Other standard purchases earn 1.5 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent. The value of every 1.5 reward points equals Rs. 1. It translates into a 3.3% reward rate for every Rs. 100 spent at participating IHCL properties. The reward points are credited to your HSBC Taj Credit Card Wallet balance. The reward points can be redeemed towards stays, food and beverages, and spa treatments at participating IHCL properties.
The card provides a host of other benefits. Some of these include the following.
The card provides discounts on specified brands as follows.
The joining and annual renewal fee is Rs. 1,10,000. To be eligible, an individual should be an Indian resident and in the 25 to 75 years age bracket. The individual should reside in one of the specified 13 cities. To apply for the card, an individual has to join the waiting list through the HSBC India website.
While the card has a high annual fee, it comes packed with a lot of benefits. The reward points earning rate for every Rs. 100 spent on IHCL properties is 3.3%. The NeuPass Platinum tier status provides 8 Neu Coins (equivalent to Rs. 8) for every Rs. 100 spent at participating IHCL properties. Thus, the combination of 3.3% reward points plus 8% Neu Coins translates into a good value back of around 11% on spends at participating IHCL properties. The reward points redemption is limited to IHCL properties.
The card focuses on experiences that every traveller would love to have. It provides elegant travel, exquisite stays and dining, bespoke experiences, and an experience of world-class hospitality with exclusive access to The Chambers Lounge, the Taj Club Lounge, and Rendezvous networking events. Thus, if you are a Taj hotels loyalist and want to access the rarest key to unlock the above curated collection of benefits at participating IHCL hotels, you may consider getting the HSBC Taj Credit Card.
Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.
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