It’s now possible to earn Star Alliance Gold status through credit card spend alone, and to earn transferable Star Alliance points in the Star Alliance Rewards program.
Star Alliance has launched its first stand-alone credit card, in the Australian market. This is expected to expand. And Australia makes sense as a place to do this, since there’s no local Star Alliance carrier there (and hasn’t been since Ansett’s demise two decades ago) though Virgin Australia has close relationships with United and Air Canada.
There are two things which are interesting about the product.
- Earn Star Alliance Gold in your choice of program. You designate one program for Star Alliance status (from among Air Canada; Air New Zealand; EVA Air; Singapore Airlines; South Africa; THAI; United) and then card spend earns status – AU$4,000 within 90 days of approval for the first year, then AU$60,000 per membership year to keep it. (AU$30,000 spend earns the program’s level that’s equivalent to Star Silver.)
- Transfer Star Alliance points into the program of your choice. There are now Star Alliance points, earned from credit card spend, and they’re a transferable currency.
The same 7 airlines (Air Canada; Air New Zealand; EVA Air; Singapore Airlines; South Africa; THAI; United) are transfer partners for Star Alliance Rewards. Points transfer 1000 into 800 points in all of the programs except Air New Zealand where transfers are 1,250 Star Alliance points to 10 Air New Zealand Air Dollars.
Star Alliance points don’t transfer 1:1, but earning is based on 1 point per Australian dollar and (1) the Aussie dollar is weak, and (2) interchange is capped there. So you expect low earning cards. Instead, you only earn 1 Star Alliance point per dollar for the first $3,000 each month, then half a point per dollar.
Australians will likely want Star Alliance Gold status with a partner that confers Virgin Australia lounge access.
The product for the Australian market is the HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card and it’s quite innovative. It has no annual fee the first year (a great deal for status), then AU$450. I’m not a fan of HSBC for its public support of China’s draconian security law that ended independence for Hong Kong and jailed pro-democracy activists, journalists, and even office-holders.
There’s really no way this could happen in the US unless Chase is the issuer and United approves I assume.
I sure hope it doesn’t come to the US. I don’t want to see more people in *A lounges or United Clubs.
Getting non-United *G through cc spent in the US would be a dream come true, not going to expect it ever happening here.
@Nico – Somehow if this status were to be available in the US, UA lounges would do the same thing that Virgin did. Just re-brand their lousy lounges as first class instead of business class, except for A, B, C etc. Virtually it ignores the status. With action like this, where UA will not even let their first class domestic pax into their crappy lounges, status is useless anymore.
At $450 per year, does one receive lounge access beyond year one?The card’s earn rate works out to 1 point per US$. Massive opportunity cost vs. other cards. Plus the annual fee? Something is missing from the picture or this is a massively stupid card.
I am a HSBC AU Premier checking account holder. Not sure if I can apply this without any AU ID.
While it was my “3 years of service gift” from the agency I worked at, my Victorinox Swiss Army bag is fantastic. I’ve had it for 9 years, and over 100 flights including to Europe. I can get a full weeks’ worth in it with out expanding, even during the winter months (and I used to go to the upper Midwest so no easy task). I know it’s in the $400 range, but think it will be my last carry on bag I will ever need.
Follow-Up
My lead question about the $450 was rhetorical. With that high of an annual fee, one would expect lounge access from just the card. One can get a Chase United Club Infinite Card for $525 and have lounge access (or a similar card for AA or Delta) . . . without the $60k in spend to earn Star Alliance status needed for lounge access.
As for opportunity cost, in the most simple example, $60k in spending on the Freedom Unlimited would earn 90k points, which can be transferred to United. That’s 30k points left on the table. What’s that worth? Add that to the $450 annual fee and then ask whether tier status is worth that total cost.