Note: For full disclosure, The Alviator gets a referral bonus for HeyMax users. Here at The Alviator, we only partner with firms we genuinely believe will help the passenger experience, such as HeyMax
If you’re looking for ways to earn passive frequent flyer points in Hong Kong, Singaporean company HeyMax is expanding to Hong Kong in September. This is great for all – whether you only have a debit card (as a university student/non-HK resident) and want to earn some points, or whether you want to double-dip on points rewards and spending.
HeyMax launches in Hong Kong, having 29+ airline transfer options
HeyMax is an app that allows you to earn Max Miles, a transferrable airline miles and points currency. The key is that you can earn transferrable frequent flyer points in Hong Kong using a debit card – you don’t need a Hong Kong credit card in order to be eligible for this.
The company is successful in Singapore, and they’re expanding to Hong Kong, with an early September launch. They already have 250+ vendors lined up that let you earn Max Miles, which is quite impressive.
The company has the following airline transfer options, which will also apply to their Hong Kong platform:
- AirAsia
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Air India Maharaja Club
- Alaska Mileage Plan
- American Airlines AAdvantage
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Frontier Miles
- GarudaMiles
- Hainan Fortune Wings Club (includes Hong Kong Airlines)
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Privilege Club
- THAI Royal Orchid Plus
- Turkish Miles&Smiles
- United MileagePlus
- Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles
- Velocity Frequent Flyer
Max Miles transfers to all of the above frequent flyer points programmes at a 1:1 ratio.
As you can see, one of these options is the Hainan Fortune Wings Club, where you can travel with Hong Kong Airlines. Out of the above, AirAsia and Qatar Airways are instant transfer options (which effectively means that you can transfer Max Miles to Avios instantly, as Qatar Airways is part of the Avios ecosystem).
For non-instant partner options, HeyMax currently gives the option to issue a pre-paid virtual card, where users can buy miles from retail points shops. This makes the transfer practically as quick as the turnaround time for the virtual card, which is really handy as well.
Otherwise, you can see that the app targets Hong Kong students studying in the UK (as they also have Qatar Airways and British Airways as options, so you can earn Avios) and U.S. (Alaska, AAdvantage, Frontier, United, etc.), as it incentivises regional travel within their universities as well, as well as find ways to fly back to Hong Kong. It is worth noting that after the launch, only spending with Hong Kong earning options will trigger Max Miles accumulation. The only exception at the moment is Asia Miles, though I hope they’ll be able to add them as an option soon.
For the record, HeyMax also has eight hotel chain transfer options, covering all the major hotel chains:
- Accor Live Limitless
- Hilton Honors
- IHG One Rewards
- Marriott Bonvoy
- Radisson Rewards
- Shangri-La Circle
- World of Hyatt
- Wyndham Rewards
Stay at hotels such as the 21 Carpenter Singapore (Marriott Bonvoy) with Max Miles
While I don’t have the list of affiliate merchants, 250+ merchants across Hong Kong will qualify, across both international and local brands. For a flavour of what these look like, their current affiliate merchants in Singapore include Uniqlo, IKEA, Decathlon, Dyson, Apple, and more. On the HeyMax Hong Kong landing page, Expedia, Watsons, Samsung, Trip.com, Taobao and Uber logos are also featured, which is exciting. You can also earn Max Miles with airfare spending on certain airlines, including AirAsia, Qatar Airways, and Etihad, etc..
Max Miles earning rates range from 0.5 to around 10 Max Miles per SGD, so I’d say expect around 0.1 to ~2 Max Miles per HKD in terms of earning rates.
If you’d otherwise earn points spending with certain merchants and are using a miles and points credit card, you’ll be able to triple dip points as well.
HeyMax FlyAnywhere: Convert your Max Miles to cash
HeyMax also operates FlyAnywhere, where you can essentially convert your Max Miles into cash. Their Singapore scheme values 0.018 SGD per Max Mile (HK$0.11).
I’d say this is on the lower end compared to other options you’d have with Max Miles, and that you can definitely get outsized value from your Max Miles when redeeming points directly through transferring to an airline option. I personally would wait for good opportunities to redeem for award space, especially as Max Miles never expire.
How HeyMax works (join the waiting list)
The process of joining HeyMax is quite simple:
- Join the waiting list for the early September launch (or if you’re in Singapore, sign up)
- HeyMax will gift Max Miles whenever you spend with an eligible vendor via the HeyMax app (similar to spending with BA/Cathay’s shopping portal)
I’d encourage you to join the HeyMax Hong Kong waiting list, where you’ll get 200 Max Miles for free when they launch in early September. You’ll also get free Max Miles after the programme launches.
Redeem HeyMax miles for travel on Hong Kong Airlines
This is an exciting development for miles and points spending in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is an exciting developing space in the world of miles and points, though I’d say HeyMax is especially exciting for students and young professionals. It’s awesome to be able to earn points on top of vendor earnings and credit card spend, and HeyMax will be an easy way to do this passively.
There’s no question that this is still a developing brand within Hong Kong, and I’m hoping to see them add Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles as an option soon, since it’ll be lucrative for many. In the interim, it’s good to see that they have Hong Kong Airlines as an option, as well as lots of other airline points where you can redeem miles on Cathay Pacific, such as Alaska Mileage Plan, AAdvantage, and two Avios options. Admittedly you won’t be able to get access to the full inventory of Cathay Pacific award space, so I hope to be able to see Asia Miles be added in the future.
I’d love to see Asia Miles brought on, but for now, transfer to Alaska Mileage Plan, AAdvantage, or redeem Cathay Pacific flights with Avios
One of the things I’m most excited about is the ability to transfer to some great rewards programmes, such as Air Canada’s Aeroplan, American Airlines AAdvantage, Alaska Mileage Plan, and Emirates Skywards, which aren’t miles that are particularly easy to come by in Hong Kong. Admittedly there are other options for each of these programmes, though they’re usually reserved for more premium credit cards. Aeroplan is probably the programme I’m most excited about, as they have lots of exciting transfer options.
Use Max Miles to fly Gulf Air (admittedly they don’t fly to Hong Kong, so you’ll have to position to Bangkok, Singapore, or Guangzhou)
Conclusion: Join The HeyMax HK Waiting List
HeyMax is an awesome opportunity to earn some extra miles passively based on spend, and it’s an especially good programme if you’re not otherwise eligible for a credit card in Hong Kong (e.g. you’re a university student). The programme is clearly a growing one, and once it launches in early September, there’ll be plenty of great opportunities to earn miles with certain vendors, as well as double- or even triple-dip with points earnings if you’ve got a pre-existing points card.
If you’re based in Hong Kong, I’d recommend you join the HeyMax HK waiting list, where you’ll get extra free miles (especially if you refer to your network).
Are you going to join HeyMax HK with me?