There’s a new credit card bonus miles sign-up offer starting tomorrow for those of you not currently holding a DBS Altitude American Express card, worth 10,000 KrisFlyer miles.
The details
Apply for the DBS Altitude American Express card online via the website, DBS iBanking or Digibank between 1st September 2018 (tomorrow) and 31st January 2019 and spend a minimum of S$2,000 on the card per month for the first three consecutive months from the date of card approval to be awarded a sign-up gift of 5,000 DBS points (transferable into 10,000 miles).
The DBS Altitude Visa card is not included in the sign-up offer.
Click here to view the full terms and conditions.
The card
The DBS Altitude American Express has an annual fee of S$192.60. It also has a local earn rate of 1.2 miles per S$1 spent and 2.0 miles per S$1 spent overseas.
At each annual renewal, on payment of the annual fee, 10,000 miles (in the form of 5,000 DBS points) are credited to your award account, however this is normally not awarded at initial sign-up.
Edit: One of our readers correctly pointed out this card now has first-year fee waiver.
Is it worth it?
Let’s say you applied for (and have actually received) the new BOC Elite Miles World Mastercard (see our full review), with a bonus earn rate of 2 miles per S$1 spent between now and the end of 2018, however you have at least S$2,000 of local spending per month to do between now and then. Is this sign-up bonus worth it?
DBS Altitude Amex Sign-Up bonus
- Miles earned for S$6,000 local spend: 7,200
- Bonus miles under this promotion: 10,000
- Total miles: 17,200
BOC Elite Miles Mastercard (promotional rates)
- Miles earned for S$6,000 local spend: 12,000
- Total miles: 12,000
The difference isn’t that great, since the BOC Elite Miles promotion rate is so generous. Bear in mind also that the DBS Altitude Amex card has an annual fee of S$192.60 (Edit: or does it?), while the BOC Elite Miles card is fee-free in the first year.
That means the extra 5,200 miles you would earn for spending on the DBS Altitude Amex card vs. the BOC Elite Miles Mastercard are effectively costing you 3.7 cents each, way too much to be paying.
Edit: One of our readers correctly pointed out this card now has first-year fee waiver. This changes the proposition entirely as the additional 5,200 miles in the above example are at no cost.