Credit Cards Deals

DBS extends 10,000 miles Altitude card sign-up bonus to 2021

DBS has extended its 10,000 miles sign-up bonus for the popular Altitude credit cards, now valid for approvals by 31st January 2021

DBS has extended its sign-up bonus for the DBS Altitude Visa and DBS Altitude American Express cards into next year. The 10,000 miles bonus deal was previously due to end on 30th September 2020, but is now valid for approvals through 31st January 2021.

Better still, if you pick up the American Express version you’ll also be eligible for 50% bonus miles – up to 4.5 mpd – on your transactions in the first three months, including a market-leading 1.8 mpd on general local spend.

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Three options

DBS is offering three primary options depending on your preference; bonus miles, bonus + annual fee miles, or cashback.

Cashback offers now benefit from a lower spend of just S$800 in two months (previously S$1,200 spend was required), but the statement credit offered is lower for the Visa card:

  • DBS Altitude Visa: S$150 cashback
  • DBS Altitude Amex: S$200 cashback
Both Cards
Bonus Miles

Cashback
Promo Code:
DBSALT
Promo Code:
ALTAF
Promo Code:
150CASH (Visa)
200CASH (Amex)
Spend: S$6k
in 90 days
Spend: S$800
in 60 days
Fee waiver Annual Fee:
S$192.60
Fee waiver
Bonus Miles:
10,000
Bonus Miles:
20,000
Bonus Miles:
0

As you can see you’ll get the highest level of bonus miles, 20,000 in total, by opting to pay the annual card fee in year one (S$192.60) and spending S$6k+ in the first 90 days of card membership.

If you don’t pay the annual fee you’ll instead get a 10,000 miles bonus, which is probably a better deal as we value the difference (i.e. those extra 10,000 miles) at around S$190. In other words it’s probably not worth paying S$192.60 for 10,000 miles, unless you really need them.

S$200 in cashback for the Amex card using promo code 200CASH isn’t a bad deal instead of 10,000 miles (which we value at S$190 against a KrisFlyer redemption), but you’re not really gaining or losing here in our view so you’d actually have to want the Altitude card as a long-term proposition.

S$150 in cashback for the Visa card (promo 150CASH) isn’t really better than the 10,000 KrisFlyer miles option, unless you won’t make the S$6,000 spend in the first 90 days.

If you do go for the cashback deal in either case, it comes in the form of a statement credit to your card account within 150 days (5 months) after your card approval date.

10,000 bonus miles: DBSALT

Apply and be approved for the DBS Altitude Visa or American Express card online via the website, DBS iBanking or Digibank (mobile app) between now and 31st January 2021 and spend a minimum of S$6,000 on the card within the first 90 days from the date of card approval to be awarded a sign-up gift of 5,000 DBS points (transferable into 10,000 miles).

Note that the offer is strictly limited to online applications only.



 

To be eligible you must be new to DBS/POSB credit cards, or have not held one in the last 12 months. You must also enter promo code “DBSALT” in the promo code field in the online application form.

Promo Code 2

Existing DBS/POSB credit card holders, or those who had held one in the last 12 months, are not eligible for the current sign-up bonus offer.

Pro Tip: If you recently cancelled your DBS credit card, check if the anniversary date of cancellation falls into this offer window (i.e. between now and 31st January 2021). If it does, wait until the 12 months has expired, then you can apply and be eligible for the sign-up bonus, even if you’ve had one before.

Bonus miles are credited within 180 days of card approval (quite a long wait of 6 months), subject to the minimum spend being met in the first three months.

Supplementary cardholders are not eligible to participate in the promotion, however spend made on supplementary cards is considered towards the S$6,000 minimum.

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20,000 bonus miles: ALTAF

The DBS Altitude card comes with first year fee waiver, however if you wish to pay the annual fee of S$192.60 in year one you’ll also be eligible to receive an additional 5,000 DBS points (transferable into 10,000 miles).

To apply for this you’ll instead need to enter “ALTAF” in the promo code field in the online application form, instead of the “DBSALT” code referred to above.

Promo Code.jpg
This is where to enter the promo code in the application if you wish to earn an additional 10,000 miles by paying the first year annual card fee

This will then trigger the 10,000 miles sign-up bonus (for S$6,000 spend in the first three months) and the 10,000 miles annual fee bonus, for a total of 20,000 miles. If you are an existing DBS/POSB credit card holder, or have held one in the last 12 months, you will still be eligible for the 10,000 miles on payment of the annual fee, but not the sign-up bonus offer.

For those opting to pay the annual fee, it will be posted to the card account within 180 days from the date of card approval, at which time the additional 10,000 miles will also be credited.

Pro Tip: We would actually recommend skipping this one, as we value a KrisFlyer mile at 1.9 cents each (our upper limit to buy) and this deal represents buying miles at slightly above that rate (1.93 cents each).

The annual fee for DBS Altitude cards is waived each year at renewal, provided you spent at least S$25,000 in the previous membership year.

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Cashback

If you prefer either the S$150 or S$200 cash welcome gift instead of miles, you need to apply between now and 31st January 2021, with your card account approved by 14th February 2021, and spend a minimum of S$800 on the card within the first 60 days from the date of card approval.

Note that this is slightly different to the bonus miles offer, which requires card approval by 31st January 2021.

To be eligible you must be new to DBS/POSB credit cards, or have not held one in the last 12 months. You must also enter promo code “150CASH” in the promo code field in the online application form for the Visa card or “200CASH” for the Amex card.

If you opt for the cashback, this will be credited to your card account within 150 days from the date of card approval, subject to the S$800 minimum qualifying spend being made in the first 60 days.

Exclusions

Like most sign-up bonus offers, the qualifying spend excludes certain categories. In this case the exclusions cover the following:

  • 0% Interest Instalment Payment Plan monthly transactions
  • My Preferred Payment Plan monthly transactions
  • Interest, finance charges, cash withdrawal, balance transfer, smart cash, AXS payments, SAM online bill payments, bill payments via internet banking and all fees charged by DBS
  • Payments to educational institutions
  • Payments to financial institutions (including banks, online trading platforms and brokerages)
  • Payments to government institutions and services (court cases, fines, bail and bonds, tax payment, postal services, parking lots and garages, intra-government purchases and any other government services not classified here)
  • Payments to insurance companies (sales, underwriting and premiums)
  • Payments to non-profit organisations
  • Top-ups or payment of funds to payment service providers, prepaid accounts and any pre-paid accounts (e.g. EZ-Link, NETS FlashPay, Transit Link, Singtel Dash)
  • Betting transactions (including levy payments to local casinos, lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, off-track betting and wagers)
  • Transactions related to crypto currencies

Terms and conditions

Full terms and conditions for these sign-up offers are available here:

 DBS Alt Bonus Miles T&C
 DBS Alt Cashback T&C

50% miles bonus for Amex cards

An ongoing offer is still available for those signing up to the DBS Altitude American Express card with an additional 50% bonus on the regular earn rates for all spend on the card in the first three months, capped at 10,000 additional bonus miles.

Important: Note that you must apply under one of the miles sign-up bonuses (DBSALT or ALTAF) and also trigger the sign-up bonus (S$6,000+ spend in the first three months) to be eligible for the additional 50% miles offer.

Altitude Card Amex.png

Spend category Regular Rate 50% Bonus Rate
Local 1.2 mpd 1.8 mpd
Overseas 2.0 mpd 3.0 mpd
Online Flight / Hotel* 3.0 mpd 4.5 mpd

* Includes online spend at sites including singaporeair.com, cathaypacific.com, qatarairways.com and expedia.com.sg

This elevates the DBS Altitude Amex card to the best local earn rate for general spending of any credit card on the market during this promotion, eclipsing the UOB PRVI Miles (1.4 mpd) and even the premium DBS Insignia, Citi ULTIMA and UOB Reserve cards (all 1.6 mpd).

In some spend categories the 50% bonus is worth 4.5 miles per dollar, and means you can relatively easily earn a total of 50,000 miles in the first three months with the Amex card including the sign-up bonus, spend bonus and annual fee bonus combined (though you may want to opt out of the latter, which as noted above will cost you S$192.60).

Remember the enhanced miles bonus is capped at 10,000 miles. To hit that you’ll need to spend the following amounts (assuming all your spend is in a single category):

  • Local spend (bonus 0.6 mpd): S$16,666
  • Overseas spend (bonus 1 mpd): S$10,000
  • Online Flight / Hotel Spend (bonus 1.5 mpd): S$6,666

These will count towards (and in all cases exceed) the S$6,000 minimum spend needed to trigger the 10,000-mile sign-up bonus described above; remember you’ll be getting both.

Both bonus amounts are credited later, with these additional miles coming through to your account within 180 days of card approval (6 months).

Online flight and hotel spend includes cash fares purchased at singaporeair.com. (Photo: MainlyMiles)

Spending on supplementary cards is considered towards the qualifying spend for the current promotions, but there are some exclusion categories.

Further details for this offer can be found on the DBS promotional landing page.

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DBS Altitude Amex example

If you successfully apply for the DBS Altitude Amex card and in the first three months spend S$2,000 on online flight / hotel transactions, S$4,000 on overseas transactions and S$5,000 on local spend, you’ll earn:

  • S$2,000 x 4.5 = 9,000 miles (3,000 bonus)
  • S$4,000 x 3.0 = 12,000 miles (4,000 bonus)
  • S$5,000 x 1.8 = 9,000 miles (3,000 bonus)
  • Total 30,000 miles earned (10,000 bonus, so you’ve exactly capped out the bonus miles offered)

In addition you’ll have successfully triggered the 10,000-mile sign-up bonus (total 40,000 miles) and depending on your preference you may also have opted to pay the first year annual fee for another 10,000 miles (total 50,000 miles).

The total of course will depend on your personal spend profile, and you are under no obligation to hit the 10,000-mile bonus limit on the enhanced spend rates if you don’t want to. Just remember to spend S$6,000+ on eligible transactions in the first three months to trigger both the sign-up bonus and the 50% earn rate bonus.

Earn rates

The DBS Altitude cards have what we’d call ‘entry-level’ (but by no means terrible) miles earning rates for general spend.

  • 1.2 miles for every S$1 spent locally (i.e. transacted in SGD)
  • 2 miles for every S$1 spent overseas (i.e. transacted in foreign currency)

Look towards the UOB PRVI Miles cards for a superior 1.4 mpd locally and 2.4 mpd overseas, however be aware of the S$5 rounding blocks for points accrual on those cards (see our full review for more details).

DBS Altitude
Altitude Card Amex.png
First year
free

1.3 mpd
local

2.2 mpd
FCY
READ OUR REVIEW
DBS Altitude
Altitude Card Amex.png

First year
free

1.3 mpd
local

2.2 mpd
FCY
READ OUR REVIEW
DBS Branch.jpg

If you have S$6,000 of spending coming up over the next three months, this sign-up offer will net you:

1.2 x 6,000 = 7,200 miles (assuming local spend)
+ 10,000 miles sign-up bonus
= 17,200 miles

That’s the equivalent of 2.9 miles per dollar (17,200 / S$6,000) on local transactions, even if you don’t take the Amex card for the additional bonus miles.

Other benefits

Some additional category-based earning rates with the DBS Altitude cards can be quite useful, and include:

  • 3 miles per $1 spent on online flight and hotel bookings, including at singaporeair.com, cathaypacific.com, qatarairways.com, and expedia.com.sg
  • 10 miles per $1 spent on staycation hotel bookings at Agoda until 31st December 2020. See our article for full details.
  • 10 miles per $1 spent on hotel stays with Kaligo (this can work very well – see our article here)

These bonus rates are collectively capped at $5,000 spend per calendar month, with one ‘shared’ limit for all of them.

The DBS Altitude Visa card also comes with two complimentary Priority Pass visits per year. For details of all the benefits, see our separate full review of the Altitude cards.

Frequent flyer programme partners

DBS Points can be transferred into your choice of four different frequent flyer programmes. Blocks of 5,000 DBS Points transfer into:

  • 10,000 KrisFlyer miles
  • 10,000 Asia Miles
  • 10,000 Qantas Points
  • 15,000 AirAsia BIG Points

Forget AirAsia BIG Points (worth about 0.34 Singapore cents each as mentioned in our full review of this card) and stick with KrisFlyer miles, Qantas Points or Asia Miles, all worth closer to the 1.9 Singapore cents per mile / point mark.

DBS Points can be transferred into Qantas Frequent Flyer, with a bonus promotion running twice in 2019. (Photo: Qantas)

DBS Points never expire, so there’s no rush to transfer to your preferred program. Do be aware however that DBS Points typically take up to four days to credit into KrisFlyer upon each transfer request, and we expect Asia Miles and Qantas transfers are probably no different.

Whichever frequent flyer programme you choose, there’s a S$26.75 fee (including GST) each time you transfer DBS Points into an airline scheme. The bank also offers automatic quarterly transfers to KrisFlyer (i.e. 4 times per year) if you prefer, for an annual fee of $42.83.

There’s also the option to transfer your DBS Points into KrisFlyer miles instantly via KrisPay, though you’ll take a 15% hit on the conversion ratio so it’s probably only of interest if you:

  • Need a small amount to meet a specific redemption threshold
  • Need the redemption instantly (there are other ways to consider first), or
  • Have a small balance ‘stuck’ in DBS Points (less than 5,000) which you aren’t going to be adding to in future.
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Summary

The DBS Altitude is a good card for those with regular travel transactions online at sites like singaporeair.com, cathaypacific.com, qatarairways.com and expedia.com.sg, with a year-round 3 miles per dollar rate.

It also offers a potentially useful immediate transfer to KrisFlyer miles via KrisPay, with a small sacrifice on the rate but ideal for instant small top-ups.

10,000 miles won’t set your KrisFlyer, Asia Miles or Qantas accounts on fire, but it’s a relatively straightforward way to achieve a decent top-up to your balance, with a few extra features you may find useful, plus it’s fee-free for at least the first year.

If you’re eligible for the sign-up bonus we’d recommend considering the Amex version for its 50% additional miles in the first three months, worth up to an extra 10,000 miles.

DBS Altitude
Altitude Card Amex.png
First year
free

1.3 mpd
local

2.2 mpd
FCY
READ OUR REVIEW
DBS Altitude
Altitude Card Amex.png

First year
free

1.3 mpd
local

2.2 mpd
FCY
READ OUR REVIEW
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4 comments

  1. You forgot to add that there is no negative balance for DBS points system. We can buy as much miles as we like by making free refundable hotel bookings according to our credit limit. 🙂

    1. Thanks, so if you make a hotel booking earning you 5,000 DBS Points then you transfer those to miles and end up with zero DBS Points balance, what happens when you refund the transaction? DBS charges you?

  2. The balance becomes 0 instead of -5000. I never got charged so far. Their rewards terms & conditions did not state when they will charge us or how much is the value of each mile they going to charge us. So I guess just do as and when you need it and not to over do it. You can try to experiment it yourself. Go agoda.com, hotels.com, expedia.com. Make a refundable free booking, once points posted, redeem all or until small amount left. After that once the charge is refunded, the points become 0. No negative. We should share this info with all. Enjoy!!!!! 🙂

  3. regarding your last line: if i’m not a new-to-bank and not eligible for the sign-up bonus, you wouldn’t recommend getting the amex card to enjoy the 1.8/3.0 mpd bonus?

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