DBS Altitude offering 5 mpd on travel and overseas spend

EXPIRED This article relates to an offer or promotion which has now expired.
 

DBS has a new enhanced miles earning offer for its Altitude cardholders, with an uncapped 5 mpd for offline overseas (FCY) spend and a capped 5 mpd for online flight and hotel transactions in any currency. The deal runs from 1st December 2021 through to 28th February 2022, giving you three months to benefit.

This is definitely a good deal to consider if you’re making travel bookings (extra 2 mpd = 5 mpd) or splurging on your Christmas shopping in Sydney, London or Kuala Lumpur this month (extra 3 mpd = 5 mpd), even eclipsing 4 mpd bonus rate cards on the market.

The deal is open to all cardholders, with no registration required.

The offer

All principal DBS Altitude Visa Signature and DBS Altitude American Express cardholders are automatically eligible for the offer, with no registration required.

You will earn bonus miles for overseas and/or travel spend as follows:

when you spend a minimum of S$2,500 in each calendar month during the promotion period.

If you wish to participate in December, for example, that means spending S$2,500+ (on anything) during that month.

If you wish to participate in all three months of the promotion, you’ll have to clock S$2,500+ (on anything) in December 2021 and S$2,500+ (on anything) in January 2022 and S$2,500+ (on anything) in February 2022.

Eligible spend

The following categories count as eligible spend for this promotion:

• Online Flight & Hotel Transactions
  Online retail transactions (any currency) made at merchants with their main business activity classified as flights and/or hotels.
• Overseas Spend Point-of-Sale Transactions
  Card transactions made overseas at point-of-sale in foreign currency. Card transactions made overseas but effected / charged in Singapore Dollars and online transactions effected in foreign currencies at merchants with their payment gateway in Singapore will not be valid.

Any spend made by supplementary cardholders during this promotion will be combined with that of the principal cardholder, for calculation of both the qualifying minimum spend and the eligible spend components.

Do note that DBS applies a 3.25% FCY transaction fee, so the 5 mpd you’re earning under this promotion for eligible non-SGD spend aren’t coming completely free (it’s still worth it though).

Monthly cap

The maximum spend for bonus miles under this promotion is capped at:

• S$5,000 per calendar month for online flight and/or hotel transactions
• No upper cap for overseas spend transactions

Remember, you’ll still need to make S$2,500+ of qualifying general spend (on anything) in each calendar month to ‘activate’ the bonus rate for that month.

The great thing about this promotion is that the cap of S$5,000 maximum spend per calendar month only applies to online flight and/or hotel transactions, there is no cap for (physical) overseas spend transactions.

Qualifying spend

For the S$2,500 in monthly charges to the card to qualify for the applicable enhanced earn rate within that month, the following typical DBS exclusions apply:

Unlike some DBS promotions, the general monthly spend of S$2,500+ to activate this bonus 5 mpd rate can include CardUp and ipaymy transactions. For example, if you’re already paying your monthly rental through CardUp using your Altitude card, you may well qualify immediately every month for spend in the bonus categories!

You can track your minimum spend requirement for this offer on the DBS PayLah! app under the “Rewards” page (from 1st January 2022). The promotion tracker is updated within three working days after each minimum spend transaction is reflected.

Qualifying spend vs. Eligible spend

Qualifying spend can include eligible spend, for example a S$3,000 online payment with Singapore Airlines in December 2021 will unlock the bonus earn rate (S$2,500+ qualifying achieved) and be awarded 5 mpd earn rate (since it’s also eligible spend).

In other words you don’t necessarily need to make S$2,500+ of qualifying spend to then unlock the bonus for subsequent eligible online spend, the two amounts can overlap if you wish.

When are the bonus miles credited?

Initially you’ll earn miles (as DBS Points) at your Altitude card’s usual earn rate of 2 mpd for overseas spend and 3 mpd (within monthly S$5,000 cap) for online flight and hotel spend.

Bonus miles applicable from this promotion will be credited to your card account within 60 days from the end of each calendar month of the promotion period (so basically by the end of February, March and April 2022 for eligible spend in December 2021, January 2022 and February 2022 respectively).

Is it just for KrisFlyer miles?

No. These bonus miles will be credited as DBS Points, so you can transfer them into your choice of four different frequent flyer programs. For example 5,000 DBS Points transfers into:

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

Our advice? 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 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.

Terms and conditions

Full terms and conditions for this 5 mpd bonus miles offer are available at the DBS website:

 DBS 5 mpd Promo
 DBS 5 mpd FAQ

A very nice deal from DBS for its Altitude cardholders with overseas travel plans over the next few months, with an impressive 5 mpd when booking flights and hotels in any currency (S$5,000 monthly cap) or when making overseas point-of-sale transactions with the card (no cap at all).

You’ll need to spend S$2,500+ on the card in each of the calendar months you wish to participate, but this can include spend in the bonus categories, so it’s not necessarily a huge stumbling block.

Provided you can meet that minimum spend, this looks like the go-to card for miles earning in these two categories for the next three months – a perfect excuse to do all your Christmas shopping on your next VTL trip!

For full details of the DBS Altitude cards, see our comprehensive review.