DBS Altitude cuts sign-up bonus to 20,000 miles, retains luggage option

DBS has cut the sign-up bonus on its Altitude credit cards from 1st November 2026, with new-to-bank customers now earning up to 20,000 bonus miles for spending S$800 within the first 60 days of approval, down from 28,000 miles in the offer which ran until the end of October.

New-to-bank customers can earn 20,000 bonus miles when applying between now and 28th February 2027, with a minimum spend of S$800. Additionally, those willing to pay the card’s S$196.20 annual fee can receive an extra 10,000 bonus miles, bringing the total to 30,000 miles.

There is one improvement. DBS has ditched its vague “three to five months” wording in favour of a fixed crediting schedule, so you can at least work out when your miles will land. It’s still a wait of up to five months from approval though, so this isn’t a fast-track option for mileage accrual.

The Samsonite luggage alternative returns unchanged, still a MINTER 80/30 trunk case worth S$680 – which looks a lot more tempting now the miles option has been trimmed back.

Eligibility (new-to-bank)

To be eligible for the latest sign-up bonus for both DBS Altitude cards, you’ll need to meet the following criteria.

If you are a supplementary DBS/POSB cardholder, but not a primary cardholder on any such account in the last 12 months, you will qualify as a new customer.

Unfortunately there is still no sign-up bonus for existing DBS credit card customers applying for the Altitude Amex card, like there was back in 2023, so these deals are still strictly for new-to-bank applicants only.

There’s nothing to stop you applying for both the Amex and Visa versions of the card, but you’ll only receive the welcome gift once. The promotion is limited to a single gift per cardmember, however many Altitude cards you’re approved for.

New customer sign-up miles bonuses

New-to-bank customers are eligible for the following two options when signing up for the DBS Altitude cards.

DBS Altitude Visa or Amex Card
(new customers)

Bonus Miles
Promo Code: ALTMW20	Promo Code: ALTM30
↓	↓
• Spend: S$800 in 60 days + • Have a valid DBS PayLah! account by the end of the spend period (20,000 miles)
Fee waiver	Annual Fee: S$196.20 (10,000 miles)
↓	↓
Bonus Miles: 20,000	Bonus Miles: 30,000

As you can see, you’ll need to apply promo code ALTMW20 for the fee-free first year offer with 20,000 bonus miles for spending S$800, or ALTM30 for an additional 10,000 miles (30,000 miles in total), with payment of the S$196.20 fee.

This 20,000-mile bonus offer continues to apply to both the Visa and Amex versions of the Altitude card – in older offers the bonus miles awarded were different for each card.

Since September 2025 the bonus miles are based on the requirement to have a valid DBS PayLah! account by the end of the spend period, which is easy enough to obtain and maintain via the smartphone app.

You don’t need a DBS or POSB deposit account to open one, which is worth knowing given that everyone eligible for this offer is by definition new to the bank.

Is it worth paying the annual fee?

On the face of it the ALTM30 option looks like the better deal, with 30,000 miles on offer instead of 20,000. But you’re paying S$196.20 for that extra 10,000 miles, which works out at 1.96 cents per mile.

That’s above our usual valuation of 1.8 cents for a KrisFlyer mile, so on our numbers the fee-free option again comes out marginally ahead (both figures include the 1,040 base miles you’ll earn on the S$800 spend):

• ALTMW20: around 21,040 miles, nothing paid – worth roughly S$379
• ALTM30: around 31,040 miles, less the S$196.20 fee – worth roughly S$363

It’s close, and if you value your miles above about 1.96 cents each the maths flips in favour of paying the fee.

Miles or luggage?

The miles cut has made this a much easier decision than it was. At our 1.8 cents valuation, 20,000 miles are worth around S$360 – barely half the S$680 retail price of the Samsonite case.

Of course a S$680 suitcase is only worth S$680 to you if you were going to buy one anyway. The two options were fairly evenly matched last time round, but the gap is now wide enough that the luggage wins on paper for most people.

Samsonite luggage alternative

For this sign-up period, DBS is again offering a miles alternative sign-up gift:

• Samsonite MINTER 80/30 Trunk Luggage (worth S$680)

If you wish to opt for this gift, you’ll need to enter promo code MINTER at the application stage.

The case comes in three colours – Cherry Blossom, Glossy Sage Green and Black – but you can’t reserve one. You’ll pick from whatever’s in stock when you turn up at the redemption centre, on a first-come-first-served basis, and Samsonite provides a limited ten-year warranty against manufacturing defects from the date of redemption, up from three years in the previous offer.

Worth noting is that DBS reserves the right to substitute the luggage with 20,000 miles if it isn’t available, so you shouldn’t end up empty-handed if stocks run dry.

The first-year card annual fee is automatically waived for this code (there is no option to pay it voluntarily for more miles), and gift award is also based on the requirement to spend S$800+ in the first 60 days, and have a DBS PayLah! account by the end of the spend period.

Your reward notification now arrives by email rather than by post, on a fixed schedule based on the month your card is approved.

Samsonite Luggage – Reward Notification
Card Approval Date	Expected Notification
1 – 30 Nov 2026	Mar – Apr 2027
1 – 31 Dec 2026	Apr – May 2027
1 – 31 Jan 2027	May – Jun 2027
1 – 28 Feb 2027	Jun – Jul 2027
1 – 14 Mar 2027	Jul – Aug 2027

That means a wait until August 2027 before you hear anything at all, if you apply late in the promotion.

DBS specifically warns that the notification email can land in spam, junk or promotions folders, so do check those if nothing appears by the expected date. More importantly, you must present the original email at the redemption centre, showing DBS as the sender along with the serial number and redemption code – a screenshot or a forwarded copy will not be accepted. You’re also responsible for keeping that code safe, and DBS won’t entertain claims if it turns up as already used.

If the email can’t be delivered, DBS may at its own discretion post a notification letter to your registered address instead.

Further details are available in the terms and conditions for this promotion.

Application process

Whichever card or option you choose, here’s how it works:

• Apply online via DBS digibank or Myinfo with Singpass using the relevant promo code by 28th February 2027.
• Have your card account approved by 14th March 2027.
• Charge at least S$800 of eligible spend to the card within 60 days of your approval date.
• Have a valid DBS PayLah! account by the end of the qualifying spend period.

  APPLY HERE

Supplementary cardholders can’t apply for the promotion in their own right, but spend charged to a supplementary card does count towards the principal cardholder’s S$800 minimum.

The qualifying spend can be online or in-person and can be charged in SGD or foreign currency, or any mixture of these.

Spend exclusions

DBS has retained its series of excluded spend MCC codes in the terms and conditions for this promotion, when considering the qualifying spend for the S$800 minimum within 60 days to trigger the bonus miles.

Primary exclusions here are for education, insurance, utility bill and government-related spend.

Note that CardUp and ipaymy payments are specifically excluded from the eligible spend list to meet the S$800 minimum, even though they will earn miles through this card.

Prepaid top-ups are explicitly excluded too, with EZ-Link, GrabPay, YouTrip, ShopeePay, Singtel Dash, NETS FlashPay, Amaze and Razer Pay all named individually, as is anything crypto-related.

Less obviously, a string of food court and hawker payment operators are excluded by merchant name – including Kopitiam, Bagus, Cantine, Sedap, FavePay and Kashmi. If you were planning to chip away at the S$800 through daily lunches, those transactions won’t count towards it.

See section 7 of the T&Cs document for the complete list of spend exclusions for this welcome offer.

When are the bonus miles credited?

Unfortunately, not anytime soon – though DBS has at least made the timing predictable this time round.

In place of the previous “within three to five months of meeting your minimum spend”, crediting now follows a fixed schedule tied to the month your card is approved.

Bonus Miles Crediting
Card Approval Date	Expected Crediting
1 – 30 Nov 2026	Feb – Mar 2027
1 – 31 Dec 2026	Mar – Apr 2027
1 – 31 Jan 2027	Apr – May 2027
1 – 28 Feb 2027	May – Jun 2027

If you have opted to receive the annual fee bonus of 10,000 miles, it follows exactly the same schedule, credited at the point the S$196.20 annual fee itself is charged to your card.

For example if your card:

• Is approved on 15th November 2026
• You meet the S$800+ spend criteria by the last permissible date 60 days later – on 14th January 2027
• Your 20,000 bonus miles will be credited during February or March 2027
• The annual fee bonus (if applicable) will be awarded when the annual fee is charged (also February or March 2027 in this example)

In total you could be waiting up to five months from being approved for the card to actually seeing any of the bonus miles in your account. Better than the seven months this could previously stretch to, but still not a quick way to recharge your miles balance.

There’s an oddity in the T&Cs here. Applications are accepted until 28th February 2027 with approvals permitted up to 14th March, but the crediting schedule stops at February approvals. If you’re approved in the first half of March you therefore have no stated crediting date at all for your miles, even though the equivalent table for the luggage option does cover you.

Regular miles earning is in addition

The bonus miles outlined above are awarded in addition to the regular miles you will earn for making the S$800 minimum spend with the Altitude cards, at the following rates:

• 1.3 mpd for local spend (i.e. transacted in SGD), or
• 2.2 mpd for overseas spend (i.e. transacted in foreign currency)

In reality, you’ll probably be meeting the S$800 spend requirement in local currency, meaning S$800 x 1.3 mpd of additional earning – equivalent to 1,040 additional miles. These will be credited to your account alongside each eligible transaction.

If the whole S$800 happened to go through in foreign currency you’d earn 1,760 base miles instead.

However, do remember these miles are quite irrelevant – you should be earning at least 1.3 mpd for this local spend anyway year-round, and in some cases you may even be taking a hit by diverting spend away from 4 mpd cards to achieve the DBS Altitude spend threshold.

Which FFPs can you transfer into?

DBS Points can be converted into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and AirAsia Rewards points.

That list got shorter recently, with DBS dropping Qantas Frequent Flyer at the end of September 2026, without any advance notice to cardholders.

DBS Points Transfer Partners (November 2026)
FFP		DBS Points	Miles
	Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	5,000	10,000
	Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	5,000	10,000
	AirAsia Rewards	500	1,500

AirAsia makes up the numbers as a third option, but we wouldn’t really count it.

The 500 : 1,500 ratio looks generous at first glance – three AirAsia points for every DBS Point, against two miles with KrisFlyer or Asia Miles – but AirAsia points aren’t frequent flyer miles at all. They’re effectively a cashback scheme, used to pay for AirAsia flights at a fixed value of around S$0.003 (0.3 cents) per point.

In practice that means 5,000 DBS Points gets you 10,000 KrisFlyer miles worth roughly S$180, or 15,000 AirAsia points worth roughly S$45. The S$27.25 conversion fee, which DBS began applying to AirAsia transfers in March 2026 after previously waiving it, then takes well over half of that S$45 away.

Realistically then, the 20,000 miles from this sign-up bonus only have two useful homes – KrisFlyer or Asia Miles.

Whichever you choose, also factor in the cost of transferring your points across. Converting DBS Points to any frequent flyer programme has an administrative fee of S$27.25 per redemption, with a minimum transfer of 5,000 DBS Points (10,000 miles).

Alternatively, DBS offers automatic conversion to KrisFlyer for an annual participation fee of S$43.60.

Terms and conditions

Here are the full terms and conditions applicable to these sign-up offers.

 DBS Altitude Sign Up Promo T&C

Further details are also available at the bonus promotion page.

Our review

The DBS Altitude cards maintained more or less their ‘status quo’ in terms of miles earning, perks and benefits for many years, but that all changed from 1st August 2023.

Without advance notice (except a vague promise of “changes” – never a good sign), the card then:

• Axed 3 mpd earning for online flight and hotel bookings, up to S$5,000 per calendar month
• Increased the local spend earn rate from 1.2 mpd to 1.3 mpd
• Increased the FCY earn rate from 2 mpd to 2.2 mpd

DBS had to roll back on its no-notice removal of the 3 mpd earn rate for online flight and hotel bookings, extending this for transactions made by 31st August 2023, but it did then disappear from 1st September 2023.

Furthermore, from April 2024 DBS axed 10 mpd earning on Kaligo hotel bookings and 6 mpd earning for hotel bookings and selected flight bookings through Expedia.

These changes have relegated the DBS Altitude cards firmly back into the general spend bracket, with earn rates that are relatively easy to achieve with other cards on the market with similar income requirements, and very few other perks to speak of.

For further details, check out our full review of the Altitude cards, taking account of these changes.

DBS has cut the sign-up bonus on its Altitude cards from November 2026, with 20,000 miles now available when spending S$800 in the first 60 days, for applications between now and 28th February 2027. That’s 8,000 miles fewer than the offer which ran until the end of October.

The Samsonite luggage alternative is untouched at a MINTER 80/30 trunk case worth S$680, which makes it the better value pick of the two for most people this time round.

The cut also comes hot on the heels of DBS dropping Qantas Frequent Flyer as a transfer partner in September, leaving DBS Points with just two worthwhile destinations.

Do be aware that a main draw of this card – up to S$5,000 monthly spend at 3 mpd for online flight and hotel bookings – was axed back in 2023.

Additionally, the card discontinued its 10 mpd earn rate for Kaligo hotel bookings and 6 mpd for hotel and selected flight bookings through Expedia in 2024, further diminishing its already limited list of perks.

(Cover Photo: EDITION Hotels)