Review: DBS Altitude Card

Here’s The MileLion’s review of the DBS Altitude Card, which once upon a time was a very solid general spending card. 

True, its local/overseas earn rates of 1.2/2 mpd weren’t very exciting, but cardholders could earn 3 mpd on air tickets and hotel bookings, for up to S$5,000 per month. And unlike its competitors, you weren’t forced to book on special OTA portals with inflated pricing and limited selections. Cardholders could book any airline or hotel, any way they wished.

Unfortunately, that all changed in August 2023, when DBS gave a chicken wing by boosting the local/overseas earn rates to 1.3/2.2 mpd, then took back the whole chicken by removing the 3 mpd on air tickets and hotels (not to mention the way they did so left a lot to be desired). In April 2024, DBS also removed the 6 mpd on Expedia flights and hotels and 10 mpd on Kaligo hotels, and since then the Altitude has slipped into a sort of ennui.

It’s not great, not terrible— and while the occasional overseas spending promotion does spice things up, it’s otherwise a rather staid offering. 

DBS Altitude Card
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☐ Take It ☑ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It
What do these ratings mean?
Two free lounge visits and occasional overseas spending promos are welcome, but the DBS Altitude Card has little else to offer year-round.
👍 The good	👎 The bad
2 free lounge visits for Visa version Non-expiring points which pool with other DBS cards Occasional overseas spending promotions	Unexciting earn rates and no bonus categories Limited frequent flyer transfer partners Minimum conversion blocks of 10,000 miles
💳 Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: DBS Altitude Card

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the DBS Altitude Card:

Apply (AMEX)
Apply (Visa)
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	No Expiry
Annual Fee	S$196.20 (First Year Free)	Min. Transfer	5,000 DBS Points (10,000 miles)
Miles with Annual Fee	10,000	Transfer Partners	4
FCY Fee	3% (AMEX) 3.25% (Visa)	Transfer Fee	S$27.25
Local Earn	1.3 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.2 mpd	Lounge Access?	Yes  (Visa)
Special Earn	N/A	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

The DBS Altitude comes in two varieties: American Express, and Visa. The fees, earn rates and benefits of the two are almost identical, though historically speaking, the American Express had a more generous welcome offer than the Visa (at the time of writing, there’s no such differentiation).

The main advantage the Visa has is two airport lounge visits per year, which the American Express version lacks.

How much must I earn to qualify for a DBS Altitude Card?

The DBS Altitude has a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 per year, the MAS-mandated minimum.

If you don’t meet the minimum income requirement, you can place a S$10,000 fixed deposit with DBS and get a secured version of the card. Visit any DBS branch for further information.

How much is the DBS Altitude Card’s annual fee?

The DBS Altitude Card has an annual fee of S$196.20 for the principal cardholder, and a S$98.10 fee per supplementary card.

The first year’s fee is waived. Subsequent years’ fees are automatically waived if you spend at least S$25,000 in a membership year, though based on personal experience, it is possible to get a fee waiver even if you don’t meet the minimum spend.

Cardholders will receive 10,000 miles (in the form of 5,000 DBS Points) every year they pay the principal card’s annual fee, which is equivalent to buying miles at 1.96 cents each.

If the annual fee is subsequently waived, these DBS Points will be clawed back. Should you have an insufficient balance (because you already redeemed those points), then you’ll be charged S$0.0388 per DBS Point.

What welcome offers are available?

DBS Altitude Card
Apply
Promo Code	ALT38	ALTW28
Bonus Miles	28,000 miles
Base Miles From S$800 Spend (1.3 mpd local, 2.2 mpd FCY)	1,040 – 1,760 miles
Miles From S$196.20 Annual Fee	10,000 miles	Fee waived
Total Miles	39,040- 39,760 miles	29,040- 29,760 miles

DBS is currently offering a 28,000 miles welcome bonus for new-to-DBS cardholders, defined as those who:

• do not currently hold any principal DBS/POSB credit cards, and
• have not cancelled any principal DBS/POSB credit cards in the past 12 months

Customers must apply for a DBS Altitude Card between 1 March and 31 August 2025, and receive approval by 14 September 2025. They must also spend at least S$800 within 60 days of approval, which will earn:

• 28,000 bonus miles
• 1,040 to 1,760 base miles, depending on how the S$800 spend is split between SGD/FCY

On top of this, there is the option of paying the first year’s S$196.20 annual fee for an extra 10,000 miles. This needs to be indicated at the time of application via a promo code:

• ALT38: If you wish to pay the first year’s annual fee
• ALTW28: If you wish to have a first year fee waiver

Make sure to enter one code or the other. No code, no bonus!

There’s nothing stopping you from signing up for both the DBS Altitude AMEX and DBS Altitude Visa cards. However, you will only enjoy the new-to-bank bonus on the first card that’s approved.

How many miles do I earn?

SGD/FCY Spend

DBS Altitude Card members earn:

• 3.25 DBS Points for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars (SGD)
• 5.5 DBS Points for every S$5 spent in foreign currency (FCY)

1 DBS Point is worth 2 airline miles, so that’s an equivalent earn rate of 1.3 mpd for SGD spending, and 2.2 mpd for FCY spending. These are acceptable rates for a general spending card, though certainly not market-leading.

💳 Earn Rates for General Spending Cards (income req.: S$30K)
Cards	Local Spend	FCY Spend
UOB PRVI Miles Card	1.4 mpd	3 mpd IDR, MR, THB, VND 2.4 mpd All Others
HSBC TravelOne Card	1.2 mpd	2.4 mpd
DBS Altitude Card	1.3 mpd	2.2 mpd
OCBC 90°N Card	1.3 mpd	2.1 mpd
Citi PremierMiles Card	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
StanChart Journey Card	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	1.2 mpd	1.2 mpd
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card	1.1 mpd	1.1 mpd
BOC Elite Miles Card	1 mpd	2 mpd
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card	1.2 mpd	1.2 mpd

All foreign currency transactions on the DBS Altitude AMEX and Visa Cards are subject to a 3% and 3.25% FCY fee respectively. Therefore, using your DBS Altitude Card overseas represents buying miles at 1.36 cents (AMEX) and 1.48 cents (Visa).

When are DBS Points credited?

DBS Points for local and overseas spending will be credited when your transaction posts, which generally takes 1-3 working days.

How are DBS Points calculated?

Some people get anxious when they read in the T&Cs that DBS Points are awarded in S$5 blocks. That’s understandable, given how UOB’s S$5 earning blocks result in a lot of lost miles from rounding, especially for small transactions.

But DBS’s calculations aren’t nearly as penalising. Here’s how the DBS Points on your DBS Altitude Card are calculated:

Notice how the transaction is not rounded down to the nearest S$5; instead, it’s divided by 5 straight away. This means the minimum spend to earn points is not S$5, but rather:

• SGD spend: S$1.54
• FCY spend: S$0.91

To illustrate the point, here’s how the DBS Altitude compares to the UOB PRVI Miles. Note how it outperforms the ostensibly higher-earning PRVI Miles (1.4 mpd) on certain transaction sizes.

	DBS Altitude Earn rate: 1.3 mpd	UOB PRVI Miles Earn rate: 1.4 mpd
S$5	6 miles	6 miles
S$9.99	12 miles	6 miles
S$15	18 miles	20 miles
S$19.99	24 miles	20 miles
S$25	32 miles	34 miles
S$29.99	38 miles	34 miles

If you’re an Excel geek, here’s the formulas you need to calculate points: 

For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, refer to these articles:

• General Spending Cards
• Specialised Spending Cards

What transactions aren’t eligible for DBS Points?

The DBS Altitude Card will not earn points on the following transactions:

• Amaze transactions (not that it matters here, because only Mastercards can be paired with Amaze)
• Charitable donations
• Education
• Government institutions and services
• Hospitals 
• Insurance
• Top-ups of prepaid accounts e.g. GrabPay
• Utilities bills

A full list of transactions that do not earn DBS Points can be found at point 2.6 of the DBS Rewards Programme’s T&Cs.

All CardUp transactions are eligible to earn DBS Points. However, when it comes to qualifying spend for the purposes of welcome offers, only CardUp rental transactions which code under MCC 6513 (Real Estate Agents and Managers) will count.

If you plan to use CardUp to meet the qualifying spend for a welcome offer, do read the article below for greater clarity. 

Clarified: Using CardUp rental for DBS welcome offers

ipaymy transactions are explicitly excluded from counting towards qualifying spend.

What do I need to know about DBS Points?

Expiry

DBS Points normally expire after one year, but points earned on the DBS Altitude Card never expire.

Pooling

DBS Points pool across cards for the purposes of redemption. If you have 10,000 DBS Points on the DBS Altitude Card and 5,000 DBS Points on the DBS Woman’s World Card, you can redeem 15,000 DBS Points at one shot and pay a single conversion fee.

However, DBS Points are not pooled when it comes to card cancellations. If I have a DBS Altitude Card and DBS Woman’s World Card and decide to cancel the former, I’ll need to transfer my points out before cancelling, or else forfeit them. 

Partners and Transfer Fee

DBS partners with four frequent flyer programmes, though it’s arguably three because Air Asia Rewards offers such poor value it might as well not exist.

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (DBS Points: Miles)
	5,000: 10,000
	5,000: 10,000
	5,000: 10,000
	500: 1,500

For KrisFlyer specifically, DBS offers an alternative “Auto Conversion programme”. This charges a flat fee of S$43.60 per membership year, and automatically converts DBS Points to KrisFlyer miles each calendar quarter in blocks of 500 DBS Points. 

How does the DBS KrisFlyer Miles Auto Conversion Programme work?

This reduces the minimum transfer block from 10,000 miles to 1,000 miles, but has the downside of starting the three-year expiry on your KrisFlyer miles early. 

Whether the Auto Conversion programme makes sense depends on your miles transfer patterns. If you make only one transfer to KrisFlyer per year, the “per transfer” model of S$27.25 would make more sense. However, if you find yourself making two or more transfers, the Auto Conversion programme would be better. 

Cardholders enrolled in the Auto Conversion scheme can make ad-hoc conversions from DBS Points to KrisFlyer miles without paying the usual S$27.25 fee, but the usual minimum block of 5,000 DBS Points applies.

Transfer Times

DBS quotes a points conversion time of 1-2 weeks, but in reality it usually takes about 1-3 working days at the very most for KrisFlyer (transfer times to other programmes may be longer).

If you need your points credited instantly, you can do so via Kris+. 100 DBS Points can be instantly transferred to 170 KrisPay miles, which can then be converted to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio with no fees. 

S$5 for new Kris+ Users

Get S$5 (in the form of 750 KrisPay miles) when you sign-up with code W644363 and make your first transaction

However, those 100 DBS Points would normally have earned you 200 KrisFlyer miles, so you effectively take a 15% haircut. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend taking this option, unless you need a small top-up to redeem a flight, or have an orphan DBS Points balance (<5,000 points). 

If you choose to do so nonetheless, do remember that it’s a two-step process:

1. Transfer DBS Points to KrisPay miles
2. Transfer KrisPay miles to KrisFlyer miles

Do not forget the second step! If you wait more than 21 days, or spend any of the converted KrisPay miles via Kris+, the entire balance will be stuck in the Kris+ app. KrisPay miles expire after six months, and can only be spent at a poor ratio of 150 miles = S$1. 

Other card perks

Two free lounge visits (DBS Altitude Visa only)

Registration

Principal DBS Altitude Visa Cardholders enjoy two free Priority Pass lounge visits per membership year.

The two visit allowance is tracked by membership year, based on when they applied for their Priority Pass. Lounge entitlements can be shared with a guest, but once you exhaust your free visits you’ll be charged US$32 per additional visit. 

Here’s how this compares to other cards in its segment.

Card	Network	Free Lounge Visits (per year)
HSBC TravelOne Card	DragonPass	4X* Share
UOB PRVI Miles Card	Priority Pass	4X*
Citi PremierMiles Card	Priority Pass	2X* Share
DBS Altitude Visa	Priority Pass	2X Share
StanChart Journey Card	Priority Pass	2X Share
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	N/A	N/A
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card	N/A	N/A
BOC Elite Miles Card	N/A	N/A
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card	N/A	N/A
OCBC 90°N Card	N/A	N/A
*Allowance tracked based on calendar year

Overseas spending promotions

The DBS Altitude Card usually offers two overseas spending promotions each year, to cover the June and December peak travel periods. You can usually expect to see a boosted overseas spend rate of 5 mpd, subject to meeting a certain minimum spend and with an overall earning cap.

Unfortunately, the most recent promotion (which ends on 30 June 2025) was rather weak, offering 5 mpd on in-store FCY spend made in the following countries:

• 🇦🇺 Australia
• 🇯🇵 Japan
• 🇲🇾 Malaysia
• 🇹🇭 Thailand

Cardholders had to spend at least S$2,000 per calendar month to be eligible, and the bonus was capped at S$1,200 of in-store FCY spend.

Past promotions were significantly more generous, with 5 mpd offered without any geographical restrictions, a lower minimum spend of S$1,000 per calendar month, and a higher bonus cap of S$2,000 per calendar month.

Income tax payment facility

DBS Altitude Cardholders can pay their income tax via DBS Payment Plans, earning 1.5 mpd (instead of the usual 1.3 mpd) with a 2.5% fee. The cost per mile works out to 1.67 cents each. This is decent, but you could buy miles for less through a service like CardUp.

The article below summarises the lowest-cost way of paying taxes with your DBS Altitude Card and other credit cards.

2025 Edition: How to earn credit card miles on IRAS income tax

Terms and Conditions

• DBS Altitude Card Terms and Conditions
• DBS Rewards Terms and Conditions

Summary Review: DBS Altitude Card

Apply (AMEX)

Apply (Visa)

🦁 MileLion Verdict

☐ Take It ☑ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It

With the loss of its bonus categories, the DBS Altitude Card is a pure vanilla general spending card, and while there are situations which call for that, most of the time you’ll want to keep your spending on 4 mpd alternatives.

The two lounge visits offered by the Visa version are useful, especially if you’re trying to rack up free visits without paying annual fees, but otherwise I don’t see much here to get excited about.

Since I’m never going to be new-to-bank for DBS anyway (I value my DBS Woman’s World Card too much to go one year without it), I do keep the Altitude handy, if only to wait for its bi-annual 5 mpd overseas spending promotions.

So that’s my review of the DBS Altitude Card. What do you think?