Earn up to 4.4 mpd on overseas spend with DBS Credit Cards

DBS has launched a new promotion called Power Up Your Travels, which runs from now till 31 January 2024.

Registered cardholders who spend a minimum of S$800 on pre-trip travel will receive an extra 2 mpd on in-person overseas spending, capped at 11,200 bonus miles. This is on top of the regular earn rate, which means an overall earn rate of up to 4.4 mpd, depending on card.

That said, there’s a fair bit of hoop-jumping required, and most people would be better off just sticking to Amaze.

DBS Power Up Your Travels

Registration

Registration is required for this promotion, and can be done via the DBS PayLah! app. 

Tap on the Rewards tab at the bottom, then scroll down and look for Power Up Your Travels. 

A total registration cap of 30,000 cardmembers applies. Fortunately, Unlike Other Banks (UOB) which shall remain nameless, DBS offers a tracker that clearly shows how many registration slots are left. No shenanigans here!

You only need to register once for this promotion, despite the fact there are two spend periods:

• Spend Period 1: 26 May 2023 to 31 August 2023
• Spend Period 2: 1 September 2023 to 31 January 2024

Pre-trip travel spend

Once registered, cardholders must clock a minimum of S$800 pre-trip travel spend by 31 August 2023 (spend period 1) or 31 January 2024 (spend period 2).

Pre-trip travel spend is defined as the following:

Do note that DBS does not provide explicit MCC ranges; the ones you see in the table above are my best guess and are not official.

You can track your progress towards the minimum spend goal on the DBS PayLah! app. Spending can be combined across multiple DBS cards, and supplementary cardholder spend will accrue to the principal cardholder. However, any spend made before registration will not qualify, so be sure to register first!

Cardholders will receive a push notification within three working days once they have met the pre-trip travel spend goal, and their spend tracker will be updated to show “Goal Met”.

Bonus 2 mpd on overseas spend

Once a cardholder has met the minimum spend, they will earn an additional 2 mpd on in-person overseas spend during the Spend Period(s).

For avoidance of doubt, the additional 2 mpd only kicks in once the pre-trip minimum spend has been met; it is not retroactive. For example, if you meet the minimum spend on 1 June 2023, any foreign currency spend made in May 2023 will not be eligible for the bonus miles. When DBS says “pre-trip” spend, they really mean it! 

Here’s what the earn rates look like for the relevant DBS cards after a 2 mpd bonus:

	FCY Rate	Bonus Rate	Overall
DBS Treasures Black Elite	2.4 mpd	2 mpd	4.4 mpd
DBS Vantage	2.2 mpd	2 mpd	4.2 mpd
DBS Insignia	2 mpd	2 mpd	4 mpd
DBS Altitude	2 mpd	2 mpd	4 mpd
DBS WWMC	1.2 mpd	2 mpd	3.2 mpd

The bonus 2 mpd is capped at 5,600 miles (S$2,800 overseas spend) per Spend Period. Since there are a total of two spend periods, the maximum bonus you can earn is 11,200 miles.

How is overseas spending defined?

Overseas spend refers to card transactions made overseas at point-of-sale in foreign currency that are charged to eligible cards and posted by the 10th day after each spend period.

Transactions made online will not qualify. 

DBS’s regular rewards exclusions apply, e.g. hospitals, educational institutions, insurance premiums and utilities bills. 

When will the bonus be credited?

Bonus miles will be credited (in the form of DBS Points) by the following deadlines:

• Spend Period 1: By 15 September 2023
• Spend Period 2: By 15 February 2024

Terms & Conditions/FAQs

The T&Cs for the Power Up Your Travels promotion can be found here.

The FAQs for the Power Up Your Travels promotion can be found here.

What can you do with DBS Points? 

DBS Points can be converted to any of the following frequent flyer programmes with a S$27 admin fee. 

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

DBS Points expire as follows:

• Altitude, Insignia, Treasures : No expiry
• Vantage: 3 years
• Woman’s World Card: 1 year

Why not just use Amaze?

If you ask me, this promotion has a few too many hoops for my liking: you need to meet an S$800 minimum spend, your bonus is capped at just 11,200 miles, and you’ll be paying a 3-3.25% FCY fee with DBS credit cards.

It would be much simpler to just use Amaze from the get-go, which allows you to earn up to 6 mpd with an implicit FCY fee of 1.5-2%, depending on currency. 

💳 Amaze Pairings
Card	Earn Rate	Cap
UOB Lady’s Card	6 mpd1	S$1K per c. month
UOB Lady’s Solitaire	6 mpd2	S$3K per c. month
Citi Rewards Card	4 mpd3	S$1K per s. month
OCBC Titanium Rewards	4 mpd4	S$13.3K per m. year
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card	3 mpd5	None
1. Pick 1: Beauty & wellness, dining, entertainment, family, fashion, transport, travel (T&Cs) 2. Pick 2: Beauty & wellness, dining, entertainment, family, fashion, transport, travel (T&Cs) 3. All transactions except travel (airlines, hotels, rental cars, tour agency, cruises etc.) (T&Cs) 4. Electronics, clothes, bags, shoes and shopping (T&Cs) 5. Dining, shopping, travel, transport. Must spend at least S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a membership year (T&Cs)

As an alternative, you can also earn 5 mpd on overseas dining and shopping with UOB PRVI Miles Card till 30 June 2023, subject to a minimum spend of S$1,000 and an overall cap of S$4,000.

Earn 5 mpd on overseas dining and shopping with UOB PRVI Miles Cards

Conclusion

DBS cardholders can register to enjoy a bonus 2 mpd on in-person overseas spend from 26 May to 31 August 2023, and 1 September 2023 to 31 January 2024. This is subject to meeting a minimum pre-travel spend of S$800 and capped at S$2,800 per Spend Period. 

I suppose this could be a decent promotion for someone who sticks to DBS cards only, but otherwise Amaze offers an easier and better deal.