DBS Altitude Cards offering 25,600 miles sign-up bonus

It’s been an eventful few weeks for the DBS Altitude Card.

On 1 August, DBS boosted the general spending earn rates slightly, but nerfed the 3 mpd bonus for online flight and hotel bookings. While it’d been teasing that changes were coming to the card, no details were provided until they were already in effect. Needless to say, there was a (well-deserved) backlash, and DBS eventually postponed the nerfing aspect until 31 August– a good outcome, but something they should have done in the first place!

Amidst the furore surrounding the changes, what might have gone unnoticed is that DBS also enhanced the Altitude Card’s sign-up bonus to 25,600 bonus miles with S$2,000 spend, compared to 21,000 bonus miles before. 

DBS Altitude Offers

DBS markets this as “up to 40,000 miles” because their working assumes that you pay the annual fee (10,000 miles) and spend the entire S$2,000 on foreign currency spend (4,400 miles @ 2.2 mpd). Adjust for that, and the “true bonus” is 25,600 miles, the figure I’m using in this post

This offer is valid for applications till 30 November 2023, and there’s something for both new-to-bank and existing customers 

DBS Altitude Card sign-up offers

	DBS Altitude AMEX	DBS Altitude Visa
New Customers	25,600 bonus miles (+10,000 miles with AF payment)	22,600 bonus miles (+10,000 miles with AF payment)
Existing Customers	11,600 bonus miles (+10,000 miles with AF payment)	N/A

From now till 30 November 2023, applicants for the DBS Altitude Card can earn up to 25,600 bonus miles, depending on which version of the card they apply for, and whether they’re a new or existing DBS/POSB customer.

On top of this, an additional 10,000 miles will be awarded if they choose to pay the first year’s S$194.40 annual fee.

To enjoy these bonuses, customers must enter a certain promo code at the point of application (see below for details). Make sure to do this; no code, no bonus!

There’s nothing stopping you from signing up for both the Altitude AMEX and Altitude Visa cards. However, you will only enjoy the new-to-bank bonus on the first card that’s approved, and therefore you should apply for the Visa fist, then the AMEX, should you go down this route.

DBS Altitude AMEX sign-up offer

New-to-bank customers

DBS Altitude AMEX Apply
Promo Code	ALTMEX	ALTMEXW
Bonus Miles	25,600	25,600
Base Miles From S$2,000 Spend (@ 1.3 mpd)	2,600	2,600
Miles From S$194.40 Annual Fee	10,000	Fee waived
Total Miles	38,200	28,200

New-to-bank customers who apply for a DBS Altitude AMEX by 30 November 2023 (with approval by 14 December 2023) and spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval will receive 25,600 bonus miles, on top of 2,600 base miles (assuming the entire S$2,000 is spent locally at 1.3 mpd).

If they pay the S$194.40 annual fee, they’ll receive an additional 10,000 miles. 

Customers who wish to pay the annual fee can apply with the promo code ALTMEX, while those who want a first year fee waiver can apply with the promo code ALTMEXW.

The T&Cs of this offer can be found here.

Existing customers

DBS Altitude AMEX Apply
Promo Code	ALTMEXA	ALTMEXAW
Bonus Miles	11,600	11,600
Base Miles From S$2,000 Spend (@1.3 mpd)	2,600	2,600
Miles From S$194.40 Annual Fee	10,000	Fee waived
Total Miles	24,200	14,200

Existing customers who apply for a DBS Altitude AMEX by 30 November 2023 (with approval by 14 December 2023) and spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval will receive 11,600 bonus miles, on top of the 2,600 base miles (assuming the entire S$2,000 is spent locally at 1.3 mpd). 

If they pay the S$194.40 annual fee, they’ll receive an additional 10,000 miles. 

Customers who wish to pay the annual fee can apply with the promo code ALTMEXA, while those who want a first year fee waiver can apply with the promo code ALTMEXAW.

The T&Cs for this offer can be found here. 

DBS Altitude Visa sign-up offer

New-to-bank customers

DBS Altitude Visa Apply
Promo Code	ALTVIS	ALTVISW
Bonus Miles	22,600	22,600
Base Miles From S$2,000 Spend (@ 1.3 mpd)	2,600	2,600
Miles From S$194.40 Annual Fee	10,000	Fee waived
Total Miles	35,200	25,200

New-to-bank customers who apply for a DBS Altitude Visa by 30 November 2023 (with approval by 14 December 2023) and spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval will receive 15,000 bonus miles, on top of the 2,600 base miles (assuming the entire S$2,000 is spent locally at 1.3 mpd). 

If they pay the S$194.40 annual fee, they’ll receive an additional 10,000 miles.

Customers who wish to pay the annual fee can apply with the promo code ALTVIS, while those who want a first year fee waiver can apply with the promo code ALTVISW.

The T&Cs of this offer can be found here. 

Existing customers

There is no offer for existing DBS customers who sign up for a DBS Altitude Visa card. 

What counts as qualifying spend?

Cardholders are required to spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval.

Qualifying spend consists of local and foreign retail sales and recurring bill payments, excluding the following:

DBS has confirmed with me that CardUp transactions will only count towards the minimum spend for sign-up bonuses if they are made in respect of rental payments. That said, all CardUp transactions, regardless of type, are still eligible for base miles with DBS cards (i.e. 1.3 mpd).

When will the bonus miles be credited?

Miles from the payment of the S$194.40 annual fee will be credited once the annual fee is charged.

Bonus miles will be credited within 90-120 days from the date of card approval, assuming the minimum spend requirement has been met.

To illustrate, a cardholder who gets approved on 1 August 2023 and pays the S$194.40 annual fee for 10,000 extra miles:

• Will receive 10,000 miles when the annual fee posts in the first statement month
• Must meet the S$2,000 min. spend by 31 August 2023
• Will receive bonus miles by 29 November 2023

Is it worth it?

A bonus of 25,600 miles for new customers and 11,600 miles for existing customers is solid, especially since the latter are normally left out by banks.

However, you’ll need to factor in the opportunity cost of spending on a general spending card. Assuming you clock the S$2,000 minimum spend on local transactions @ 1.3 mpd, your opportunity cost (compared to spending on a 4 mpd card) will be 5,400 miles (S$2,000 x (4-1.3)).

To minimise the opportunity cost, you might want to get the card approved in August and hit your sign-up bonus with online hotel or flight bookings, taking advantage of the 3 mpd bonus rate before it disappears forever in September.

What can you do with DBS Points? 

DBS Points earned on the DBS Altitude do not expire, and 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 also offers automatic conversions to KrisFlyer for a 12-month period with a S$43.20 annual fee.

In my opinion, it’s only worth transferring miles to KrisFlyer or Asia Miles. AirAsia BIG is more of a rebates program than a traditional frequent flyer scheme, and Qantas Frequent Flyer doesn’t have any real sweet spots for Singapore-based travellers (unless maybe you want to book a round-the-world trip, or domestic flights within Australia).

Overview: DBS Altitude Card

Apply (AMEX)
Apply (Visa)
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	No Expiry
Annual Fee	S$194.40 (First Year Free)	Min. Transfer	5,000 DBS Points (10,000 miles)
Miles with Annual Fee	10,000	Transfer Partners	SIA Air Asia Cathay Pacific Qantas
FCY Fee	3% (AMEX) 3.25% (Visa)	Transfer Fee	S$27
Local Earn	1.3 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.2 mpd	Lounge Access?	Yes  (Visa)
Special Earn	3 mpd on online flight and hotels*, 6 mpd on Expedia, 10 mpd on Kaligo	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions
*Ends 31 August 2023

The DBS Altitude Card has an income requirement of S$30,000 and an annual fee of S$194.40, which can be waived in the first year (or paid to earn an extra 10,000 miles). 

Cardholders earn:

• 1.3 mpd on SGD spend
• 2.2 mpd on foreign currency spend
• 3 mpd on online flight and hotel bookings (capped at S$5,000 per calendar month, valid till 31 August 2023)

DBS Altitude Visa Cardholders enjoy a Priority Pass membership with two complimentary lounge visits. 

For a full review of the DBS Altitude Card, refer to the article below.

Review: DBS Altitude Card

Conclusion

DBS has launched a new sign-up offer for the Altitude Card, with up to 25,600 bonus miles available to customers who apply by 30 November 2023 and spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval. They can also opt to pay the S$194.40 annual fee for an extra 10,000 bonus miles, though I’m relatively more lukewarm about that.

What’s nice is that there’s an offer for existing customers too of 11,600 bonus miles, when most banks typically don’t offer this group anything.

If you plan to sign-up for the card, do take advantage of its soon-to-be-neutered best feature: 3 mpd on up to S$5,000 of online hotel and airline bookings, valid till 31 August 2023.