DBS Vantage Card cuts welcome offer to 60,000 miles

Back in Feburary 2024, the DBS Vantage launched its best-ever welcome offer of up to 85,000 bonus miles, even more than the 80,000 bonus miles offered at launch in 2022, and with a lower minimum spend to boot. 

Unfortunately, that deal has now lapsed, and the replacement, which runs till 31 January 2025, maxes out at a more sedate 60,000 bonus miles. Hopefully you took advantage of the previous offer, because barring a flash deal of some sort, this is as good as it gets for the next few months.

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DBS Vantage 60,000 miles welcome offer

DBS Vantage Card

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Customers who apply for a DBS Vantage Card from 1 October 2024 to 31 January 2025 (with approval by 14 February 2025), pay the first year’s S$599.50 annual fee and spend S$4,000 within 30 days of approval will receive the following:

New to DBS cardholders will receive 60,000 miles, while existing DBS cardholders will receive 40,000 miles.

This bonus is on top of whatever base miles you normally earn with the DBS Vantage, so you can expect at least 66,000 miles (new) or 46,000 miles (existing) in total, based on S$4,000 spent locally at 1.5 mpd.

Do remember that the “real” bonus is 35,000/15,000 miles for new/existing customers, since cardholders receive 25,000 miles for paying the annual fee every year anyway. 

Unlike previous welcome offers for this card, no promo code is required when you apply. 

What counts as qualifying spend?

Cardholders are required to spend at least S$4,000 within 30 days of approval.

Qualifying spend includes both local and foreign retail sales and posted recurring bill payments, excluding the transactions mentioned in point 10 of the T&Cs. 

CardUp rental transactions which code under MCC 6513 (Real Estate Agents and Managers) will count towards qualifying spend. However, all other CardUp transactions will not count towards qualifying spend, even though they will earn base miles.

Refer to the article below for more information.

Clarified: Using CardUp rental for DBS welcome offers

ipaymy transactions are explicitly excluded from counting towards qualifying spend.

For the avoidance of doubt, supplementary and principal cardholder spending will pool when calculating whether the minimum qualifying spend has been met.

When will the miles be credited?

The 25,000 miles for paying the S$599.50 annual fee will be awarded immediately (in the form of 12,500 DBS points) when the annual fee is charged.

The bonus of 35,000 miles (new) or 15,000 miles (existing) will be credited within 90-120 days from the date of fulfilling the qualifying spend (in the form of 17,500/7,500 DBS points). 

Terms & Conditions

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

Is this a good deal?

Certainly not as good as the one we just saw! The previous offer, which ended on 30 September 2024, offered up to 85,000 miles for new-to-bank customers, with the same minimum spend.

However, if you’re an existing customer, the offer is basically the same as before at 40,000 miles.

The cost per mile, given the S$599.50 annual fee:

• New-to-bank customer: 1 cent per mile
• Existing customer: 1.50 cents per mile

Of course, this doesn’t take into account the value of the rest of the DBS Vantage Card’s perks, such as an Accor Plus membership and 10 complimentary lounge visits per year.

What can you do with DBS Points? 

DBS Points earned on the DBS Vantage Card expire after three years, and can be converted to any of the following frequent flyer programmes with a S$27.25 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

Transfer to KrisFlyer and Asia Miles are typically processed within three working days.

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 Vantage Card

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Income Req.	S$120,000 p.a.	Points Validity	3 years
Annual Fee	S$599.50	Min. Transfer	5,000 DBS Points (10,000 miles)
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	S$27.25
Local Earn	1.5 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.2 mpd	Lounge Access?	Yes: 10x Priority Pass
Special Earn	N/A	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

The DBS Vantage Card offers 1.5 mpd on local spend and 2.2 mpd on FCY spend.

Cardholders enjoy benefits such as:

• A Priority Pass membership with 10 free lounge visits per year (which can be used by the main cardholder or his/her guests)
• Accor Plus Explorer membership with up to 50% off dining and one complimentary hotel night at selected Asia Pacific hotels

While the card’s annual fee cannot be waived in the first year, it will be waived subsequently when you spend at least S$60,000 in a membership year. Should the fee be waived, you will not receive the 25,000 miles, though you will receive the rest of the benefits like the Accor Plus Explorer membership and lounge passes. 

You can read my full review of the DBS Vantage Card below. 

Review: DBS Vantage Card

Conclusion

After several months of running its best-ever welcome offer of up to 85,000 bonus miles, the DBS Vantage Card has scaled it back somewhat, with up to 60,000 bonus miles on offer till 31 January 2025.

If you’re an existing DBS customer, however, you’ll be indifferent because your offer continues to hold steady at 40,000 miles. 

I personally think the DBS Vantage Card does not perform as well as some of its competitors in the $120K segment, but the welcome offer goes a long way towards making the first-year value proposition worthwhile. In that sense, it might be better to wait for another flash deal to come along, which hopefully won’t take too long.