DBS has launched a new promotion called “Elevate Your Escape”, which allows DBS Altitude and DBS Vantage Cardholders to purchase additional miles at a rate of 1.83 to 1.9 cents each.
While this isn’t the worst price we’ve ever seen a bank sell miles at — OCBC usually sells them in excess of 2 cents each — there are much cheaper ways of earning miles through bill payment platforms like CardUp and Citi PayAll.
DBS Points sale for Altitude and Vantage cardholders
 |
| Details |
From 1 August to 30 September 2025, DBS Altitude (both AMEX and Visa) and DBS Vantage Cardholders can purchase additional DBS Points at the following rates.
| DBS Points (Miles) |
Cost | CPM | |
| Tier 1 | 75,000 DBS Points (150,000 miles) |
S$2,850 | 1.9¢ |
| Tier 2 | 150,000 DBS Points (300,000 miles) |
S$5,500 | 1.83¢ |
Here are the key details to note:
- This promotion is only open to principal cardholders
- Registration is required, and can be done via the DBS PayLah! app
- Each tier is capped at 2,000 registrations
- You can register for both Tiers 1 and 2 if you wish
- Each customer may only register once per tier, regardless of how many cards they hold. In other words, the maximum DBS Points you can purchase under this promotion is 225,000 (450,000 miles)
DBS’s original stance was that customers could not withdraw from the promotion once registered, but they are now allowing withdrawals due to the Accor Plus goof-up (see below).
| ⚠️ Accor Plus membership not included! |
|
When this promotion first went live on DBS PayLah!, an Accor Plus Explorer membership was mentioned as one of the perks. Unfortunately, DBS has confirmed this was a mistake, and the line regarding the membership has since been removed. Customers who wish to cancel their registration should contact the DBS customer service hotline before 30 September 2025 to do so. More details can be found here. |
The T&Cs for this promotion can be found here, and FAQs here.
When will DBS Points be credited?
Registered customers will be charged the admin fee within 60 days from the end of the promotion period (i.e. by 29 November 2025), with DBS Points credited within the same time period.
The fee will reflect as “DBS Points Subscription Admin Fee” in the credit card statement.
If you hold both a DBS Altitude Card and a DBS Vantage Card, the DBS Points will be credited to the Vantage Card. This isn’t ideal, mind you, because DBS Points on the Vantage Card expire after three years, while DBS Points on the Altitude Card never expire. But if you’re buying miles under this promotion, you’d be well-advised to burn them as soon as possible, as a KrisFlyer devaluation is all but certain to take place this year.
What can you do with DBS Points?
DBS Points can be converted to the following frequent flyer programmes, with an admin fee of S$27.25 per conversion.
| Frequent Flyer Programme | Conversion Ratio (DBS Points : Miles) |
 |
5,000 : 10,000 |
 |
5,000 : 10,000 |
 |
5,000 : 10,000 |
 |
500 : 1,500 |
However, KrisFlyer and Asia Miles will be the only realistic options for someone based in Singapore.
Is it worth it?
Not particularly, if you ask me.
The asking price of 1.83 to 1.9 cents per mile is definitely on the high side, given how you can easily generate miles for much less through bill payment platforms like CardUp and Citi PayAll.
| Platform | Cost Per Mile |
 |
From 0.95 cents |
 |
From 1.07 cents |
 |
1.44 to 1.63 cents |
For example, a DBS Vantage Cardholder paying rent with CardUp could buy miles at 1.17 cents each (with the code SAVERENT179), and a DBS Altitude Cardholder making recurring payments with CardUp could buy miles at 1.4 cents each (with the code REC185).
Likewise, Citi PayAll’s current income tax season promotion offers Citi ULTIMA, Prestige, PremierMiles and Rewards Cardholders the opportunity to buy miles from 1.44 to 1.63 cents each, and if you have a StanChart Beyond Card, SC EasyBill offers miles from just 0.95 cents.
That said, all these platforms require you to have an actual bill to pay (you can’t just pay money to yourself). And if you’re the sort who doesn’t mind paying out of pocket for commercial First or Business Class tickets, the convenience of this option might be alluring (though true whales may prefer the UOB Reserve Card, which can buy unlimited miles at 1.7 cents each via the UOB Payment Facility).
Conclusion
DBS Altitude and Vantage Cardholders can now purchase up to 450,000 miles at 1.83 to 1.9 cents each by opting in on the DBS PayLah! platform. That said, it’s possible to generate miles for much less through bill payment platforms like Citi PayAll and CardUp, and you should definitely look at those options first.
The main advantage this promotion offers is convenience, but I don’t think convenience is worth that sort of premium!
Other goof up is that when the promotions first went up, the deadline for registration was indicated as 30 June 2025 instead of 30 Sep 2025.
Thank you, you always manage to summarise complex topics into a short and sweet article 🙂
I was waiting for Milelion’s article since i saw this promotion. Thanks for the analysis.
If one required a lot of miles soon for use, is this the best way to acquire them? Noted on other earning paths, however they require bills to pay for earning miles.
I believe I was erroneously signed up for this promotion by DBS and they charged me a $5,500 admin fee on 13/11/2025 for the DBS Points conversion for this “DBS Elevate Your Escape promo”. Anyone else faced this problem? I called in to customer service already. They say they are investigating but may only be able to reverse the said charge 12 days later. Wah…. DBS goof up???
I had the same issue. Still waiting for them to call me back as I did not sign up for these. I was charged both $5,500 and $2,850!
I got charged for both too. What a shocker!
looks like i am not alone. was shocked to see a charge of 2850 this month. i don’t see any trace of enrolling for that promo in paylah. Trying to call their contact center 🙁
Called the customer care – they raised a request to reverse the charge and said this will be done by 25th. But they did ask if I would like to get points instead (they wouldn’t unless they are instructed to ask) . Looks like a well orchestrated scheme by DBS
this charge was reversed today
Got the same charges even though I did not sign up either. I even thought I had been scammed and went to block my card
Same here, got charged unknowingly for $5500 and $2850, this is bizarre. Wasn’t expecting this kind of things from DBS.