Review: DBS Vantage Card

In June 2022, DBS finally decided to join the $120K party with the DBS Vantage Card, its metal offering for the mass affluent segment. 

At launch, it offered a beefy 80,000 miles sign-up offer, plus 4 mpd on dining and petrol. Together with perks like an Accor Plus Explorer membership and 10 lounge visits, it was a very compelling offer for the first year.

But the honeymoon’s now over. The 4 mpd bonuses are no more, and while DBS has periodically brought back its 80,000 miles sign-up offer (with a reduced minimum spend), that’s a first-year-only perk. With the $120K segment more competitive than ever, is there a case to be made for renewal?

DBS Vantage Card
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☐ Take It ☑ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It
Wit no more bonuses on petrol and dining, the DBS Vantage Card is a more marginal proposition. The math can still work, but you’ll need to work harder.
👍 The good	👎 The bad
Highest earn rates of any $120K card (with no min. spend) Complimentary Accor Plus membership with one free hotel night DBS has cut the minimum spend required for the sign-up bonus	Points expire after 3 years DiningCity discounts are weak Free lounge visits capped at 10 No airport limo or complimentary travel insurance
Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: DBS Vantage Card

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

Apply
Income Req.	S$120,000 p.a.	Points Validity	3 years
Annual Fee	S$594	Min. Transfer	5,000 DBS Points (10,000 miles)
Miles with Annual Fee	25,000	Transfer Partners	SIA Cathay Pacific Qantas Air Asia
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	S$27
Local Earn	1.5 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.2 mpd	Lounge Access?	Yes: 10x Priority Pass
Special Earn	6 mpd on Expedia	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

The DBS Vantage comes in metal cardstock, and weighs in at 10g. That makes it one of the lighter metal cards on the market, if that sort of thing is important to you.

The card is Paywave-equipped, and can also be added to Apple, Google or Samsung Pay. 

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

The DBS Vantage Card has a S$120,000 p.a. income requirement, and for the moment, it looks like DBS is applying this very strictly. 

How strict? For starters, you won’t even be able to see the DBS Vantage Card on the DBS/POSB ibanking card application portal if your income records with DBS reflect earnings of less than S$120,000. In fact, this caused a lot of confusion during the launch week, so much so that DBS set up a dedicated landing page to address it. 

You will need to update your income records with DBS before you can apply for the DBS Vantage Card. DBS/POSB customers can visit this link to update their income, which will take five working days to process. 

Therefore, if you haven’t hit the magic S$120,000 figure yet, I wouldn’t be too optimistic about getting approved. 

Sign-up Bonus

New DBS Vantage Cardholders who apply by 30 June 2023, spend S$4,000 within 30 days of approval and pay the first year’s S$594 annual fee will receive the following:

This bonus is on top of whatever base miles you normally earn with the DBS Vantage, so you’re looking at at least 66,000 miles in total (S$4,000 @ 1.5 mpd). 

You must enter the promo code VANMILES when applying. The promo code field can be found towards the bottom of the application page, under the “DBS Marketing & Promotions Materials” section. 

The 25,000 miles for paying the S$594 annual fee will be awarded immediately (in the form of 12,500 DBS points) when the annual fee is charged.

The 35,000 miles for the sign-up bonus will be credited within 90-120 days from the date of fulfilling the qualifying spend (in the form of 17,500 DBS points). 

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

The DBS Vantage Card has an annual fee of S$594 for the principal cardholder, and no fee for supplementary cards. 

The first year’s fee must be paid. Subsequent years’ fees can be waived if cardholders spend at least S$60,000 per membership year. 

Paying the annual fee gets you 25,000 miles in return, which means buying miles at ~2.35 cents each. While that sounds much higher than what a mile should be worth, you need to factor in the other card benefits too.

How many miles do I earn?

SGD/FCY Spending

DBS Vantage Card cardholders earn 3.75 DBS Points for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars, and 5.5 DBS Points for every S$5 spent in foreign currency(FCY).

1 DBS point is worth 2 miles, so that’s an equivalent earn rate of 1.5 mpd for local spending, and 2.2 mpd for FCY spending.

This makes the DBS Vantage among the highest-earning cards in the $120K segment; the highest, if you consider the fact it has no minimum spend requirement. 

Card	SGD	FCY
SCB VI	Up to 1.4 mpd*	Up to 3 mpd*
DBS Vantage	1.5 mpd	2.2 mpd
OCBC VOYAGE	1.3 mpd	2.2 mpd
HSBC VI	Up to 1.25 mpd^	Up to 2.25 mpd^
UOB VI Metal Card	1.4 mpd	2 mpd
Citi Prestige	1.3 mpd	2 mpd
Maybank VI	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
AMEX Plat. Reserve	0.69 mpd	0.69 mpd
*Min. S$2,000 spend per statement month, otherwise 1 mpd for both SGD and FCY ^Min S$50,000 spend in the previous membership year, otherwise 1 mpd (SGD) and 2 mpd (FCY)

All foreign currency transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee, so using your DBS Vantage Card overseas represents buying miles at 1.48 cents each (3.25%/2.2 mpd).

The DBS Vantage allows cardholders to switch between earning DBS Points or cashback, but I’m ignoring the latter because it values your miles at an awful 1 cent each. Seriously, there’s no need to ever dabble in that. 

Expedia

DBS x Expedia

From 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, DBS Vantage Cardholders will earn 6 mpd on the first S$5,000 per calendar month spent on participating flights or hotel bookings via Expedia.

This is broken down into:

• The usual 1.5 mpd for local spending
• A bonus 4.5 mpd for Expedia transactions

1.5 mpd will be credited initially, with the 4.5 mpd bonus component credited within 45 days after the end of each spend period, defined as: 

• 1 October to 31 December 2022
• 1 January to 31 March 2023

Bookings must be made through a dedicated Expedia microsite, and here’s where comparison shopping is essential- these landing pages sometimes result in higher prices than searching through public channels, so make sure you aren’t paying over the odds. 

Eligible hotel bookings are those where customers make payment to Expedia at the time of booking (i.e. not applicable you choose to pay later at the hotel). 

Eligible airline bookings are those made with the following carriers.

Singapore Airlines is a notable absentee, but Korean Air, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines could prove useful, depending on where you’re going. 

Bonus miles will be awarded within 45 days after the end of each spend period, defined as:

• 1 October to 31 December 2022
• 1 January to 31 March 2023

When are DBS Points credited?

DBS Points will be credited when your transaction posts, which generally takes 1-3 working days. 

How are DBS Points calculated?

Some people get concerned when they read in the T&Cs that DBS Points are awarded in S$5 blocks. That’s understandable, given how OCBC and UOB’s S$5 earning blocks result in lost miles from rounding, especially for small transactions (spend S$4.99? No points for you!). 

The good news is that DBS’s calculations aren’t nearly as punitive. Here’s how you can work out the DBS Points earned on your DBS Vantage Card.

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:

• S$1.34, if spending in SGD
• S$0.91, if spending in FCY

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

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

• General Spending Cards
• Specialised Spending Cards

What transactions aren’t eligible for DBS Points?

A full list of transactions that do not earn DBS Points can be found in the T&C.

I’ve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:

• Amaze transactions
• Charitable donations
• Education
• Government institutions and services (court cases, fines, bail and bonds, tax payment, postal services, parking lots and garages)
• Hospitals 
• Insurance
• Top-ups of prepaid accounts e.g. GrabPay and YouTrip
• Utilities bills

For avoidance of doubt, CardUp and RentHero transactions are eligible to earn DBS Points. 

What do I need to know about DBS Points?

Expiry

DBS Points expiry can be a confusing matter, because different cards apply different policies. DBS Points earned on the DBS Vantage Card expire in 3 years. 

This is rather disappointing, since DBS Points earned on the entry-level DBS Altitude Card never expire. All the same, I personally don’t consider non-expiring points to be that big a factor in deciding whether or not I get a card. 

Pooling

DBS Points pool across cards for the purposes of redemption. If you have 10,000 DBS Points on the DBS Vantage 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 Vantage Card and DBS Woman’s World Card and decide to cancel the former, I’ll need to transfer my points out before cancelling or forfeit them. 

Partners and Transfer Fee

DBS partners with the following frequent flyer programmes, and a minimum conversion block of 5,000 points is required (let’s ignore AirAsia, because converting points there is like throwing them away):

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

Transfers cost S$27 per programme, regardless of how many points are transferred.

Do note that the DBS Vantage, surprisingly, is not eligible for DBS’s “auto conversion programme” (I initially thought it was an oversight, but DBS’s comms team has told me that’s how it should be). 

The auto conversion programme, for the uninitiated, charges a flat fee of S$43.20 per membership year, and automatically converts DBS Points to KrisFlyer miles each calendar quarter in blocks of 500 points. It is currently available to DBS Insignia, DBS Black Treasures Elite, and DBS Altitude cardholders. 

Transfer Times

DBS tells customers to expect points to be credited in 1-2 weeks, but in reality it usually takes about 1-3 working days at the very most (at least for KrisFlyer, transfer times to other programmes can be longer)

If you need your points credited instantly, you can do so via Kris+. 100 DBS Points can be transferred to 170 KrisPay miles, which can then be transferred to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio. 

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

Transfers are immediate, but 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). 

Other card perks

10 free lounge visits

Registration

DBS Vantage Card cardholders are entitled to 10 free lounge visits per membership year, via Priority Pass. These lounge visits can be shared with guests; for example, the cardholder could bring his wife and two children and use four visits at one go. 

Only the principal cardholder is entitled to this benefit. Once free visits are exhausted, you’ll be charged US$32 per additional visit. 

10 passes may be more than sufficient for the casual traveller who doesn’t have kids, but everyone else may want to consider a $120K card that has unlimited lounge access.

Card	Lounge Network	Free Visits (Per Year)
		Main	Supp.
HSBC VI	LoungeKey	∞	∞
Citi Prestige	Priority Pass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
OCBC VOYAGE	Plaza Premium	∞	∞
Maybank VI	Priority Pass	∞	N/A
DBS Vantage	Priority Pass	10	N/A
SCB VI	Priority Pass	6	N/A
UOB VI Metal Card	Dragon Pass	4	N/A
AMEX Plat. Reserve	N/A	N/A	N/A

Accor Plus

Registration

DBS Vantage Card cardholders receive a complimentary Accor Plus Explorer membership with one complimentary hotel night each year. This membership will be automatically renewed each year you retain the card.

This normally retails for S$418, and includes benefits such as:

• Up to 50% off dining at participating Accor hotels across Asia Pacific
• 15% off drinks bill in Asia
• 10% off the best available public rate
• Access to Red Hot Room sales with up to 50% off
• Accor Live Limitless Silver status

The full list of benefits can be found below.

The free hotel night can be redeemed at participating Accor properties across the Asia Pacific region, including the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa, Mondarin Seoul Itaewon, and Sofitel Darling Harbour Sydney. Sadly, Raffles Hotel is excluded!

DiningCity

DiningCity

DBS Vantage cardholders can enjoy “members-only discounts at over 80 of Singapore’s finest dining establishments”, through a partnership with DiningCity.

Discounts range from 15-50% off, though most of them are around the 15% mark. What’s more, the two restaurants which offering 50% off (Cali at Ascott Raffles Place and Park Avenue Rochester) can also be booked at 50% off through eatigo- no expensive credit card required.

Summary Review: DBS Vantage Card

Apply

The DBS Vantage Card offers the highest earn rate of any $120K card (assuming we’re looking at it from a no minimum spend perspective; otherwise that title goes to the SCB Visa Infinite), and its 60,000 miles sign-up bonus is particularly attractive for new-to-bank customers. 

The 25,000 renewal miles and an Accor Plus Explorer membership with up to 50% off dining and one free hotel night can help recoup a good chunk of the S$594 annual fee too, provided you redeem that night judiciously- no ibis hotels, please.

Key misses are the lack of airport limo transfers, complimentary travel insurance, or unlimited lounge access. DiningCity discounts also look underwhelming, and certainly not a competitor to AMEX Love Dining. And it’s annoying that DBS couldn’t give evergreen points on this card, although truth be told, you should be clearing out your points every three years to avoid the inevitable devaluations. 

I just feel it lacks that extra bit of oomph that would give it the leg up over competitors like the Citi Prestige or OCBC VOYAGE. 

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