The DBS Vantage Visa Infinite is a premium miles card with a S$599.50 annual fee that, from 1 August 2026, you can no longer waive by spending. In exchange you get 25,000 bonus miles when the fee is charged, 1.5 miles per dollar on local spend, 2.2 miles per dollar overseas, 10 airport lounge visits a year through Priority Pass, and two complimentary hotel nights via Accor Plus. Whether that is worth it comes down to one number: the bonus miles plus the perks you will actually use, minus the S$599.50, divided by how much you spend. For most people the answer is no, because the local earn rate is below what cheaper cards pay. It makes sense for a narrow group: someone earning at least S$120,000 who flies a few times a year, will use the lounge passes and at least one hotel night, and values the flexibility of switching between miles and cashback.
The Vantage is a lifestyle-led miles card, not an earn-rate champion. Its 1.5 miles per dollar on local spend is lower than the 1.6 to 2.0 miles per dollar that several cheaper general-spend cards offer, and its S$599.50 fee can no longer be waived through spending from August 2026. The card earns its keep through perks: 25,000 miles credited when the fee is charged, 10 Priority Pass lounge visits a year, two Accor hotel nights, and the ability to flip your reward between miles and cashback. If you will genuinely use most of those perks every year, the fee is defensible. If you are buying it for the earn rate, you are overpaying.
The income bar alone filters out most people. You need at least S$120,000 in annual income to even see the card on the DBS application portal, so this is squarely a card for higher earners who travel.
Here are the current, confirmed numbers. The fee figure is the one that changed most recently and the one that decides everything else.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (principal) | S$599.50 incl. GST |
| Annual fee waiver | S$60,000 spend waiver ceases from 1 Aug 2026; fee then non-waivable |
| Supplementary card fee | Free |
| Bonus miles on fee payment | 25,000 miles (12,500 DBS Points) when the fee is charged on approval |
| Local earn rate | 1.5 miles per S$1 (0.75 DBS Points per S$1, i.e. 3.75 DBS Points per S$5) |
| Overseas / foreign-currency earn rate | 2.2 miles per S$1 |
| Minimum annual income | S$120,000 (age 21+) |
| Airport lounge access | 10 Priority Pass visits per membership year |
| Hotel benefit | 2 Accor Plus Stay Plus certificates per year |
| Points-to-miles conversion | 1 DBS Point = 2 miles; S$27.25 transfer fee per conversion |
| Foreign transaction fee | 3.25% |
Until now, the Vantage waived its S$599.50 fee automatically if you charged at least S$60,000 of retail spend in the preceding card year. That escape hatch is closing. From 1 August 2026, DBS is removing the spend-based waiver, so the fee becomes a fixed yearly cost you pay regardless of how much you put on the card.
This reframes the whole card. Previously a heavy spender could treat the Vantage as a free premium card and pocket all the perks. Now the question every year is blunt: are the perks and bonus miles worth S$599.50 in cash? If you cannot answer yes, cancel before the fee posts.
One thing the waiver removal does not change is the 25,000 bonus miles. Those are credited as 12,500 DBS Points when the annual fee is charged on approval, and again each subsequent year when the renewal fee is charged. So you are not paying S$599.50 for nothing; you are buying 25,000 miles plus the perks. The real comparison is what those 25,000 miles are worth to you versus the cash.
On day-to-day local spend the Vantage pays 1.5 miles per dollar, which works out to 0.75 DBS Points per S$1 (3.75 DBS Points per S$5) converted at 1 point to 2 miles. That is a below-average rate for a premium card. Several general-spend miles cards in Singapore pay 1.6 to 2.0 miles per dollar on local spend, and some category cards pay far more on dining or online. If your goal is to bank the most miles per dollar, the Vantage loses on the core metric.
Overseas and foreign-currency spend earns a better 2.2 miles per dollar, which is competitive. But that comes with the standard 3.25% foreign transaction fee, the same as most DBS cards. A multi-currency setup such as a YouTrip or multi-currency account can sidestep the FX fee on the conversion, though you would then lose the card miles on that spend. For overseas spend the trade-off is roughly: 2.2 miles per dollar minus a 3.25% currency cost, versus a near-zero FX cost with no card miles. Run it on your own travel budget rather than assuming the card always wins abroad.
Where the Vantage flexes is choice. You can switch your reward between miles and cashback depending on what you need that year. That flexibility has real value if your plans change, but it does not fix the underlying earn rate. A flexible 1.5 miles per dollar is still 1.5 miles per dollar.
If you want to understand how miles actually translate into value, the maths is the same as any compounding decision: small per-dollar differences add up over a year of spend. Our effective rate thinking applies to rewards too, where the headline number rarely equals what you net after fees and conversion costs.
DBS does not award miles on every cent. Each transaction is rounded down to the nearest dollar, divided into S$5 blocks, and only whole DBS Points are paid per block. A S$5 local spend earns 6 miles cleanly, but a S$9.99 spend rounds to S$9, which is one full S$5 block plus a part block that pays nothing, so you still only bank 6 miles. The published 1.5 miles per dollar is a ceiling you hit only on neat multiples of five; small and odd-sized purchases earn less.
This is why coffee runs, the odd S$3 transit top-up and a S$4 lunch quietly earn zero miles. If you want the headline rate, push spend onto the card in larger, rounder amounts rather than dozens of small swipes. It is a minor effect on big-ticket spend and a real one if your spending is many small transactions.
Several common categories earn no miles at all on the Vantage, the same as most Singapore cards. Insurance premiums, education, government and tax payments, hospital and medical bills, utilities, charity donations, and stored-value or wallet top-ups are excluded. Before you route a big payment through the card for miles, check whether it falls into a non-earning bucket; our guide to how merchant category codes decide your rewards explains why two similar-looking merchants can earn very differently.
The Vantage earns DBS Points, not airline miles directly. You convert them yourself, and the rules matter. One DBS Point converts to 2 miles, and you can only transfer in blocks of 5,000 DBS Points, which is 10,000 miles at a time. Each conversion carries a flat S$27.25 fee, so transferring little and often is expensive; batch your points and convert once.
DBS lets you send points to more than one frequent-flyer programme. KrisFlyer is the usual choice for Singapore flyers and credits within a few working days. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Qantas Frequent Flyer and AirAsia rewards are also supported, though non-KrisFlyer transfers can take longer to land, so do not convert against a tight booking deadline. If your aim is KrisFlyer redemptions, our walkthrough on redeeming KrisFlyer miles for SIA award flights covers getting real value out of them.
Timing is the trap. DBS Points expire 3 years after they are earned, and once converted, KrisFlyer miles run their own separate 3-year clock. Converting too early starts that second timer for nothing; converting too late risks losing the points outright. The sensible pattern is to bank points until you have a redemption in mind, then transfer in one block.
Forget the marketing and value each perk in cash terms, then add them up against the S$599.50 fee. This is the only test that matters.
Start with the 25,000 bonus miles. Miles are worth what you redeem them for. Redeem them for economy short-haul and they might be worth around 1 to 1.5 cents each, so 25,000 miles is roughly S$250 to S$375. Redeem them for premium-cabin long-haul, where miles stretch furthest, and the same 25,000 can be worth more. Be conservative and call the bonus worth S$300 to most people.
Next, the 10 Priority Pass lounge visits. A single paid lounge entry at Changi or abroad runs around S$50 to S$70. If you actually take a few flights a year and use even four of these visits, that is roughly S$200 to S$280 of value. Use all 10 and the lounge benefit alone can exceed the fee, but few cardholders fly often enough to use all of them.
Then the two Accor Plus Stay Plus certificates. Each gives a complimentary hotel night, but the 2026 terms require a minimum two-night booking with at least one night paid, so the free night only triggers if you are already booking a paid stay. Used on a mid-tier hotel a free night might save S$150 to S$300, but only if you would have made that paid booking anyway. If you would not, the certificate is worth nothing to you.
Add a realistic case: S$300 in bonus miles, S$200 in lounge visits you would actually use, and one hotel night worth S$200 that you would have booked regardless. That is S$700 of value against a S$599.50 fee, so the card clears the bar with about S$100 to spare, before counting any miles you earn on spend. Now strip out the perks you will not use, which most people should, and the picture flips negative fast. The card is worth it only if you tick most of these boxes for real.
This card fits a specific profile, and most people do not match it. Be honest about which group you are in.
You earn S$120,000 or more, fly at least two or three times a year, and will use the lounge passes and at least one hotel night each year. You value being able to switch between miles and cashback, and you redeem miles well rather than letting them expire at the three-year mark. For this traveller, the bundled perks plus bonus miles can outrun the fee.
You rarely fly, you spend mostly locally, or you are chasing the highest miles-per-dollar rate. A cheaper general-spend miles card earning 1.6 to 2.0 miles per dollar with a waivable fee will beat the Vantage on pure earning, and a strong cashback card will beat both if you do not travel. If you would not use the lounge or hotel perks, you are paying S$599.50 a year for a below-average earn rate, which makes no sense.
Compare against the alternatives properly. Our roundup of how to pick a credit card by your spending and the best rewards cards guide both run the framework for matching a card to how you actually spend.
Within DBS, the Vantage sits at the premium end. The DBS Altitude is the bank's mainstream miles card with a much lower fee that is waivable, a similar local earn rate, and no income bar near S$120,000. The Altitude makes more sense for most people who simply want to bank miles on everyday spend without paying for lounge and hotel perks.
The trade is clear. The Altitude gives you a lower fee and an easier waiver; the Vantage gives you the lounge access, hotel nights and higher overseas rate, in exchange for a six-figure income requirement and a fee you can no longer dodge. If the perks do not move you, the cheaper card is the better card.
Across banks, the same logic holds. A premium card is only worth its premium fee if you consume the premium benefits. Otherwise a mid-tier card on a waivable fee earns nearly the same miles for free.
| Feature | DBS Vantage | Mainstream DBS miles card |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | S$599.50, non-waivable from Aug 2026 | Lower, typically waivable |
| Local earn rate | 1.5 miles per S$1 | Around 1.3 to 1.6 miles per S$1 |
| Overseas earn rate | 2.2 miles per S$1 | Around 2.0 miles per S$1 |
| Lounge access | 10 visits per year | Limited or none |
| Hotel nights | 2 Accor Stay Plus certificates | None |
| Minimum income | S$120,000 | S$30,000 (Singaporean/PR) |
The Vantage competes with a small set of premium general-spend miles cards. On pure earning the picture is mixed. The Vantage has one of the stronger local rates at 1.5 miles per dollar, but on overseas spend the UOB PRVI Miles and HSBC TravelOne pay more, around 2.4 miles per dollar. So if most of your spend is local, the Vantage earns well; if you spend heavily abroad, a rival can out-earn it on the foreign-currency side.
Rates are only half the story. The Vantage bundles lounge access and hotel nights that a leaner card such as the PRVI Miles does not, but it also charges a non-waivable fee that those cards often let you waive on spend. The table below compares the headline earn rates so you can see where each card leads. Treat the figures as the standard published rates rather than promotional boosts, and check each issuer for the current terms before applying. For the wider field, our best miles credit cards in Singapore roundup ranks the main contenders.
The honest read: the Vantage wins if you value the lounge and hotel perks and spend mostly locally. A foreign-spend-heavy traveller who does not need the perks earns more, for a fee they can waive, on a PRVI Miles or TravelOne.
| Card | Local earn | Overseas earn | Fee waiver on spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| DBS Vantage | 1.5 mpd | 2.2 mpd | No, from Aug 2026 |
| UOB PRVI Miles | 1.4 mpd | 2.4 mpd | Usually yes |
| HSBC TravelOne | 1.2 mpd | 2.4 mpd | Usually yes |
| Citi PremierMiles | 1.2 mpd | 2.2 mpd | Usually yes |
| OCBC 90°N | 1.3 mpd | 2.1 mpd | Usually yes |
A premium card amplifies the cost of carrying a balance. Credit card interest in Singapore is steep: MoneySense illustrates the cost of card debt using a 25 percent per year rate, and prevailing rates on unpaid balances sit broadly in the mid-to-high 20s, which obliterates any miles or perk value. Check your own card's published rate, but the takeaway holds: if there is any chance you will revolve a balance, no rewards card is worth it; clear that first.
Eligibility for the Vantage needs annual income of at least S$120,000 and you must be aged 21 to 75. The S$120,000 bar is the same for Singaporeans, permanent residents and foreigners; there is no lower foreigner tier, and foreign applicants usually need to show a local address and the higher income on paper. If your income on record with DBS is below S$120,000, the card will not even appear on the application portal, so make sure your income documents are current before applying. Standard MAS unsecured credit rules also apply: your total interest-bearing unsecured borrowing across all banks cannot exceed 12 times your monthly income, and your overall debt is checked against the total debt servicing ratio when secured loans are in the picture.
Watch the other fees, not just the headline annual fee. A cash advance costs 8% of the amount drawn, with a minimum of S$15, and starts accruing interest immediately, so never use the card for cash. A late payment adds a S$100 charge if your balance is above S$200. None of these touch a disciplined cardholder who pays in full and never withdraws cash, but they punish a careless one fast.
Set the card to pay the full statement balance by GIRO so you never touch interest, and diarise the renewal date. With the spend waiver gone, the smart move is to review the card every year before the fee posts. If a year goes by where you barely travel, cancel before the S$599.50 hits and reapply later if a strong sign-up promotion returns. DBS has run welcome offers of 60,000 to 85,000 miles in past years, though there is no enhanced sign-up bonus running as of mid-2026 beyond the standard 25,000 miles on fee payment.
If you are weighing whether the annual fee on any card is justified, the same calculation logic in our personal budget calculator helps you see the real cost against the value you extract.
It is worth it only for higher earners who travel several times a year and will use the lounge visits and at least one hotel night. From 1 August 2026 the S$599.50 fee can no longer be waived through spending, so you must value the 25,000 bonus miles plus the perks at more than S$599.50 a year. If you rarely fly or spend mostly locally, a cheaper miles or cashback card is better.
S$599.50 including GST for the principal card; supplementary cards are free. The previous waiver for spending S$60,000 a year is being removed from 1 August 2026, after which the fee is non-waivable. You receive 25,000 bonus miles each year when the fee is charged.
1.5 miles per dollar on local spend and 2.2 miles per dollar on overseas and foreign-currency spend. The local rate is below the 1.6 to 2.0 miles per dollar that several cheaper general-spend cards offer, so the Vantage is a lifestyle card rather than an earn-rate leader.
S$120,000 in annual income, and you must be at least 21. If your income on record with DBS is below S$120,000, the card will not appear on the application portal, so update your income documents before applying.
10 complimentary airport lounge visits per membership year through Priority Pass. At roughly S$50 to S$70 per paid entry, the lounge benefit is valuable if you fly enough to use most of the visits, but few cardholders use all 10.
DBS Points are valid for 3 years, and once converted to KrisFlyer miles those miles also carry a 3-year validity. Each conversion costs a S$27.25 transfer fee, so it is best to consolidate points before converting and to redeem the miles well before they expire.
For most people, no. The Altitude has a lower, waivable fee, no S$120,000 income bar, and a similar local earn rate, so it suits everyday miles earning. The Vantage only pulls ahead if you will use its lounge access, hotel nights and higher overseas rate enough to justify the S$599.50 non-waivable fee.
Insurance premiums, education fees, government and tax payments, hospital and medical bills, utilities, charity donations, and stored-value or wallet top-ups earn no miles, the same as most Singapore cards. Miles are also paid only per whole S$5 block after rounding down, so odd amounts and very small transactions earn less than the headline 1.5 miles per dollar. Check the category before routing a large bill through the card for miles.
One DBS Point converts to 2 miles, and you transfer in blocks of 5,000 DBS Points (10,000 miles) at a time. Each conversion costs a flat S$27.25 fee, so consolidate points and convert once rather than little and often. DBS supports KrisFlyer, Cathay Asia Miles, Qantas and AirAsia; non-KrisFlyer transfers take longer. DBS Points last 3 years, and converted miles start a fresh 3-year clock, so convert close to when you plan to redeem.
Yes, but the income bar does not drop. Foreigners face the same S$120,000 minimum annual income as Singaporeans and PRs, and usually need to show a local address and supporting income documents. The card is open to applicants aged 21 to 75 who meet the income requirement.
It depends on where you spend. The Vantage earns a stronger 1.5 miles per dollar locally, while the PRVI Miles tends to earn more on overseas spend at around 2.4 miles per dollar and often lets you waive its fee on spend. If most of your spend is local and you want the lounge and hotel perks, the Vantage fits. If you spend heavily abroad and do not need the perks, the PRVI Miles earns more for a fee you can waive.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.