Credit Card Comparison: DBS Altitude vs Citi PremierMiles vs OCBC 90°N

Air miles credit cards may seem mysterious but they are your best bet if free flights make you tick. Find out which card will emerge as the winner in this three-way battle between DBS Altitude vs Citi PremierMiles vs OCBC 90°N.

What’s sweeter than a dreamy vacation to somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit? Free flights. While you may need to fork out some taxes and airport charges, the cost of your travel tickets may essentially shrivel up thanks to the miles you’ve earned and accumulated on your air miles credit card. 

In this comparison article, we will pit three miles cards against each other: DBS Altitude vs Citi PremierMiles vs OCBC 90°N. One of these three travel-oriented credit cards may be what you’ve been looking for to kickstart your mile-chasing journey.

• Similarities between these miles cards
• Comparison #1: Miles earn rate
• Comparison #2: Free airport lounge access
• Comparison #3: Travel insurance coverage
• Comparison #4: Frequent flyer programs
• Comparison #5: Miles conversion fee
• Comparison #6: Additional perks

Overview: DBS Altitude vs Citi PremierMiles vs OCBC 90ºN

Credit card	Key benefits
DBS Altitude Card Apply Now Apply Now	[Update!] S$1 = 2.2 miles on overseas spend (in foreign currency) S$1 = 1.3 miles on local spend   Earn 4.3 miles per $1 spent on hotel transactions at Agoda   Up to S$80 savings on hotel bookings at Expedia   2 complimentary airport lounge visits per year
Citi PremierMiles Card Apply Now	S$1 = 2 miles on foreign currency spend   S$1 = 1.2 miles on local spend   Earn up to 10 miles per S$1 spent on Kaligo   Earn up to 7 miles per S$1 spent on Agoda hotel bookings worldwide   2 complimentary airport lounge visits per year   Complimentary S$1 million travel insurance coverage
OCBC 90ºN Card   Apply Now	S$1 = 2.1 miles on foreign currency spend   S$1 = 1.3 miles on local spend   Earn up to 7 miles per S$1 spent on Agoda accommodations

What these air miles credit cards have in common

All three credit cards offer rewards that do not expire (Citi Mile, 90ºN Mile and DBS Point), the ability to earn renewal bonus miles, alongside other benefits, all while only requiring cardmembers who are Singapore Citizens/PRs to earn a minimum annual income of S$30,000. 

They also have the same annual fee of S$196.20, which is waived for the first year.

DBS Points, Citi Miles and 90ºN Miles can be utilised for travel as well as other things, such as rewards and cash rebates. All three credit cards are also widely accepted around the world as DBS Altitude is a Visa card and Citi PremierMiles is a Mastercard card. Meanwhile, OCBC 90ºN is both a Visa and Mastercard card.

How these air miles credit cards differ

Although DBS Altitude Visa, Citi PremierMiles and OCBC 90°N are all marketed to be travel-oriented, these three air miles credit cards couldn’t be more different. Right from their miles earn rate, miles conversion fee to travel benefits like travel insurance and airport lounge access, range of frequent flyer programme partners, these features are not the same.

To make the comparisons easier for you to understand and digest, we’ve broken them down into distinct points we reckon you would want to know as a savvy consumer.

Comparison #1: Miles earn rate

[Update!] Starting 1 April 2024, DBS Altitude cardholders can no longer earn additional 6 miles per S$1 for Expedia bookings and 10 miles per S$1 for Kaligo.

While there is no minimum spend to start earning miles for all three credit cards, take note that DBS Altitude lets you earn miles in the form of DBS Points — 3.25 DBS Points awarded for every S$5 local spend (or 1.3 mpd) and 5.5 DBS Points for every S$5 overseas spend (equivalent to 2.2 mpd). 

Meanwhile, Citi PremierMiles is the most straightforward of the three. Citibank rewards cardmembers with Citi Miles, where 1 Citi Mile is simply equal to 1 frequent flyer mile.  

Similarly, OCBC 90ºN lets cardmembers earn miles in the form of 90ºN Mile, where 1 90ºN Mile is equal to 1 frequent flyer mile. However, like DBS Altitude, OCBC 90ºN is a little confusing — 90ºN Miles is awarded for every S$5 spent per transaction.

Also, no partial or prorated award of any 90ºN Mile will be available for any amount charged to the card that does not amount to a S$5 block. They can be redeemed in minimum blocks of 1,000 frequent flyer miles.

But here’s where DBS Altitude fares better compared to OCBC 90ºN and Citi PremierMiles (more on that in a bit).

You can earn 1 DBS Point with a min. spend of S$1.67 on bus/train rides! This makes DBS Altitude a great card to use for public transport as you can simply tap and go while continuing to earn miles at the local rate of 1.3 mpd.

Comparison #2: Free airport lounge access

If there is one major thing missing from OCBC 90ºN, it is the coveted complimentary airport lounge access perk. Cardmembers can enjoy airport lounges through the Mastercard Airport Experiences platform but they will have to fork out US$32 per visit. 

Fancy travelling in style without having to shell out extra money at the airport? Enter the DBS Altitude and Citi PremierMiles. These two air miles credit cards offer cardmembers 2 complimentary Priority Pass lounge visits per year. The sky’s the limit here because you can choose from over 1,500 airport lounges worldwide. Additional visits are possible but subject to a payment of US$35 per visit.

See also: Cheap & Free Ways to Get Into Changi Airport Lounges

Comparison #3: Travel insurance coverage

This is an interesting comparison because DBS Altitude and Citi PremierMiles both offer cardmembers and their legal family members up to S$1 million in travel accident and death & permanent disability insurance coverage when they charge their full travel ticket to their credit card. 

The complimentary travel insurance with DBS Altitude only covers accidental death or permanent disablement while travelling on a public conveyance. 

On the other hand, the one offered by Citi PremierMiles is more comprehensive. On top of covering accidental death and permanent disablement, it also covers medical expenses (Up to S$40,000), emergency medical evacuation and repatriation (S$100,000), and direct repatriation of mortal remains (S$50,000).

Exclusive to Citi PremierMiles cardmembers only, travel inconveniences like loss of personal baggage, baggage delay, flight delay, trip cancellation, trip interruption, and even COVID-19 benefits are also covered.

Comparison #4: Frequent flyer partners

Disclaimer: List of airline partners might not be exhaustive and are subject to change without further notice.

As you can already tell, Citibank has the most frequent flyer partners among the three banks. Besides letting you convert your miles to airlines’ frequent flyer programmes at a fee, you can also transfer your Citi Miles to IHG Rewards Club if you are more interested in getting free hotel stays instead of flights. 

Currently, 90ºN Miles and Travel$ can only be converted to Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer miles.

Comparison #5: Miles conversion fee

For all three cards, an administrative fee between S$25 to S$27 applies for each conversion of DBS Points or Citi Miles or 90ºN Miles to actual frequent flyer miles. 

A great tip is to earn and accumulate your DBS Points or Citi Miles until you are sure you have enough miles to redeem for your dream award flights, before transferring them to your enrolled frequent flyer programme of choice.

This helps minimise the miles conversion fees you need to pay. Anyway, DBS Points, 90ºN Miles, and Citi Miles do not have an expiry date — take your time to earn and accumulate them without feeling rushed. 

💡 Note: Although DBS Points, Citi Miles and 90ºN Miles do not expire, once you convert and transfer your rewards to participating frequent flyer programmes or hotel loyalty programmes, your converted frequent flyer miles and hotel loyalty programme points will be subject to the terms and conditions of their respective loyalty programme.

More often than not, your converted frequent flyer miles and hotel loyalty programme points will expire after some time (e.g. three years for KrisFlyer miles).

Comparison #6: Additional perks

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Among the three, we would say that all are fairly tied regarding additional benefits offered. Without delving into the finer details, the best card for you will depend on how you value of the specific perks each one offers.

Conclusion: Which one should you choose?

DBS Altitude, Citi PremierMiles and OCBC 90ºN are all good contenders for people who are keen on earning and accumulating air miles that they can redeem for (almost) free travel further down the road. 

As much as we’d like to pit OCBC 90ºN against the other two longtime players, OCBC 90ºN is more basic in what it has to offer — no complimentary airport lounge access, no travel insurance coverage, and its only frequent flyer partner at this time is Singapore Airlines. 

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Choose OCBC 90°N: Two points where OCBC 90ºN does better than DBS Altitude and Citi PremierMiles? This card lets you earn a tad more miles per S$1 spent in foreign currency (i.e. 2.1 vs 2) and there’s zero conversion fee involved to have your 90ºN Miles converted to KrisFlyer miles.

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Choose DBS Altitude: That’s if you fancy the idea of earning miles on literally everything you spend on, including bus and MRT rides. DBS Altitude runs spend promotions periodically that lets cardmembers chalk up miles quicker if they meet the spend and eligibility criteria post-registration. The only truly bothersome thing about this card is that DBS Points are awarded on spend in blocks of S$5 (except bus/MRT rides when you ‘tap and go’).

Choose Citi PremierMiles: Think of Citi PremierMiles as DBS Altitude’s less fussy credit card twin. Citi PremierMiles rewards cardmembers 2 Citi Miles and 1.2 Citi Miles on every S$1 they spend in local or foreign currency, respectively, making things easier for those who enjoy crunching numbers and counting each mile they’ve earned. Citi PremierMiles offers more comprehensive travel insurance coverage and a greater assortment of frequent flyer partners than its peers.