Now That Bilt Cash Details Are Out, The New Cards Look Completely Different — Palladium Is 3x Catch-All, Obsidian Hits 4x

Now that we know all the details of how we can use Bilt Cash, I’m liking the Bilt Palladium Card (See rates and fees) even more.

When the card first came out and I applied, I wasn’t considering the value of Bilt Cash at all. They didn’t put out the details on day one, so I didn’t even factor it when thinking about the card. Now that I know how to use, the card’s value goes up. I was just happy with this $495 annual fee card for the value it offers for spend.

• Unlimited 1X points on rent and mortgage payments; 2X + 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases
  
• $400 Bilt Travel portal hotel credit (split semi-annually per calendar year) valid on stays of 2 nights or more
  
• $200 Bilt cash (annual)

You’ll receive $300 in Bilt Cash on approval. The card has an initial bonus offer of 50,000 points after $4,000 in non-housing spend in the first 3 months, and when you hit that you also receive Gold elite status valid for the rest of the year and the entire next year. That unlocks early access to events and special activities, higher transfer bonuses, and preserves 1:1 transfers from Rakuten (they’ve only promised that for all members for six months).

It comes with a Priority Pass that includes two complimentary guests. Lounges are included, restaurants and experiences (airport spas, gaming) are not. And of course points transfer to:

• Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Miles & Smiles, United Airlines MileagePlus, Avianca LifeMiles, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
  
• oneworld: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Iberia Plus, British Airways Club, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Qatar Airways Privilege Club
  
• SkyTeam: Air France KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  
• Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Southwest Airlines, Aer Lingus Aer Club, Etihad Guest, Spirit Airlines Free Spirit
  
• Hotels: World Of Hyatt, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, Accor ALL – Accor Live Limitless

But now that we know how Bilt Cash works (and that there’s an option to ‘just earn more points for your spending) there are basically two ways to earn accelerated points.

• Earn 3.3 points per dollar on all spending up the amount of your rent or mortgage each month
  And then earn 3 points per dollar on the next (average of) $2,083.33 in spending each month on top of that.
• If your housing costs total $4,000 a month, and you max out these benefits with $6083.33 in monthly spend, you’re earning 3.2 points per dollar on all of your spend. And that’s spend that does not earn a category bonus.
• There’s no fee for paying your rent or mortgage. You’re ACHing the money to Bilt, which makes the payment for you. Bilt Cash is being used to buy points, and this payment amount determines how many extra points they’ll ‘sell you’ (at $30 Bilt Cash per 1,000 points).
• There’s also no limit to the amount of rent and mortgage you can pay through Bilt, and thus no cap on the points they’ll sell you. So if you’re paying on two places (primary residence and vacation place, or you still own one place after you’ve moved, you have a rental property or you pay for a kid’s place in college) you can do both through Bilt and increase your points-earning.

But let’s keep things super simple. Let’s ignore this as a ‘rent or mortgage points card’ for a minute. Let’s just look at this as a card you put your spending on that doesn’t earn 4x or 5x somewhere else and you want to earn the most and most valuable points possible.

• Bilt Palladium Card is great for earning a straight 3 points per dollar on all of your spending, up to $25,000.
• That’s because base earn with the card is two points per dollar, plus you redeem $200 in Bilt Cash right away (you get $300 Bilt Cash on approval) for the option to earn an additional 1 point per dollar on card spend for the next $5,000 after redemption.
• That $5,000 spend earns the $200 Bilt Cash to do this again, and you can keep doing this up to 5 times a year. And to start the next year the card is giving you $200 Bilt Cash so you can keep doing this, year-after-year.

Or look at the Bilt Obsidian Card (See rates and fees) which earns 3X points on your choice of dining or grocery spend (up to $25,000 per year).

• Again, you redeem Bilt Cash for the option to earn an additional 1 point per dollar on card spend for the next $5,000 after redemption.
• And once again, that $5,000 spend earns the $200 Bilt Cash to do this again, and you can keep doing this up to 5 times a year. And to start the next year the card is giving you $200 Bilt Cash so you can keep doing this, year-after-year.

That makes the Obsidian card a 4x points-earning card on your choice of dining or grocery spend (up to $25,000), and you can select which catery you prefer each year. There is no card which earns more than 4 points per dollar in those categories that I know of.

The Bilt Obsidian Card has a $95 annual fee and earns: unlimited 1X points on rent and mortgage payments; 1X points + 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases; 3X points on your choice of dining or grocery spend (up to $25,000 per year) + 4% back in Bilt Cash; 2X points on travel + 4% back in Bilt Cash.

The card offers a $100 Bilt travel portal hotel credit (split semi-annually each calendar year) and there’s an initial bonus of $200 of Bilt Cash on approval.

So at a minimum of 4 points per dollar, Obsidian is the best dining and grocery card in the market. It earns the same number of points as Amex Gold and these are better points.

• More transfer partners than American Express Membership Rewards (and other transferable currencies)
  
• Better transfer partners than American Express Membership Rewards (and other transferable currencies)
  
• Better value redeeming travel directly through the Bilt travel portal, at 1.25 cents per point, than American Express gives everyone except Business Platinum customers against their one selected U.S. airline.

And Bilt Palladium Card is the best ‘catch all’ card in the market, at 3 points per dollar earned on the first $25,000 in spending. I currently use Capital One Venture X for this at just 2 points per dollar spent, and again Bilt points are more valuable for the same reasons and I’m earning 50% more of those more valuable points. And that’s without even getting into housing payments that allow me to earn even more points per dollar than this.

There’s been frustration with the roll out of these cards.

• Details on Bilt Cash came a week after the public launch of the card. So we didn’t know how valuable the cards would actually be. I knew they’d be valuable just treating the Bilt Palladium Card as a 2x card, but it’s even better than that with Bilt Cash. It also wasn’t clear how housing payments worked.
• And that lack of detail and clarity is what a lot of people who were frustrated with the changes seized on. Bilt’s customer base was built on paying rent with the card and earning points. And people who did that, and little else, can no longer generate points in the same way. It was something being subsidized by Wells Fargo, and that’s ending.

  I’ve been writing for 25 years that all opportunities for outsized value eventually go away, so take advantage of them while you can.

• Those who are losing this are understandably disappointed, and it reminds me in a way of the roll out of World of Hyatt program changes a decade ago – they were firing their 25 one-night stay a year top tier elites.
• It seemed like the world was ending from the chatter, but now it’s pretty clear that Hyatt still offers the most value to top elites of any of the major hotel progams. (And by the way they can do this because they’re not funding that value to people earning just 25 elite nights a year.)

Step back from the first week sniping, as the details of the program become clear I’m liking what Bilt did here more and more. It may seem complicated but that’s just because there’s a lot of value packed in here – there’s so much choose your own adventure and choice can be overwhelming. So if you don’t want to dive into all the ways to customize, just think of it as an extra 1 point per dollar on all spending for that first $25,000 in spend.

But since when do gamers complain about a program’s gamification? We can pick apart a program’s value, and find the way that it works best for us. And if you want to hit the comments and tell me all the ways in which you can do better with Bilt Cash than earning an extra 1 point per dollar (i.e. that this is not the best value redemption of Bilt Cash) then you’re just making my point.

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