Bilt Card 2.0: Bilt Obsidian Card Review
Contents
Application Link
Features and Benefits
- $200 Bilt Cash Welcome Offer: Earn $200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
- This card earns two different types of rewards: Bilt Points and Bilt Cash, which we’ll explain in detail below. Based on our own valuation (not an official estimate from Bilt), Bilt Points are worth about 1.6 cents/point, because its 1:1 transfer partners include several high-value programs such as Hyatt, JL, AS, and UA!
- Earn 3x Bilt points on your choice of dining or grocery (Grocery up to $25k/year); Earn 2x Bilt points on travel; Earn 1x Bilt points on other everyday spend (i.e. excluding rent and mortgage).
- The mechanism to earn points on rent and mortgage is a bit complicated, see Bilt 2.0: Explaining the Two Options to Earn Points on Rent and Mortgage for details.
- $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit: Applied twice a year, as $50 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings (2 nights or longer).
- Cellular Wireless Telephone Protection.
- No Foreign Transaction Fee.
Disadvantages
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$95 annual fee, NOT waived for the first year.
Bilt Points Overview
Bilt Points are an extremely useful transferable-points currency. Their 1:1 transfer partners include:
- Alaska Airlines (AS) Atmos Rewards
- Japan Airlines (JL) JAL Mileage Bank
- United Airlines (UA) MileagePlus
- World of Hyatt
Hyatt is an especially rare transfer partner. Until Bilt came along, Chase Ultimate Rewards was the only major transferable-points currency that could be transferred to Hyatt, and Hyatt transfers are among the most valuable uses of Chase points. JAL and Alaska Airlines miles are both difficult to earn and can be highly valuable. It is impressive that Bilt was able to secure both as transfer partners. United miles are also one of the most useful airline currencies for U.S.-based travelers. Because of these partners, Bilt Points can reasonably be valued at at least 1.6 cents per point.
In addition, Bilt occasionally offers extremely generous transfer bonuses during Bilt Rent Day. When there is a useful transfer opportunity, these bonuses can substantially increase the value of Bilt Points.
See our Bilt Points review for more details.
Bilt Cash Overview
Bilt Cash is Bilt’s second rewards currency, separate from Bilt Points. In short, it is not nearly as useful.
When paying rent or a mortgage through Bilt, you have two options. The first option does not involve Bilt Cash and is much simpler; this is the option we recommend. The second option allows you to earn Bilt Cash through everyday credit card spending and provides ways to use that Bilt Cash.
If you decide to participate in the Bilt Cash system, Bilt Cardholders earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spending, excluding rent and mortgage payments. Keep in mind that Bilt Cash expires every year on December 31. The following are among the more worthwhile ways to use it:
- When paying rent or a mortgage, use $3 in Bilt Cash to earn 100 Bilt Points, up to the amount of your rent or mortgage payment. For example, for a $2,000 payment, you can use up to $60 in Bilt Cash to earn 2,000 Bilt Points.
- Redeem $200 in Bilt Cash for an extra 1x Bilt Points on up to $5,000 in credit card spending. This benefit can be purchased up to five times per year, for a maximum of $25,000 in eligible spending.
- Purchase enhanced transfer bonuses during Bilt Rent Day promotions.
See our Bilt Cash review for more details.
Bilt Elite Status Overview
Bilt has the following Elite Status tiers:
- Blue
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
Aside from Blue, which you receive automatically upon registration, the requirements for each tier are as follows (note that rent payments do not count toward spending requirements):
After reaching a given Bilt Elite Status tier, you can unlock additional benefits during special promotions. For example, Bilt has previously offered Rent Day transfer bonus promotions, and higher-tier members could receive significantly larger transfer bonuses.
Related Credit Cards
| Card Name | Bilt Blue | Bilt Obsidian | Bilt Palladium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Fee | $0 | $95 | $495 |
| Bilt Points Earning | 1x on rent, mortgage, and everyday spend | 3x on dining or grocery (choice of one; grocery up to $25K/year); 2x on travel; 1x on rent, mortgage, and everyday spend | 2x on everyday spend; 1x on rent and mortgage |
| Bilt Cash Earning | 4% on everyday spend | 4% on everyday spend | 4% on everyday spend |
| Credits | N/A | $100 Bilt Travel hotel credit ($50 every six months) | $400 Bilt Travel hotel credit ($200 every six months); $200 Bilt Cash annually |
| Other | N/A | N/A | PPS |
Summary
In the Bilt 2.0 era, Bilt Points themselves haven’t changed—and they’re still very strong. Bilt continues to offer a wide range of transfer partners, including some that are hard to earn and highly valuable, and it frequently runs very generous transfer bonuses on Bilt Rent Day, which remains Bilt’s biggest advantage.
However, one of the major selling points of the old Bilt Card—fee-free rent payments—is gone on the new card. The newly introduced Bilt Cash also comes with an expiration date. Under the new system, if you want to pay rent or a mortgage with no fee while still earning Bilt Points, every $1,000 in rent/mortgage requires $750 in everyday spending. Compared to the old Bilt Mastercard, this is significantly less attractive. On top of that, the system is overly complicated and headache-inducing.
This $95 annual fee card surprisingly offers a welcome bonus in Bilt Cash only, not Bilt Points, which is quite underwhelming. The card provides just $100 in hotel credits per year, split into $50 every six months, and each redemption requires a two-night stay—that’s extremely stingy. You can pretty much value this coupon at close to $0. The card’s main selling point is everyday rewards, since Bilt Points are quite valuable. The choice between 3x on dining or groceries is fairly solid, and if you also have Bilt Elite Status and can stack it with Rent Day transfer bonuses, the overall return can be meaningfully amplified.
Historical Offers Chart
Note: Only the Bilt Points part is shown in the chart; the Bilt Cash part is NOT shown.
Application Link
See Guide to Benefits and Rates and Fees for more details.