TLDR: I’m getting the Bilt Palladium on 2/7/26 because it has fantastic earn rates, cool perks, the ability to earn points on rent and an intriguing welcome bonus.
Advertiser Disclosure: nextcard may receive compensation from card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain. For the most up-to-date terms & conditions, refer to the official credit card application on the issuer's website.
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If you know me, you know I love transferable currencies. And that’s why I love Bilt points. And it’s also why I’m getting the Bilt Palladium Card. This card is a premium card with a $495 annual fee but it comes with lots of bells and whistles with that cost.
What are the key features on the Bilt Palladium?
The Palladium comes loaded with a slew of awesome features:
2X points on everyday spend
4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend
First-ever, limited-time 50,000-point sign-up bonus + Gold Status (after qualifying spend)
$300 in Bilt Cash on account opening
Up to $600 in annual credits ($400 Bilt Travel semiannual Hotel credits + $200 in Bilt Cash)
Additional premium benefits, including Priority Pass access, purchase protection, no foreign transaction fees, authorized users
The welcome bonus on the Bilt Palladium definitely drew me in to do more research on the card. It is an excellent bonus (50k Bilt points + $300 Bilt Cash) because Bilt has the ability to to transfer to incredible partners like Hyatt, Air Canada & Air France. And if you redeem the $300 in Bilt Cash upon account opening against your rent or mortgage, you get 10,000 Bilt points.
The credits on the Bilt Palladium card definitely help me justify the hefty $495 annual fee. The issue with the $400 semiannual Bilt Travel credit is that you must stay a minimum of 2 nights both times.
Sort of gives me a headache because it reminds me of the hard to use Edit credit on the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Will Bilt Travel have only expensive options for hotels? Will it be significantly pricier to book the hotel on Bilt Travel than if I booked directly with the hotel? These are all questions that rack my mind. The $200 of Bilt Cash is kind of on the backburner for me because I’m choosing option 1 for Bilt earning.
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How can I quickly evaluate if the Palladium makes sense for me?
We built the Bilt Calculator to help you simplify the complicated Bilt 2.0 rollout for their three new cards.
I want to use my circumstances to give you an example of how to use the calculator. Right now, I spend about $1,000 of rent every month.
I mostly spend my money on dining and groceries but I put that spend on my American Express Gold card (4x on dining). I probably spend around $1,000 per month on other miscellaneous spend which I’m thinking about putting on the Bilt Palladium card:
You’ll see that I would be earning 1 more point per $1 with the Bilt Palladium card over the other two Bilt cards (2x on all spend with Palladium).
Now if I put my dining of $750 a month spending onto one of the Bilt Cards, it would make more sense for me to get the Bilt Obsidian (note that you can only earn 3x on grocery OR dining spend, with grocery earning at the 3x rate for up to $25k/year):
I would receive more Bilt points with the Bilt Obsidian as it earns 3x on dining or groceries (grocery elevated earn rate up to $25k/year). And it’s a much less expensive credit card at only a $95 annual fee.
For all of these calculations, I’m using “option 1” where you get more points, the closer you are with your non-rent spend to your rent spend.
You’ll see here that if you spend 75-99% of your rent on non-rent purchases, you will receive 1x points per $1 spent on rent. I know this is a bit of a headache. Ideally you’ll want to even out your non-rent spend with your rent spend as that will allow you to get 1.25x points on your rent payments. If you have a hefty rent payment, don’t feel like you always have to spend an equal amount on your non-rent purchases.
A cool thing about the Bilt Calculator is that you can share your results with friends or family members to discuss how Bilt cards may be able to help you earn points.
What is Bilt Cash?
Bilt Cash is a new concept that Bilt has rolled out for all three of their new cards, but is only relevant to Option 2 when it comes to earning points on rent.
If you elect to earn rental points via Option 2, you get 4% Bilt Cash from every $1 you spend on the Bilt cards. For instance:
$100 spend earns $4 in Bilt cash (alongside the 100 base points)
That Bilt Cash can then be redeemed against your rent at a rate of $0.03 Bilt Cash = 1 Bilt Point. Meaning, $4 Bilt Cash turns into 133 Bilt Points
So, in sum: you earn 100 points + 133 Bilt Points (from Bilt Cash) = 233 Bilt Points
*Alternatively, you can also redeem Bilt cash for neighborhood dining experiences, hotel bookings, Lyft credits etc. However, we know too little about it to properly value it for these cash-equivalent type of bookings.
How do you use Bilt Cash?
Earning Bilt Cash from your nonhousing spend only applies to you if you choose the Option 2 path where you can then redeem Bilt Cash in a multitude of ways. The simplest way to redeem is against your rent or mortgage at a rate of $1 Bilt Cash = 33 Bilt Points. I’m not choosing this option because the concept of Bilt Cash kinda drives me nuts lol. Too complex.
What transfer partners does Bilt have?
Bilt has arguably the most extensive and best group of transfer partners.
Airline partners
Spirit Airlines
British Airways
Aer Lingus
Iberia
Etihad Guest
Virgin Red
Avianca Lifemiles
Qatar Airways
Japan Airlines
Southwest Airlines
TAP Air Portugal
Atmos Rewards
United Airlines
Turkish Airlines
Emirates
Cathay Pacific
Air France–KLM (Flying Blue)
Air Canada
Hotel partners
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Accor
Hyatt
Marriott (Bonvoy)
IHG Hotels & Resorts
How can you use your Bilt points?
You can use Bilt points in a variety of ways but the best option by far is transferring to Bilt transfer partners like the ones mentioned above. I really enjoy staying at Hyatt hotels so I’ll be transferring a lot of points to Hyatt. I also like Air Canada as you can book lots of awards flights on partner airlines. Whatever your travel needs/wants, BIlt should have a transfer partner for you.
There’s also a cool feature Bilt has called Bilt Rent Day where you can transfer your Bilt points to select transfer partners at outsized redemption rates. For instance there could be an opportunity where you could transfer 5,000 BIlt points to British Airways and get 10,000 British Airways Avios instead of normally getting 5,000 Avios. Bilt Rent Day is at the first of every month so be on the lookout for marketing on what transfer partners will be getting outsized transfer bonuses.
You can also use your Bilt points for a statement credit, Bilt Travel bookings and neighborhood dining.
Final Remarks
Bilt 2.0 comes with lots of information and it can be quite confusing. The important thing to know is that you can get good value out of one of the three new Bilt cards. The Bilt Palladium is the card I’m going for as it earns at least 2 Bilt points on all non-rent spend (and then 1.33 additional points when redeeming earned Bilt Cash as Bilt Points).
If you spend a lot on dining/groceries, you might opt for the Bilt Obsidian card because it earns a total 4.33 Bilt points on dining or grocery (with grocery earning 3x on up to $25k spend/year). The Bilt Palladium card is also a simple card to use when spending as you know it will earn ~3.33 Bilt points per $1 spent (with Option 2).
What Bilt card will you be adding to your wallet? Does the Bilt Palladium card seem enticing enough to stomach the $495 annual fee?
FAQs
Why should I get the Bilt Palladium card?
You should get the BIlt Palladium card if you enjoy some of the perks on the card and are looking for 2x Bilt points on all non-rent spend. The card comes with a $495 annual fee so make sure you use our calculator to see if it’s the card for you.
Can I use a Bilt card to pay for my mortgage?
Yup! With the rollout of Bilt 2.0, you can now earn points when paying for your mortgage.
Who should get the Bilt Obsidian card?
Folks who spend a lot on dining or groceries should think about getting the Bilt Obsidian Card because it earns 3x Bilt points on dining OR groceries, up to $25k/year.
Does the Bilt Palladium card have airport lounge access?
Yep—the Bilt Palladium offers a Priority Pass membership. This PP membership that Bilt offers on the Palladium also comes with two complimentary guests every time you visit the lounge. Could be enticing for those who don’t already have access on another card.
Who should get the Bilt Blue Card card?
Anyone who is looking for a simple rent/mortgage no annual fee card that earns at least 2.33 points per dollar (for Option 2) should look into getting the Bilt Blue card.
