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Bilt offers three credit cards: the Bilt Blue Card (Rates & Fees), Bilt Obsidian Card (Rates & Fees), and Bilt Palladium Card (Rates & Fees). Each offers a distinct set of benefits designed to appeal to different types of cardholders.
So, which Bilt card is the best fit for your wallet? The answer depends on your spending habits, travel goals, and the benefits you value most. Let's look at a few common scenarios to see which Bilt card comes out on top.
Bilt Credit Card Portfolio Overview
Depending on your spending habits and travel goals, one Bilt card may be a better fit than the others. Under Bilt 2.0, applicants must choose one of three credit cards. These cards replaced the original The Bilt Mastercard® — which is no longer available to new applicants.
The Bilt Blue Card is Bilt's no-annual-fee option. Cardholders earn 1 Bilt Point per $1 spent on eligible purchases.
The Bilt Obsidian Card carries a $95 annual fee, but includes more premium features, including customizable 3X bonus categories and a semiannual $50 hotel credit for bookings made through the Bilt Travel portal.
The Bilt Palladium Card is Bilt's most premium offering, with an annual fee of $495. Cardholders earn 2X Bilt Points on eligible purchases and can access benefits such as a semiannual $200 hotel credit through the Bilt Travel portal, Priority Pass membership, and the largest welcome bonus available among Bilt's cards.
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 1X points on everyday spend
$95Rates & Fees
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 3X points on your choice of grocery (up to $25K/year) or dining. Your 3X category choice remains in effect for the entire calendar year.
- 2X points on travel
- 1X points on everyday spend
$495Rates & Fees
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 2X points on everyday spend
Can you have more than one Bilt credit card?
Bilt's card issuer, Cardless, restricts cardholders to only one card in the Bilt family. That means you're not able to stack the benefits of the Obsidian Card and the Palladium Card, for example. However, you're still free to hold credit cards from other issuers alongside your Bilt card — and even other Cardless cards.
Related: Cardless Now Lets You Hold More Than One Credit Card — With Some Limits
Best Bilt Card for Renters
For those who miss the old Bilt program, the Blue Card may be right for them as it's the simplest to use. There's no annual fee (Rates & Fees), and the card's earning structure is also intuitive, earning 1 Bilt Point per dollar spent on eligible purchases.
Bilt 2.0 introduced new ways to earn rewards on housing-related expenses, including rent, mortgage payments, and even HOA fees. However, maximizing those rewards may require cardholders to make additional decisions about how they want to earn and redeem rewards within the program.
For members who prefer a simpler experience and want access to Bilt's housing rewards ecosystem without paying an annual fee, the Bilt Blue Card offers the lowest-cost and most straightforward entry point into the program.
- Earn points on housing payments with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 1X points on everyday spend
- Welcome offer: $100 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
- Redeem Bilt Cash for dollar-for-dollar value toward fitness classes, hotel bookings, Home Delivery orders, Lyft rides, and more. At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.
- Earn additional points through Bilt Neighborhood Benefits™ when you use your Blue Card at Bilt's network of 50,000+ merchants
- Other benefits: No foreign transaction fees, Cellular Wireless Telephone Protection, Purchase Assurance, MasterRental Coverage (See Guide to Benefits)
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 1X points on everyday spend
Best Bilt Card for Big Spenders
On the other side are those who love to use their card for everyday purchases.
The Palladium Card earns 2X Bilt Points per $1 spent on eligible purchases, providing a higher return on everyday spending than either the Blue Card or Obsidian Card. For those who elect to earn Bilt Cash on their purchases, there's also Points Accelerator, which can boost earnings to as much as 3X Bilt Points per $1 spent on eligible purchases, up to $5,000 in spending per activation.
As a cardholder of the product myself, I've used Bilt Cash to activate this feature and increase the rewards earned on everyday purchases. While the Points Accelerator is also available on the Bilt Obsidian Card, Palladium cardholders receive a greater overall benefit thanks to the card's higher base earning rate.
- Earn points on housing payments with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 3X points on your choice of grocery (up to $25K/year) or dining. Your 3X category choice remains in effect for the entire calendar year.
- 2X points on travel
- 1X points on everyday spend
- Welcome offer: $200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
- $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $50 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 3X points on your choice of grocery (up to $25K/year) or dining. Your 3X category choice remains in effect for the entire calendar year.
- 2X points on travel
- 1X points on everyday spend
Best Bilt Card for Frequent Travelers
Those who like to travel and enjoy premium perks while away from home should consider the Palladium Card.
The card includes several benefits designed for frequent travelers, including Priority Pass membership and a semiannual $200 hotel credit for bookings made through the Bilt Travel portal. Those perks alone can help offset a significant portion of the card's annual fee for cardholders who travel regularly.
The Palladium Card‘s welcome bonus also includes Bilt Gold status, which can provide additional value through the program's monthly Rent Day promotions. Held on the first day of each month, Rent Day often features transfer bonuses to one of Bilt's airline or hotel partners.
Gold status can unlock higher transfer bonuses than those available to general members, allowing cardholders to really stretch their points. For travelers who regularly transfer Bilt Points to airline and hotel loyalty programs, those enhanced transfer opportunities can be one of the most valuable benefits in the entire Bilt ecosystem.
- Earn points on housing payments with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 3X points on your choice of grocery (up to $25K/year) or dining. Your 3X category choice remains in effect for the entire calendar year.
- 2X points on travel
- 1X points on everyday spend
- Welcome offer: $200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.
- $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $50 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 3X points on your choice of grocery (up to $25K/year) or dining. Your 3X category choice remains in effect for the entire calendar year.
- 2X points on travel
- 1X points on everyday spend
Who Should Skip Bilt Entirely?
While the Bilt program works for many, others are better off looking elsewhere.
First, those who value simplicity should consider other options. Bilt 2.0 is considerably more complex than the original program, and efforts to expand it have added even more choices for members to navigate. If you used the old Bilt program to earn points on rent, the new system requires more active participation to maximize rewards. There are plenty of other rewards cards on the market that don't require as much decision-making or monthly spending tracking.
Those who place a high value on customer service may also want to proceed with caution. Bilt has invested heavily in digital support tools, but some members have reported difficulties resolving issues such as missing points, posting errors, or account problems. A quick look through community forums like this Bilt subreddit shows that customer service remains one of the most common complaints about the program.
These issues won't affect every cardholder, and many members use the program without any problems. However, if you prefer a straightforward rewards experience and easy access to customer support when something goes wrong, Bilt may not be the best fit.
Bottom Line
The Bilt Rewards program can really work for the right cardholder. It's also one of the few ways to earn rewards on housing-related expenses, making it a unique option in the rewards card space.
For those looking to keep costs low, the Bilt Blue Card is the clear option. The Bilt Obsidian Card can be a strong fit for cardholders who can maximize its customizable bonus categories, while the Bilt Palladium Card stands out for everyday spending, premium travel benefits, and the largest welcome bonus in the lineup.
Whatever card you choose, be prepared to do your homework each month to ensure you're meeting program requirements to maximize your card and membership benefits.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Bilt Blue Card (Rates & Fees), Bilt Obsidian Card (Rates & Fees), and Bilt Palladium Card (Rates & Fees)
