Changes are on the horizon for the Bilt card. After news reports (gift article) that Wells Fargo wasn’t happy with how things were working out with regards to its issuance of the Bilt credit card, it’s been clear that the status quo wouldn’t be maintained.
In recent months, Bilt has given the impression that it’s hustling to get something different in place. More details about that emerged yesterday when they shared proposals for not just one Bilt card, but three.
It’s clear that Bilt is modeling all three cards on Chase’s suite of Ultimate Rewards-earning cards, but Bilt’s proposals are sadly less than ultimate. While a couple of the cards could make sense for some people, the proposed Bilt premium card is shaping up to be a dud. There is a feature that could entice new cardholders though – the ability to earn 1x or 1.25x not only on rent, but on mortgage payments too. There are two other unknown factors right now that could also have a significant impact on the appeal of these cards.
Bilt is actively seeking feedback on these proposals, so be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Here are the proposed card options, along with my thoughts.
No Annual Fee Card
The existing Bilt credit card has no annual fee and earns 3x on dining and Lyft rides, 2x on travel and 1x on everything else – including rent.
There are two versions of a proposed new version of the no annual fee card:
This seems to be Bilt’s attempt to copy Chase’s Freedom Unlimited card. As a reminder of how the Freedom Unlimited card works, you get 5x on Lyft rides (through March 2025), 5x on travel booked through Chase Travel, 3x on dining and drugstores and 1.5x everywhere else.
Both of these proposed no annual fee cards from Bilt are somewhat interesting and would certainly have appeal for some, but they’re not inspiring in terms of day-to-day earnings. Freedom Unlimited cardholders earn 3x on all dining which is far better than Bilt’s 3x or 4x on Bilt Neighborhood dining only as that’s a much more limited list of eligible restaurants.
3x or 4x at Walgreens is good, but I’d much rather have the 3x available on all drugstore purchases with the Freedom Unlimited. 1.5x on all earnings for option 1 matches the Freedom Unlimited card’s everywhere else earnings, while option 2 only offers 1x on everywhere else spend. Option 2 does offer 2x on dining, groceries and gas which isn’t any more special than a card like Citi’s Double Cash seeing as that offers 2x everywhere, although at least with Bilt you can transfer to Hyatt, Alaska Airlines, etc.
Probably the biggest draw of this card – in addition to the lack of an annual fee – is the ability to earn 1x on both rent and mortgage payments. For someone with a sizeable monthly rent or mortgage payment, that could make this card a no-brainer for someone who’s not enticed by the two other proposed cards with an annual fee.
$95 Annual Fee Card
Bilt’s second proposed card has a $95 annual fee and is modeled after Chase’s Sapphire Preferred card:
As a recap, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns 5x on travel booked through Chase Travel and Lyft rides (the latter through March 2025), 3x on dining, select streaming services and online grocery, 2x on travel and 1x on everything else. It also provides primary auto rental coverage and you get a $50 statement credit on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel.
Option 1 of the Bilt cards listed above has some elements that match the Sapphire Preferred card – a $50 hotel credit and 5x on hotels booked through their own travel portal and 5x on Lyft rides. Bilt’s 2x on dining, grocery and gas is good, but again – you can get that by default on other cards offering transferable points such as the Citi Double Cash and Amex Blue Business Plus cards.
For option 2, earning 3x on dining and 2x on travel could be appealing, but that comes at the cost of gas and groceries not being bonused.
What could make this card more worthwhile are the other two proposed credits. There’d be $60 in Bilt Fitness credits and $60 in Walgreens credits. Given those somewhat strange amounts, it’s almost certain that those would be $5 credits each month, rather than giving you the ability to spend $60 in one fell swoop to lock in the credits. For someone who shops at Walgreens at least once a month, that won’t be hard to do and it’s nice that you’d also – as things currently stand – also earn 3x or 5x on the rest of the purchase.
Bilt Fitness on the other hand will have far more limited appeal. Right now Bilt Fitness encompasses the following partners:
- Soulcycle
- Y7
- pure barre
- Rumble Boxing
- BFT
- CycleBar
- YogaSix
- CorePower Yoga
If you have a recurring subscription to any of those, getting $5 back per month from Bilt will be as good as cash. If you also value the $5 monthly credits for Walgreens as good as cash, those credits mean the annual fee pays for itself, even before accounting for the $50 hotel credit.
That doesn’t mean the card is a no-brainer though – see the Big Unknown section below for why.
$550 Annual Fee Card
Bilt’s proposed $550 annual fee card takes aim at Chase’s Sapphire Reserve card that has an identical annual fee. Bilt’s aim with this card is about as accurate as a Dallas Cowboys quarterback in the postseason though, so the two options are less than compelling.
As a reminder, the Sapphire Reserve card comes with a $300 annual travel credit, $120 Global Entry fee credit, Priority Pass, primary auto rental coverage, 10x on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel, 10x on Lyft rides through March 2025, 10x on Chase Dining, 5x on flights booked through Chase, 3x on travel and dining, Sapphire lounge access, the ability to redeem Ultimate Rewards points for 1.5 cents per point through the Chase Travel portal and more. It’s therefore a very well rounded travel credit card, albeit one with a high annual fee.
Both options for the Bilt $550 annual fee cards come with a number of proposed credits, but in my opinion they’re less interesting than the Sapphire Reserve’s $300 travel credit. That $300 credit is simply to use and requires zero effort – simply spend $300 on travel throughout the year and you’ll get that credited back.
Bilt on the other hand looks like it might be borrowing from Amex’s coupon book playbook. $120 in Bilt Fitness credits gives the impression that you’ll get $10 per month. $60 in Walgreens credits suggests $5 per month. $200 in hotel credits might be appealing, but you’ll have to book it through Bilt Travel which means you’ll have to forgo earning hotel points and elite night credits, as well as not receiving elite status benefits. All those hoops you’d have to jump through will make those $380 in credits worth significantly less than that for most people.
5x on hotels booked through Bilt Travel is half the earning rate of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, while the Sapphire Reserve card earns 10x on car rentals too. 4x on direct flight bookings could appeal to people who spend a lot on paid airfare, but seeing as you can earn 5x on Amex Platinum cards and 3x on the Sapphire Reserve and Citi Strata Premier cards (among others), it’s not like there aren’t other high-earning options for airfare purchases.
The saving grace for option 2 of the $550 fee card is that it would earn 1.25x on rent and mortgage payments. For people who have significant expenses each month in that category, that extra 0.25x of earnings could add up. That said, you’d need to spend a huge amount on rent or your mortgage to make the 0.25x of additional earnings offset the $550 annual fee versus the no annual fee card, although some of those aforementioned credits would also offset some of the annual fee.
The Big Unknowns
There are a few factors that could have a large impact on the appeal of these new Bilt credit cards.
Unknown #1 – Welcome Offer?
Something key to the appeal of any of these new Bilt credit cards will be whether or not Bilt offers some kind of signup bonus when getting these cards. Historically they haven’t offered an official bonus at all, although many new cardholders get an offer giving 5x for their first five days after activation. I could sadly see them maintaining that on the no annual fee card, but hopefully they’ll offer some kind of compelling offer on the $95 and $550 fee cards.
If not, those annual fee cards will probably be DOA in the eyes of many people because the proposed benefits mean they’re already shaping up to be a poor man’s Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning card, particularly the $550 card. If the accompanying welcome offers are lackluster too, I imagine Bilt will have a hard time finding a market excited to pick up one or more of the cards. For someone primarily wanting to earn rewards on their rent or mortgage payments, they could get that with the no annual fee card, so there’d be less incentive to apply for a card with an annual fee without a bonus when initially applying.
Bilt’s saving grace is that it gives people an opportunity to earn points that transfer to Hyatt which could be useful for someone who’s over 5/24 with Chase. For someone locked out of earning Ultimate Rewards due to 5/24, Bilt is a good alternative. Otherwise, Bilt will need to give people a good reason to give up a 5/24 slot; hopefully – for Bilt’s sake – the ability to earn points on rent and mortgage payments will do that.
Unknown #2 – 3% Fee?
In a recent email to Bilt cardholders, CEO Ankur Jain stated the following:
Waiving the standard 3% card fee on rent payments represents a significant cost to the program—and unique value that we provide to Bilt cardholders. Ensuring this benefit goes to members who genuinely engage with our broader program—rather than those taking advantage of loopholes—will allow us to continue delivering long-term value for our entire cardholder community.
It’s not clear how Bilt will differentiate between cardholders who “genuinely engage” in the program and those who don’t. Will there be a requirement to eat at a Bilt Neighborhood dining restaurant once per month in order to not be charged a 3% fee on your rent or mortgage payment? Will they insist that you attend at least one pure barre class per month as part of Bilt Fitness to have the fee waived? If they find out you get your prescriptions filled at CVS rather than Walgreens, will they give you the stink eye and a sternly worded letter? That remains to be seen and could also have a big impact on whether applying for one of these cards is ultimately worthwhile.
Unknown #3 – Capped Earnings?
In October 2024, Bilt massively devalued potential earnings on its existing credit card by capping double bonus point earnings to 1,000 points on Rent Day (i.e. the first day of the month). The limit was previously 10,000 bonus points per month, so that was a whopping 90% cut. Not only did it reduce people’s potential earnings, but it also significantly limited both the appeal and ability to earn status in the Bilt Rewards program.
Bilt also currently caps points earnings on rent payments to a maximum of 100,000 points per year. Will that level be maintained, or will it be lowered or, fingers crossed, raised? Will Bilt have higher earning limits for rent and mortgage payments depending on what annual fee your Bilt credit card has? We shall see.
Your Thoughts?
I mentioned at the start of the post that Bilt is soliciting feedback on these card proposals, so please share your thoughts in the comments below on what you think of the current proposals and what improvements could be made to make these cards more appealing to you. Also, what kind of welcome offer would be needed to entice you to apply for either the $95 or $550 annual fee cards?
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