Bilt 1.0 is gone. No matter how many Reddit threads you read or complaints you send in, it's not coming back. I liked Bilt 1.0 too, but Bilt 2.0 is what we have now, and the faster you understand how it works, the faster you can start earning points on your rent or mortgage again.
Here's the thing most people are getting wrong: Bilt cards are no longer rent and mortgage cards. They're regular credit cards that happen to have the option to earn points on rent and mortgage, but only if you participate in their programs. And participation means putting everyday spend on the card.
If you can understand that one thing, you're ahead of most people. The card is leading as a credit card now, not as a rent and mortgage payment card. Once you reframe it that way, Bilt 2.0 is actually not that complicated.
The Three Bilt Credit Cards
There are three Bilt credit cards to choose from.
The Bilt Blue Card is a no annual fee card that earns 1x points on everything. No frills, no fuss.
The Bilt Obsidian comes with a $95 annual fee and is your dining or grocery card. You earn 3x points on dining or groceries (your choice), 2x points on travel, and 1x points on everything else.
Bilt Palladium Card
The Bilt Palladium is the premium option at $495 per year. It earns 2x points on everything, comes with a 50,000 point welcome bonus plus a $300 Bilt Cash sign-up bonus, and you can earn Bilt Gold status.
Whichever card you go with, you earn Bilt points on everyday spend. That's a fact across all three cards. Now here's the catch: how much everyday spend you put on the card determines how many points you earn on rent and mortgage.
How You Earn Points on Rent and Mortgage
Bilt gives you two options for earning points on your housing payment. You pick one or the other. This is where most people get confused, and I'll be honest, it's a bit confusing even for someone like me who lives in this world. But let me break both down in plain language.
Option 1: The Simple Tier System
Option 1 is basically a scale. The more everyday spend you put on your Bilt card, the higher multiplier you earn on your rent and mortgage. No extra steps, no separate currency to manage.
Here's how the tiers break down using $2,000 rent as an example:
A few things to note about Option 1. You do not earn Bilt Cash from your credit card spend at all. And there's no transaction fee on your rent payment. You just put everyday spend on your Bilt card, whatever tier you end up in determines how many points you earn on housing.
If you want simplicity and something that doesn't require extra steps, Option 1 is for you. It's clean and straightforward.
Option 2: The Bilt Cash Option
If you want more flexibility and don't mind a little more complexity, Option 2 is where things get interesting.
What Is Bilt Cash?
Bilt Cash is Bilt's own currency. Think of it like their own Monopoly money. It works within the Bilt ecosystem, and you earn it, then decide how to spend it on Bilt-related things. This is not regular cash back where you get a statement credit or a check in the mail. It's tied to the Bilt ecosystem.
How You Earn Bilt Cash
In Option 2, you earn 4% Bilt Cash on your everyday spend. And this is on top of the regular Bilt points you already earn from the credit card. So you earn both simultaneously on everyday purchases.
How You Use Bilt Cash for Rent Points
Here's where it clicks. To earn points on your rent or mortgage in Option 2, you have to redeem Bilt Cash. The Bilt team calls it "unlocking" your rent or mortgage points.
For example, my mortgage is close to $4,000 per month. When I go to make my payment, I see that I'm earning zero Bilt points on it by default. But if I toggle on the Bilt Cash redemption, it redeems about $117.81 in Bilt Cash, and that unlocks 1x points on my entire mortgage payment, so close to 4,000 Bilt points.
You have to earn enough Bilt Cash from everyday spend to redeem it for rent points. That's the tradeoff for the added flexibility.
What Else Can You Do with Bilt Cash?
You don't have to use your Bilt Cash for rent points. If you don't find value in earning those points on housing, you can use Bilt Cash for other things in the ecosystem:
- $10 off Lyft rides
- Money off hotel bookings through the Bilt travel portal
- Upgrading your status for a day to take advantage of Rent Day transfer bonuses
- Other perks within the Bilt ecosystem
I like to think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure situation. Other credit cards lock you into redeeming rewards for Dunkin' Donuts or DoorDash. Bilt gives you the cash and lets you pick how to use it. That's where the flexibility comes in.
What I'm Doing with My Bilt Setup
I've been a Bilt cardholder since 2021, back when it required a waitlist or special invite, and I was a happy user for four to five years. But Bilt 2.0 does make things more complicated, and I'm not going to pretend I love it.
Here's my plan. I'm transitioning to the Bilt Palladium at $495 per year, and the primary reason is that it earns 2x points on everything. The Capital One Venture X has been my long-time catch-all card with 2x on everything, but I'm moving a lot of that spend over to the Palladium because I value Bilt points more than Capital One miles.
Bilt Palladium Card
If I earn points on rent and mortgage, maybe six months out of the twelve, that's great. If I don't, I'm not stressed about it. I'm still earning 2x Bilt points on all my miscellaneous spend, which I'm totally fine with.
The 50,000 point welcome bonus plus $300 in Bilt Cash is solid value for the first year. I'm going to try it and see what happens. If I don't like it, hopefully downgrade options will open up. Right now there aren't any, so if it really doesn't work out, I can cancel the card.
The Bottom Line
Bilt 2.0 is not as complicated as it seems once you shift your mindset. Stop thinking of Bilt as a rent card. It's a credit card with the option to earn on rent and mortgage if you participate by putting everyday spend on it.
Option 1 is simple: spend on the card, hit a tier, earn points on housing. Option 2 gives you more flexibility through Bilt Cash, but it's more work. Either way, Bilt points are valuable with great transfer partners and solid Rent Day transfer bonuses.
If you want to check out any of the Bilt cards, I have links below. Using those links helps support my work and the channel.
