Why I Opened the Bilt Palladium Card (Even Though I’m Not Using It for My Mortgage)
Guest Post by Jilene Brady @thetravelingdeals
Bilt recently came out with three new credit cards, and it created quite a firestorm across the internet. Previously, Bilt card holders were able to use their cards for fee free rent payments and earn Bilt points on those payments. With the new cards, you can still pay rent, and now your mortgage, but in order to earn points on those payments there are new requirements.
My take on the new Bilt 2.0 cards is this: I think the best value comes from the Bilt Palladium card and it has nothing to do with the option to pay my mortgage, but instead with the other benefits that I’ll break down below.
Breaking Down the Bilt Palladium Card
Annual fee:
$495
Welcome offer:
Earn 50,000 bonus points and Bilt Gold status (through the rest of the calendar year in which it was earned and the following calendar year) after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Additionally, cardholders receive $300 in Bilt Cash upon approval.
Everyday earning:
Earn unlimited 2 Bilt points per dollar on everyday spending
Earn 4% in Bilt Cash back
Travel credits & perks:
$400 annual Bilt Travel portal hotel credit
Issued as two $200 credits, available biannually
$200 in Bilt Cash annually, deposited each year
Priority Pass membership, providing access to participating airport lounges
Why I Opened the Bilt Palladium Card:
1: The Welcome Offer
With the Bilt Palladium card, you’ll earn 50,000 bonus points and Bilt Gold status (through the rest of the calendar year in which it was earned and the following calendar year) after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Additionally, cardholders receive $300 in Bilt Cash upon approval.
Bilt has some of the best transfer partners out there and they have historically offered valuable transfer bonuses.
2: Bilt Status
You will earn Bilt Gold status after you meet the spend requirement. This gives you access to better transfer bonus rates. For example, in the past Bilt had a FlyingBlue transfer bonus and those with Gold status received a 125% bonus. That means 50,000 Bilt points become 112,500 FlyingBlue points.
The second important benefit of holding Bilt Gold status is the ability it gives you to continue transferring points earned through Rakuten at a 1:1 ratio even after May 2026. ($10 cash back through Rakuten = 1,000 Bilt Points.) I do most of my online shopping through Rakuten and will earn a good amount of Bilt points this way.
3. Bilt Cash
After you are approved for the card, you will receive $300 Bilt cash as part of the welcome offer.
What makes this interesting to me is that I can use this to get temporary access to some perks that come with Platinum status. This upgraded status can get me an even higher transfer bonus. Using the FlyingBlue example from above, instead of the 125% bonus Gold members had, Platinum members had 150%. Those 50,000 Bilt points become 125,000 FlyingBlue points. More info on this -> HERE.
You can also use $200 of Bilt Cash to earn an extra 1x Bilt points per dollar up to $5,000. You can activate this benefit up to five times throughout the year. Because the regular Bilt earn rate on everyday spend is 2x points per dollar, this allows you to earn 3x per dollar on everyday spend!
4. Earning Rate
The Palladium card will earn a flat rate of 2x/dollar on all purchases (excluding rent/mortgage). This means if you meet the $4,000 sign up spend by using this card for groceries, gas, bills, etc, you will earn at least 58,000 Bilt points. (50,000 welcome offer plus 8,000 from the $4,000 x 2x on all purchases)
5. Off-setting the Annual Fee
I always look at how the benefits of a card off-set the annual fee when deciding on whether to apply for it or not. This card includes a $400 Bilt Travel Portal hotel credit, issued biannually. If you plan to travel and stay in a hotel 2 times during the year, you can use this credit to cover $200 towards a hotel night the first half of the year, and $200 the second half.
Priority Pass Membership: if you value lounge access at airports, this covers you plus 2 guests to access lounges across the world.
The Bottom Line
I know most of the hype around Bilt has been focused on their rent/mortgage options, but I hope this gives you a new angle to view this card and how it could work for you. After the first year if you don’t find the value, the option is always there to downgrade to the $0 annual fee card or close it all together.
Related Posts:
Bilt Card 2.0: Full Breakdown of the New Card Lineup
FREE Beginner’s Guide to Points and Miles
Want to travel for free?! ✈️ Grab a FREE Beginner's Guide to Points and Miles and learn how to redeem FREE TRAVEL this year! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD!
I appreciate it so much when you use my affiliate links that are linked in the post.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: