Personal Finance

Dear Bilt Palladium: You’re Welcome to Move in, but You Won’t Pay the Rent

14 January 2026

Dear Bilt Palladium Card,

Welcome to the block! The neighborhood is full of other successful premium travel cards, and you’re going to fit in well. Just not in the way you think.

Let’s be clear — I won’t use you to earn points for paying rent or a mortgage. The math doesn’t make sense. But as a traditional travel credit card, you might still make it to the top of my wallet.

Bilt Blue Card ($0 annual fee).
Bilt Obsidian Card ($95 annual fee).
Bilt Palladium Card ($495 annual fee).

These cards are currently available for preorder, and cardholders can start using them on Feb. 7.

You’re offering a solid 2 Bilt points for every dollar spent on the card, with no bonus categories to manage. In addition to those points, you’re also offering 4% back in Bilt Cash (a new rewards currency) on all purchases, excluding rent or mortgage payments.

I didn’t start 2026 expecting to get another premium travel card, but those benefits are why I’m choosing you to replace my Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card.

I’m a credit card optimizer to the core, but I’m not someone who likes babysitting a bunch of bonus categories. With you, the Bilt Palladium card, I’ll get both outsized rewards and simplicity by earning a flat 2 Bilt points per dollar plus 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases.

That makes you more generous than other established premium cards. Based on NerdWallet’s point values, here’s how those rewards stack up on $5,000 of non-bonus spend:

	American Express Platinum Card®	Chase Sapphire Reserve®	Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card	Bilt Palladium Card
Rewards earned on $5,000 of non-bonused spend	5,000 Membership Rewards.	5,000 Ultimate Rewards®.	10,000 Capital One Miles.	10,000 Bilt Points + $200 Bilt Cash.
NerdWallet’s value of those rewards toward travel	$80.	$90.	$160.	$180 + $200 = $300.

Your Bilt Cash can be redeemed at a 1:1 rate for purchases within the Bilt ecosystem, including hotel stays booked in the Bilt Travel portal, fitness classes, and Lyft rides — and that’s how I plan on using it.

Bilt Cash can also be used to offset the 3% fee you’ll pay to earn an uncapped 1 point per dollar spent when paying your rent or mortgage through Bilt.

Now, I have to be honest. I know you like to talk about how you can help people earn rewards on rent or mortgage payments. But you’re charging a 3% fee to earn 1 point per dollar spent on those housing payments. Sure, you can cover that fee with Bilt Cash, but that would only make sense if you could redeem each point for more than 3 cents apiece, and that’s a tall order.

Instead, using the Bilt Cash on expenses I’d otherwise pay for puts cash immediately back in my pocket.

As for the points, my plan is to stockpile Bilt points from everyday purchases until there’s a Rent Day transfer bonus I want to use.

While I considered switching to the Bilt Obsidian Card to earn 3x points on dining or groceries (up to $25,000 in grocery spend per year) and the same 4% back in Bilt Cash, that card only offers 1x points in non-bonus category spend. I’d rather get your extra travel benefits and not have to worry about tracking bonus categories or spending caps.

If I wanted to earn bonus rewards at the grocery store, I’d turn to the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, which has a $0 annual fee and earns 3% back at a wider range of merchants, including both grocery stores and restaurants.

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First impressions are important, and sign-up bonuses are the easiest way to get my attention with an initial slug of miles and points. That’s one of the reasons I’m looking at you, Bilt Palladium Card.

Of the three new Bilt cards, you’re the only one that offers a points-based welcome offer that new cardholders (including those moving from the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card), can earn: 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 3 months + $300 of Bilt Cash.

Your sign-up bonus more than makes up for your $495 annual fee in the first year. NerdWallet values Bilt points at 1.8 cents each, so 50,000 points is worth $900. Add that to the $300 in Bilt Cash, and this sign-up bonus tops $1,000 in value, even before factoring in the additional perks, such as annual credits and Priority Pass lounge access.

I also see some signs that you might help me out in the long term, Bilt Palladium Card.

In addition to that big sign-up bonus, you also come with an annual $200 in Bilt Cash and $400 in hotel credits when you book a two-night minimum stay through Bilt Travel (issued as two $200 semiannual credits).

The $400 in hotel credits will take a little bit of work to optimize since they’re doled out as $200 in credits from January to June, and another $200 from July to December. But this won’t require much effort compared to the pile of credits you need to track with other premium travel cards. You are the only new Bilt card that offers these annual credits, and since I travel a lot, it won’t be hard to use them.

The best transfer partners of any premium card

Another thing I like about you, Bilt Palladium: You’re well-connected to some of my favorite loyalty programs.

Your earning structure means I’ll earn Bilt Rewards more quickly and more easily than I would with the other two Bilt cards. That’s great news, because those points can be transferred to some of the most valuable travel partners out there, like World of Hyatt and Atmos Rewards, the joint loyalty program of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.

Additionally, Bilt’s Rent Day transfer bonuses, which change every month, can provide up to a 100% bonus on a rotating selection of transfer partners, adding even more potential value to those points.

While you have a similar earnings structure and value proposition to the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, there’s no denying that your transfer partners are significantly better than Capital One. Since nearly all of my credit card points are transferred to travel partners, I have a feeling we might see each other pretty frequently.

The card I didn’t know I needed

Bilt Palladium Card, you may not be as simple as the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, but your value is much more straightforward than the premium cards from Chase, Citi or American Express. I’ll gladly put in a little more effort to use your benefits if it means earning points that can be transferred to what I think is the most valuable group of travel partners out there.

After weighing the costs and benefits, we seem to be a perfect fit, and I’m glad you’re here. Welcome to my wallet.

All information about the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card has been collected independently by NerdWallet. The Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card is no longer available through NerdWallet.