I’m debating on if it makes sense to put the card on my list if I don’t pay rent. I know they have plenty of transfer options, just curious if it’s worth it or not if I don’t pay rent.
It has some of the best protections of any free card. Phone insurance, travel protections, and primary CDW for rentals. It’s like a better CSP with no fee unless you have shittons of illgotten UR points to spend in the portal or can really use the online grocery category. With rent day you can use it as a 2x for a decent amount of bills on the 1st. And they really seem to have constant and EXCELLENT transfer bonuses, which is why the points valuation of BILT is so damn high. I think it’s totally worth it, especially in hybrid setups where you really don’t wanna pay a transfer tax.
@Conn
This card is known for rent, but also covers HOA payments for home owners. They add the company into their system just like an apartment complex. There’s no fee to pay online or send them a paper check and you pay thru the app just like you would for rent, and still get the 1x points.
If you travel enough and expect to put good spend on it, there could be some value here, but it’s like me getting the Costco Visa when I don’t shop at Costco. You’ll have to decide for yourself.
@Vaughn
Is the HOA thing ‘for sure’? It would be the main/only reason for me to get the card… Right now I don’t have a card that I can use for HOA payments (> $1,000 per month).
Dezi said:
@Vaughn
Is the HOA thing ‘for sure’? It would be the main/only reason for me to get the card… Right now I don’t have a card that I can use for HOA payments (> $1,000 per month).
100% Yes. Here’s a response from them directly in the comment section and plenty of folks report actively doing it. It’s not a work-around or anything, the card organically supports it and has been available for a couple years now.
https://www.reddit.com/r/biltrewards/comments/10y10dd/does_bilt_rewards_work_with_hoa/
Hope that helps.
@Conn
Illgotten? How do I do that? Asking for a friend.
Oran said:
@Conn
Illgotten? How do I do that? Asking for a friend.
Just the usual constant bonus hunting and rotating of Freedom’s and Inks. I just meant if you play a straight-up game with Chase cards they lose.
@Conn
I consider those well-earned lol.
@Conn
Definitely a get in while you can too. I doubt it remains in its current form within the next 2-3 years.
I don’t think it’s worth it if you don’t pay rent. You can acquire points for those airlines with other credit cards if those points are better than cash back for your needs.
Not really. Rent is the big draw. Here’s some back of the napkin math. Say your rent is $3000 a month (average for a big city). That’s 36,000. At 3x for dining, you’d have to spend 1000 a month to equal that. Travel is 2x so you’d need to spend 1500 a month on travel to equal the rent points. Rent day bonus was nerfed by 90% from 10,000 points max to 1000. So let’s say you max that out, that’s 12,000 points a year. So your rent will give you 36,000 points a year, add 12,000 for rent day bonus and you have 48,000 points in a year. Travel and dining spend to match rent is another 72,000 points. Total 120,000 points a year. Now that’s a solid amount of points, but it assumes you have high dining and travel spend. Now take away the rent and that drops you to 84,000 points which isn’t bad but isn’t great either. Also, if you’re spending that much on dining and travel, you’re probably better off with an Amex Gold plus Green or just a Green. Green will at least net you more overall points (again, considering you’re not paying rent) and has more broad earning across transit as well. Granted, you’re talking about a $150 annual fee vs zero, but again if you’re traveling that much, you’re using the clear credit. The fact of the matter is that if you’re not paying rent with the BILT, you will out earn it easily with the Amex Green assuming the same spend. Amex also isn’t nerfing the Green any time soon, unlike BILT which nerfs things and ignores their own tier system for transfer bonuses. BILT really is a solid card for renters who know how to max the points, but for anyone else, there are much better options.
I pay my HOA with it and just switched to paying my mother’s Assisted Living costs, now that I am managing her finances.
It’s a CSP with no fee, but no Chase ecosystem and less trustworthy than Chase.
If you don’t pay rent, there used to sorta be an argument for it as a Travel and Dining card, but since the Rent Day nerf I’m not sure you can even argue that anymore.
I would say, if you spend a lot on eating out, rideshares (Lyft specifically), travel (hotel and flights), workout classes, and care about hotel/flight partners it can be worth it. Especially, if you don’t already have another credit card where you earn at least 3x points on dining and don’t already have a credit card that has access to transfer partners. In addition to getting points for rent, I’ve gotten a decent amount of points on Lyfts. I live in a major city, don’t have a car so I regularly receive 5x points on Lyfts and 3x on bikeshare rentals I book through the Lyft app.
Additionally, occasionally, Bilt will have transfer bonuses. I received the targeted offer last month that earned me 100% extra points with British Airways / Avios (21k Bilt points earned me 42k Avios points).
Another perk that is slept on is the exclusive dining & happy hour events! I got to attend an open bar HH at the Waldorf on October 1st (for only $30) on the first of October. This event was commemorating the new partnership with Hilton. I also was able to get in the free monthly SoulCycle this month.
Lastly, this card has no annual fee. It took a big hit when they limited the max rent day earnings from 10k to 1k points but it’s still a great card!
Dude really put no effort into research before posting this question.
No SUB so you need a pretty high rent payment for this card to be worth a slot.
It does not have a real SUB other than the 5 day post delivery bonus. The rent day nerf is overblown. It still earns 3X Hyatt points with dine, 2x with travel, and has free CDW making it better than Sapphire with no fee other than the no SUB. There are also transfer bonuses that still occur on the 1st (rent day).
The only deciding factor is if you care if it has SUB or not. If you do then perhaps a WF autograph instead but with no CDW and worse partners. Or a CSP or Citi Premier or the like with an annual fee (or even VX if you don’t care about portals).
It’s really not that great of a card without the rent benefit and honestly it’s likely to get extremely nerfed within the next few years.