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I’ve been using the Bilt Palladium Card (See rates and fees) as my primary spending card. It earns points faster than any other for general spending, and the points it earns are the most valuable. But there have been two frustrating things about it for me – both of which appear to be solved.
- When Bilt moved away from Wells Fargo and launched their new cards, cardmembers were told they would receive the same credit limit. I didn’t. And because I was using the card for my regular spending I was having to pay it off mid-cycle to have enough credit available.
- Payments to the card wouldn’t free up credit for several days. Last month it took about four business days for credit to become available after I’d made a payment, even though funds had already settled during that time.
Over the past several days, Bilt cardmembers have posted across forums that they’ve seen credit line increases. I saw my own credit limit rise to $50,000, which is what Wells Fargo had given me.
On Tuesday I made a mid-cycle payment to my account, as has become my habit, because my credit line was lower than I was used to (until this change). And something strange happened: instead of taking several days for credit to become available again on my card, I checked it the next morning and it was already there!
Now, I don’t know how quickly this happened. It might not have taken a full day (an overnight). I’ll have to watch closely for this next time. But it’s a real improvement that makes spending on the card much easier.
Anything that makes the Bilt Palladium Card easier to use is great for me, because it’s such a points engine. The card offers 50,000 points after $4,000 in non-housing spend in the first 3 months, and it earns earns 2 Bilt Points per dollar on everyday spend.
- When you earn the initial bonus you also receive Bilt Rewards Gold elite status valid for the rest of the year and the entire next year. That unlocks early access to events and special activities, higher transfer bonuses, and preserves 1:1 transfers from Rakuten (they’ve only promised that for all members for six months). It also unlocks access to Bilt’s Home Away From Home program which you might think of as similar to American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts for their Platinum cardmembers.
- And you can choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash as well, which unlocks point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee (spending 75% of your housing payment earns enough Bilt Cash to cover earning one point per dollar on your rent or mortgage). And you can redeem Bilt Cash to earn an additional 1 point per dollar spent up to $5,000 in spend, up to five times per year. Up to $100 of Bilt Cash earned rolls over to the next year.
That means you can earn 3.3 points per dollar spent up to the amount of your housing payment, and up to 3 points per dollar spent on up to $25,000 after that.
And I consider Bilt to have the most valuable points, with the most and best points transfer partners and the ability to redeem points at 1.25 cents apiece against the cost of travel through their portal.
- Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Miles & Smiles, United Airlines MileagePlus, Avianca LifeMiles, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- oneworld: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Iberia Plus, British Airways Club, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- SkyTeam: Air France KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Southwest Airlines, Aer Lingus Aer Club
- Hotels: World Of Hyatt, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, Accor ALL – Accor Live Limitless, Wyndham Rewards
The card’s rollout four months ago was rocky. They weren’t providing the premium customer service that many members expect for annual fee card products. They’ve invested in customer service and seem to be growing out of some of the early pains, though I’m sure not all of them. I’ve been fortunate not to have any real issues with my card, and it’s absolutely better for general spending than anything else in the field.
I’m glad Gary “got his” because he was previously whining about a low CL for 2.0
@Gary, thanks for your deep dive on Bilt 2.0. There is still some uncomfortable ambiguity about purchases which receive zero points. Reported exclusions include medical payments, taxes paid via the IRS’ credit card processors, state taxes paid via state cc processors, home and commercial insurance payments, just to name a few. And sometimes points actually are awarded. Phone calls for clarity to Bilt Rewards are equally equivocal. Is there any reliable list of known absolute exclusions? Are they the same for all Bilt products?
True i had same issues now have 50000 line and can use card for almost everything
I am still seeing Cardless-speed credits of bank payments but customer service has definitely improved. They continue to move fast on the fixes.