Bilt is changing how cardmembers earn in 2027, but if you open the Bilt Palladium Card by December 31, 2026, you can lock in the old system.
Every time I look into Bilt it looks even more complicated. I'll stick to spending my way to OW Emerald on Alaska Summit.
THANK YOU!
Every time I try to get interested in Bilt my eyes glaze over and I feel like I'm back in the classroom learning ancient Greek to be able to brush up on my calculus.
I've aged out of that. 🙂
And if you want to know why they updated Bilt Cash expiration from 12/31 to 12 months after it's earned, this is it right here - to encourage applications at the end of the year.
It wouldn't surprise me if they originally announced the 12/31 expiration just to see how consumers would react to that expiration without ever intending for BC to expire then. They created an artificial run on BC, which revealed consumers were unprofitably using BC for hotel bookings. Which led to Bilt 2.1 (announced yesterday).
Nothing like fixing a problem that was glaringly obvious at launch. Yesterday was, at a minimum, Bilt 2.2, although given how far the new program now strays from the 2.0 launch, I'd argue it's really 3.0. Surely the housing only option that was introduced shortly after the 2.0 launch was 2.1.
The bigger problem is that once 4% B$ goes away, it becomes nearly impossible to actually earn B$. And if you just get B$600 on account anniversary - it's essentially the exact same 12 month expiration policy, just staggered. Otherwise new cardholders as of 1/1/27 (or anyone who doesn't tick the right opt-in box) are earning B$50 per 25k points.
5x accelerators? Not with B$600 and accelerators costing B$200. 3 at most, and that's if you want to spend no B$ on other things (like speculative points transfer bonuses).
Plus, the idea that you have two more months to be grandfathered in to the 2.0 launch program is hilarious. This is a stick not a carrot - seriously, not an increased SUB or anything? They have rolled out 3 separate programs in 8 months. How can anyone believe the 4% grandfathering will last for more than another 6-12 months?
Bilt and B$ continue to provide exceptional value for some. But for the mass market, it's just a bunch of B$.
Honestly at this point I’ll try to extract as much value out of Bilt Cash as I can until the rug is pulled. But as long as the points earnings on the Palladium and transfer partners for Bilt don’t change appreciably, it’s still going to be a go-to in my wallet.
Yep well said. The funny part about this weeks announcements is it basically massively helps people like me who were planning on cancelling/downgrading at renewal. Now I get BC not expiring which means a few extra mortgage payments in 2027 plus a potential buy-up during transfer bonus in the springtime. And I'm still downgrading anyway lol. Been a hell of a year!! Shoutout Bilt for one of the best churning opportunities in years
@Kate - You should be able to pay rent/mortgage for multiple units. I'm paying my mortgage and HOA separately.