Bilt spent less than a year settling into 2.0 before handing cardholders another fork in the road: Flexible Bilt Cash or updated rewards, with a hard anniversary deadline and no going back. Also today: last call on Delta’s biggest (and weirdest) welcome offers, Southwest’s final Companion Pass window, and a guide for eating and drinking your way through Mexico City.
- 🤔 Bilt Is Confusing: Here’s How to Navigate Recent Changes
- 🎙️ New Pod Alert: News Roundup
- 🤝 Deal of the Day: Last Chance to Earn Miles & a Companion Pass
- 📖 Gettin’ Booksy: Kathy’s Daughter Skates Through Berlin!
- ⏳ Last Call on Delta’s Biggest (& Weirdest) Welcome Offers
- 🤤 Our Best Bites & Sips in Mexico City Last Week
- ✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
🤔 Bilt Is Confusing: Here’s How to Navigate Recent Changes
Less than a year after Bilt 2.0 sent even seasoned points collectors reaching for calculators, Bilt is back with another decision for cardholders … and this one comes with a deadline.
Right now, Bilt cardholders can pick between two ways to earn:
- Flexible Bilt Cash: Earn 4% back in Bilt Cash, Bilt’s store-credit-style second currency, on everyday purchases. Then spend it to unlock points on your rent or mortgage, or on “Point Accelerators” that add an extra point per dollar on up to $5,000 in spending (up to 5 times a year).
- Updated card rewards: No Bilt Cash on purchases. Instead, you earn up to 1.25x points on rent or mortgage, depending on how much you charge to the card compared with your housing payment.
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, new cardholders won’t get a choice: It’s updated card rewards only. Existing cardholders have until the day before their card anniversary to lock in Flexible Bilt Cash. After that, you can still switch from Flexible Bilt Cash to Updated card rewards … but never back.
So which should you pick? The single most useful number is how much you charge to your Bilt card each month compared with your rent or mortgage payment.
- Spend less than your housing payment? Updated rewards usually win.
- Spend more? Flexible Bilt Cash pulls ahead. For example, a Palladium cardholder with a $2,000 mortgage and $3,500 in monthly spending earns about 14,000 more points a year.
- Not sure? Keep Flexible Bilt Cash. It’s the only option that leaves room to change your mind.
If you’ve been eyeing a Bilt card, you’d be wise to apply before the end of the year.
Anyone who opens the *Bilt Palladium* (See Rates and Fees) or the *Bilt Obsidian* (See Rates and Fees) before Jan. 1, 2027, can still choose Flexible Bilt Cash. Wait until next year, and that option is gone for good.
Read our full guide on how to choose (and find your deadline) here.
– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder
🎙️ New Pod Alert: News Roundup
📰 Basic Fares Get Worse, Bilt & Amex Changes & More Travel News
📻 This week, the guys analyze why the cost to upgrade out of those pesky basic economy fares keeps climbing, and what you can do about it. They also play “Travel Tinder” – letting Kyle choose whether to swipe right or left on a ton of big travel stories from the past week, including Bilt, Southwest, some fun new routes, and status changes.
Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned for the next installment next week!
🤝 Deal of the Day: Last Chance to Earn Miles & a Companion Pass
Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥
Why we love it: Southwest’s Rapid Rewards credit cards have elevated bonus offers of up to 90,000 Rapid Rewards points (depending on the card you choose), but this is also the last chance to get a Southwest Companion Pass using a card sign-up!
Southwest’s Companion Pass is changing in 2027, so this is your last chance to earn one this way!
Head to our post for all the Southwest card offer details and to see how to earn a Companion Pass.
– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
📖 Gettin’ Booksy: Kathy’s Daughter Skates Through Berlin!
Welcome to Gettin’ Booksy, a celebration of our favorite feeling: Booking something awesome! Book something lately? Let us know at [email protected]!
What Did Kathy’s Daughter Book?
Kathy wrote us to tell us about her daughter’s SkyMiles + Ryanair booking so she could skate the Berlin Inline Marathon this fall!
How’d Kathy’s Daughter Book It?
She got a Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alert to book roundtrip flights to Dublin (DUB) for 34,000 Delta SkyMiles and then booked a connecting flight to Berlin (BER) for $92 roundtrip to complete the itinerary!
What Makes it So Awesome?
This booking is the perfect example of one of our favorite travel rules:
When looking for a flight to Europe, book the cheapest flight you can find to the continent and then figure it out from there.
The $92 roundtrip Ryanair flight is the perfect example of this! If Kathy’s daughter had searched only for Berlin flights, she might have been priced out and missed the opportunity to skate the marathon!
From Kathy’s Daughter:
I’m a frugal traveler, and this positioning trip through Dublin was perfect and very cost-effective!
Congrats on finishing the marathon! What a cool experience. And you’re only a few bucks and a few SkyMiles lighter because of it. That’s what travel is all about.
– Gunnar Olson, flight deal analyst and travel reporter
⏳ Last Call on Delta’s Biggest (& Weirdest) Welcome Offers
Some of the biggest – and weirdest – credit card offers we’ve ever seen are going, going … almost gone.
Back in late August, Amex rolled out big limited-time welcome offers across the full lineup of Delta SkyMiles Cards. If you’ve been on the fence, it’s time to decide what to do: These offers end next Wednesday, Nov. 4.
The headliner is still the top-tier Reserve Card. Delta usually pushes the Reserve bonus past 100,000 SkyMiles and calls it a day. This time, it’s a two-part bonus instead:
- *delta reserve card*: Earn 50,000 SkyMiles plus two roundtrip tickets in Delta Comfort to anywhere in the mainland U.S. (excluding Hawaii and Alaska), Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands after spending $10,000 in the first six months. ($650 annual fee, see rates & fees)
These certificates come with surprisingly few strings attached. There are no blackout dates, no fare restrictions, and no cap on ticket prices, making them perfect for when flight prices are at their highest. You also don’t need to use both on the same trip.
There are some catches. You can’t book within 21 days of departure, and you’ll pay taxes and fees (no more than $80). The flights won’t earn miles or Medallion credit, and you’ll need to book and fly by Jan. 15, 2028.
Given what airfare costs these days, one certificate could easily cover $600 or more on a simple domestic roundtrip. Use them on a trip to Puerto Rico or around the holidays, and $2,000-plus in value from the certificates alone is realistic. The 50,000 SkyMiles are just … well, a bonus.
If you’re new to Delta cards, we wouldn’t usually recommend starting with the Reserve. Amex’s SkyMiles bonus rules mean you have to work your way up the card ladder, not down. Opening the Reserve first makes you ineligible for future welcome offers on the cheaper Gold and Platinum cards. Given the value here, though, this could be the rare exception.
Would you rather start at a lower tier? The Gold and Platinum have big offers of their own:
- *delta skymiles gold card*: You may be eligible for as high as 80,000 bonus miles and a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your new card in your first six months. ($0 introductory annual fee, then $150, see rates & fees)
- *delta skymiles platinum card*: You may be eligible for as high as 90,000 bonus miles and a $300 statement credit after you spend $4,000 in eligible purchases on your new card in your first six months. ($350 annual fee, see rates & fees)
All information about the Delta SkyMiles Cards has been collected independently and has not been reviewed by the issuer. For full disclosure, these are not affiliate links.
Keep in mind that those are “as high as” offers, so neither bonus is guaranteed. Amex will tell you which bonus you qualify for (if any) before you submit your application and before your credit is pulled. There’s no risk in checking.
Small business owners have elevated offers too, including a record 200,000 SkyMiles on the Delta Reserve Business Card after spending $20,000 in six months.
If you’ve got a use for Delta SkyMiles – and trust us, these miles have been worth earning lately – don’t let these offers slip past you. After Wednesday, they’re gone.
Learn more about the Delta Cards and these awesome bonus offers!
– Jackson Newman, senior editor
🤤 Our Best Bites & Sips in Mexico City Last Week
A note from Kyle: This is our second dispatch from our annual team retreat to CDMX last week – stay tuned for more tips, guides, and more!
Here at TT HQ, we’re all still riding high from our company trip to Mexico City last week … and by that I mean, we’re all a few pounds heavier. Or at least I am.
I said it before and I’ll say it again: Mexico City is easily one of the best food cities in the world. I can say that definitively after our time eating our way across the city, knowing full well that we barely scratched the surface of this delicious city in four days.
Here are a few spots I can’t stop thinking about to pin in your maps for your first (or next) trip to CDMX:
Guzina Oaxaca
Polanco
Book your dinner here. Right now, before you forget.
A few members of our team had visited this Oaxacan restaurant years ago on previous trips to the city and swore it was a must for a team dinner. As we made the walk from our hotel, some of them worried aloud whether they had overhyped it.
Dear readers, they did not. It was the best meal of the trip, by far – and that says a lot.
The salsas made tableside in a molcajete, spiciness to our liking, was sublime. The ceviches (pictured below), outstanding. The beef tongue tacos, tender and flavorful. The tamales in red mole and the duck breast in black mole, unforgettable.
Oh, and did I mention the cocktails served in ceramic gas jugs? Let the record show: The jugs were small … but potent.
I’ll be thinking about this meal for a long, long time.
Taqueria Orinoco
Polanco, Condesa, Roma Norte, Zocalo & other locations
We ate a lot of tacos in our four days in CDMX. I won’t tell you how many…
But this small chain was the consensus favorite. You can never go wrong with tacos al pastor (spit-roasted pork with pineapple, a classic), but don’t sleep on the chicharrón. And for a tasty, cheesy spin on a classic taco, order a “costra” – with griddle-melted cheese on top.
Here’s a photo of some of us stuffing our faces as evidence.
Tacos Escándalo
Roma Norte
This was our first stop on a whirlwind night that brought us to the spectacle that is Lucha Libre. And it was the perfect tone-setter.
Come for the tasty tacos and a red salsa correctly described (and completely ignored by yours truly) as “really f***ing hot” – I promise, it’s worth not being able to feel your lips for the next 30 minutes.
Stay because the only thing better than the tacos and mezcal are the vibes.
Los Tacos
Zócalo
When you’re finally hungry again after eating tacos, stop for more tacos.
This homey spot in a beautiful old building near the epicenter of the city was one of our stops on a food tour and a fan-favorite among our team.
Churrería Santo Domingo
Zócalo
Just around the corner from that taco spot is this quaint churro stand. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I physically couldn’t stop eating this churro filled with cajeta (think dulce de leche).
Some others on our team stopped at one of the many locations of the fan-favorite Churrería el Moro and raved about them, too.
Libreria Castelar
Polanco
I pride myself on finding a good bar in any city, and CDMX is absolutely spoiled for choice. Still, I think this was a gem.
A bar behind a bookcase door … with cozy seats and book-lined shelves inside … and menus tucked inside of more books? Say less, Mexico City.
A few of us waltzed in here for one last nightcap before flying home last week, and I’m glad we did. Their mezcal negroni was easily the best of the (redacted) I had throughout our trip. Everyone else loved their cocktails, too.
– Kyle Potter, executive editor and a man with no regrets about the amount of the red salsa he put on that one taco despite the collective shaming of his coworkers for not listening
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- 🎢 Hyatt’s biggest-ever New York hotel is coming: an 1,800-room StandardX Times Square with an enclosed free-fall ride and an observation deck over 1,000 feet up, due in the second half of 2028. (One Mile at a Time)
- 🍽️ American Airlines is reopening its Flagship Dining room at Los Angeles (LAX) next week after more than six years dark. Flagship Business flyers on long-haul international, premium transcon, and Hawaii routes now get in, along with oneworld first class passengers. (View from the Wing)
- ⏳ Last call: Amex’s 25% bonus on transfers to Air France/KLM Flying Blue ends Saturday, Oct. 31.
- ✈️ Check your Amex Offers: some Platinum cardholders are targeted for $250 back after spending $2,000 directly with Delta by Nov. 30. (Doctor of Credit)
