Less than a year after Bilt 2.0 sent even die-hard points & miles enthusiasts reaching for calculators, Bilt is back with more confusion, and asking cardholders to make another big decision … and this one comes with a deadline.
If you have a Bilt credit card and earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases, you have until the day before your card renews to opt out and keep things status quo. If you don’t have a Bilt card yet but want the Bilt Cash option, you’ll need to apply before the end of 2026. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, new cardholders won’t get the choice at all.
Bilt announced the changes on Tuesday, and since then, the question we’ve heard most is a simple one: Which option should I pick? Bilt’s program has gotten so complicated that answering it takes some work and depends on a variety of factors that will vary from person to person.
Here’s how to decide, how to lock in your choice, and exactly when you need to do it.
Thinking About a Bilt Card? Apply in 2026
If you’ve been on the fence about getting a Bilt card, the end of the year is somewhat of a deadline. Anyone who applies before Jan. 1, 2027, can still choose Flexible Bilt Cash, the option that earns 4% back in Bilt Cash on top of your regular points. Apply in 2027, and you’ll be on Bilt’s new setup from day one, with no way to switch.
Applying now doesn’t lock you into anything, either. You can move to the new benefits whenever you want – but if you wait to open the card next year, it won’t be possible, period. When one choice keeps both doors open, and the other closes one for good, that’s an easy call.
This matters most if you’ll put a lot of everyday spending on the card. If you mainly want to earn points on your rent or mortgage payment and don’t plan to use the card much otherwise, the new setup will likely serve you just as well, and there’s no reason to rush.
Which Bilt Card Should You Choose?
If you’re applying to keep Flexible Bilt Cash, there are really only two cards worth considering: the *Bilt Palladium* and the *Bilt Obsidian*. Both can use Point Accelerators, which are the best way to use extra Bilt Cash and the main reason Flexible Bilt Cash is worth keeping as an option.
For those unfamiliar, Bilt’s Point Accelerators allow Palladium and Obsidian cardholders to earn an extra 1x points (on top of the usual rewards) by redeeming $200 worth of Bilt Cash. Each Point Accelerator is good for up to $5,000 in purchases, and you can redeem your Bilt Cash like this up to five times per year. Since the Palladium Card already earns 2x points everywhere, you can essentially turn it into a 3x rewards card on up to $25,000 in spending each year.
The no-annual-fee *Bilt Blue* doesn’t have access to those Point Accelerators, so its extra Bilt Cash only goes toward perks like Lyft rides and GrubHub credits. If the Blue is the card you want, you’d likely end up on the updated rewards track anyway, and there’s no reason to rush your application.
Choosing between the other two comes down to how much of your spending would go on the card:
*Bilt Palladium*: The pick if it’s going to be your everyday card. It earns 2x points per dollar spent on everything (3x with Point Accelerators on $5,000 in purchases, up to five times per year) so all your spending piles up Bilt Cash and points. It also comes with $200 in Bilt Cash and $400 in hotel credits each year. That’s the setup that makes all five Point Accelerators and full points on your rent or mortgage realistic.
*Bilt Obsidian*: The pick if you’d mostly use it for dining or groceries and want a much lower annual fee. It earns 3x points per dollar spent on your choice of dining or groceries, 2x on travel, and 1x on everything else. It also comes with a $100 hotel credit, and it can use Point Accelerators the same way the Palladium can.
Bilt Palladium
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- Annual fee: annual_fees (See Rates and Fees)
Learn more about the *Bilt Palladium*
Bilt Obsidian
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- Annual fee: annual_fees (See Rates and Fees)
Learn more about the *Bilt Obsidian*
The Timeline (and Why It’s So Confusing)
Part of what makes this so hard to follow is that the key dates don’t line up. Some changes hit everyone on Jan. 1, while the most important one depends on when you opened your card.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Now through Dec. 31, 2026 | New applicants can still choose Flexible Bilt Cash |
| Jan. 1, 2027 | New cardholders get the new benefits only, and using Bilt Cash on hotels drops from monthly to twice a year |
| The day before your card anniversary | Last day to choose Flexible Bilt Cash (Feb. 6, 2027, if you’ve had your card since launch) |
| Your card anniversary | Anyone who hasn’t chosen Flexible Bilt Cash moves to the new benefits, and nobody can switch back and forth between earning options anymore |
Today, cardholders can flip between earning options in the app, and plenty of people do it month to month depending on their spending. After your anniversary, that flexibility is gone … no matter which option you choose. If you keep Flexible Bilt Cash, you stay with it unless you decide to switch to the new benefits – and when you do, that switch is permanent.
How to Check Your Option and Opt Out
You don’t have to wait until your card anniversary to make your choice – the option is already live in your Bilt account. Here’s how to find it:
- Open the Bilt app (or log in on the Bilt website) and go to your “wallet”
- Find the section titled “Your card rewards.” Under the “Bonus Rewards” section, click the arrow buttons on the right-hand side.
- To keep earning 4% back in Bilt Cash, select Flexible Bilt Cash and confirm your choice.
- Check the date at the top of the screen. That’s your deadline, and it depends on when you opened your card. As you can see below, I opened my card on Feb. 16, 2026, so my last day to choose is Feb. 15, 2027, the day before my card anniversary. After that date, the Flexible Bilt Cash option won’t be available for selection.
The names on that screen take some decoding, because they aren’t the ones Bilt used in January:
- Flexible Bilt Cash: you earn 4% back in Bilt Cash, Bilt’s store-credit-style second currency, on everyday purchases, then spend it to unlock points on rent or mortgage payments and on extras like Point Accelerators.
- Updated card rewards: you earn no Bilt Cash on purchases, and your rent or mortgage points depend on how much you charge to the card compared with your housing payment, up to 1.25x points
If you’ve been using what Bilt called Housing-only mode, the updated card rewards are that same earning system, paired with a new set of annual credits. On the Bilt Palladium, the new setup swaps today’s $200 in Bilt Cash and $400 in hotel credits for a single $600 in Bilt Cash.
The screen says you can change your choice anytime before your deadline, so picking an option today doesn’t lock you in. The door closes on your anniversary, and after that, you can still move from Flexible Bilt Cash to Updated card rewards … just not the other way.
Bilt Says Most Members Skip Bilt Cash … I’m Not Convinced
Bilt told Thrifty Traveler in a media briefing last Friday that most cardholders don’t use the Flexible Bilt Cash option today. That might be true, but it’s a long way from proof that the simpler option is better for most people.
Remember how we got here. Bilt launched its new cards in January with Bilt Cash as the only way to earn on housing, and the confusion was so widespread that Bilt added the “simpler” option two days later. In my opinion, having two different earning tracks made things vastly more confusing. Plenty of members picked the option they could actually understand, which to me says more about how Bilt explained its program at launch than about which option is better.
There’s also an obvious business reason to retire it. Flexible Bilt Cash is most valuable for people who put serious spending on their card, and those are exactly the members who cost Bilt the most to reward. When a company says it’s ending an option because most people don’t use it, it’s worth asking who was using it … and how much they were earning.
To be fair, simplifying a program that requires calculators and flowcharts is a worthy goal, and the long-term result will likely be a much easier program to understand. The problem is that getting there means more confusion, and yet another forced decision for existing cardholders, on a deadline.
How long will the legacy Bilt Cash earning method be available? That remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is phased out completely over the next year or so.
How to Decide: Compare Your Spending With Your Rent or Mortgage
You don’t need a spreadsheet to get close to the right answer. The single most useful number is how much you charge to your Bilt card each month compared with your rent or mortgage payment.
Bilt Cash unlocks points on your housing payment at $30 per 1,000 points, so 4% back works out to about 1.33 housing points for every dollar you spend ($0.04 ÷ $0.03). Anything left over can buy Point Accelerators, which cost $200 in Bilt Cash and earn an extra point per dollar on your next $5,000 in purchases, up to five times a year on the Palladium and Obsidian.
Here are some general guidelines to consider, based on how much you spend:
- You spend less on your card than your housing payment – Updated card rewards usually win. At half your payment, it earns 0.75x points on housing, while Flexible Bilt Cash earns about 0.67x (0.5 x 1.33).
- You spend about the same on your card as your housing payment – it’s close to a tie. Updated card rewards earn 1.25x on housing, while Flexible Bilt Cash tops out at 1x, but you’ll have enough leftover Bilt Cash for Point Accelerators to help make up the difference.
- You spend more on your card than your housing payment – Flexible Bilt Cash pulls ahead. Every extra dollar earns 4 cents in Bilt Cash, which is worth roughly one more point through Point Accelerators.
- You spend about the same on your card as your housing payment … but it’s lumpy – Flexible Bilt Cash will likely be best. Maybe some months you spend more than your mortgage or rent payment and other months you don’t even come close. Flexible Bilt Cash will help keep points rolling in on your housing payment, even when you’re not spending big elsewhere.
Palladium cardholders who spend heavily can take it one step further. Your Bilt Cash, including the card’s $200 annual credit, covers both full 1x points on your housing payment and all five Point Accelerators once your monthly spending reaches approximately 75% of your rent or mortgage, plus $1,667. With a $2,000 mortgage, that’s about $3,167 a month ($1,500 + $1,667).
Here’s what that looks like on a Palladium, using a $2,000 mortgage and $3,500 a month in everyday spending, as an example. This also assumes you’d use $400 a year on Bilt hotels either way:
| Flexible Bilt Cash | Updated card rewards | |
|---|---|---|
| Points on everyday spending (2x on $42,000) | 84,000 | 84,000 |
| Points on mortgage | 24,000 (1x, using $720 in Bilt Cash) | 30,000 (1.25x) |
| Point Accelerators | 25,000 (five, using $1,000 in Bilt Cash) | 5,000 (one, using the $200 left after hotels) |
| Total points | 133,000 | 119,000 |
| Bilt Cash left over | $160 | $0 |
That’s 14,000 more points a year with Flexible Bilt Cash, plus Bilt Cash left over for perks like Lyft rides … and that gap grows the more you spend.
Two adjustments apply depending on your card:
- Palladium hotel credits: If you wouldn’t use the $400 in hotel credits, Updated card rewards gains ground, and you’d need to spend about $850 more per month than your housing payment for Flexible Bilt Cash to win ($400 ÷ 4% ÷ 12 months).
- Bilt Blue: It can’t use Point Accelerators, so most Blue cardholders are better off with Updated card rewards.
What if you don’t pay rent or a mortgage through Bilt? The Flexible Bilt Cash option will almost certainly be the better choice for you!
What You Should Do Now
- Go to your wallet in the Bilt app or on the website, open the “Your card rewards” screen, check which option is selected, and note your deadline.
- Compare your monthly card spending with your rent or mortgage payment using the rule above.
- If you’re keeping Flexible Bilt Cash, select it now rather than waiting until the last day. If you’re still unsure, keep Flexible Bilt Cash, since you can move to Updated card rewards later, but can never come back after your anniversary.
- If you want a Bilt card, apply for the Palladium or Obsidian before Jan. 1, 2027.
- If you’re already on Housing-only mode and spend less on your card than you pay in mortgage or rent, you can skip all of this and let the switch happen on its own.
Bottom Line
Bilt’s long-term plan to simplify its rewards program may well work, but for now, it has handed members another confusing decision with a deadline attached. The good news is that the decision comes down to one comparison: your monthly card spending versus your rent or mortgage.
If you spend more on your card than your housing payment, or you’re not sure, keep Flexible Bilt Cash, since it’s the only choice that leaves you room to change your mind. And if you’ve been thinking about a Bilt card, apply this year, before that option disappears for good.
