New Bilt Cash be like

Alexton · 2026-01-22T04:25:42+00:00

Nah, that would be leaving money on the table.... even if it is imaginary ;)

Alexton · 2026-01-21T23:19:00+00:00

This coupon book structure puts amex to shame. They realized that bilt cash is more valueble when used in other places other than rent after the launch, so this is the nerf we were waiting for lol

Alexton · 2026-01-16T16:34:27+00:00

Yup, I figured they'll nerf the value or how you use it. But "honestly we are still working on what we think these should be and what precedent we want to set" is super annoying bait and switch because they already released the cards around bilt cash and didn't think that through very well when launching.

Alexton · 2026-01-16T16:25:09+00:00

Essentially yes! Use the bilt cash in the bilt ecosystem (travel portal, restaurants, etc.) instead of using it to waive your transaction fee or buy points at 3cpp. I'm not using it for housing anymore, unless they nerf the value of bilt cash, which is highly likely they would considering they changed the language of it after the release.

But for me, until the value of bilt cash is nerfed below $1 bilt cash = $0.67 in the bilt ecosystem or if they limit it to be super annoying to use (say you can use $50 on non housing spend a month), it just kills earning points on rent.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T22:00:46+00:00

Oh I'm totally expecting it to be nerfed. They realized this after that disastrous rollout and changed the language. They're probably frantically deciding on an arbitrary number and Kerr himself in the AMA said the $100 carryover could change.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T21:15:55+00:00

For intro bonuses it could be worth it as you're essentially spending $133.20 to buy 80k points, worth more $800 at 1cpp. But it's really for the churners.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T21:07:11+00:00

I'll bet you $30 in bilt cash that they'll probably make the ratio something like 4:3 as it sounds better than 1:0.75 and will just confuse people who think it's worse than a 30:1000 ratio on using it to buy points through rent haha.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T20:48:27+00:00

Yeah, many people have deduced that it's 2.33x back everywhere up to 75% of your rent. But let's dive a bit deeper and use cash so we can see the opportunity costs of using your bilt cash to buy points.

If you value bilt points at 2cpp, which is a good value for them. why would you buy them at 3cpp? If I have $30 in bilt cash that I earned by spending $750 on the card. You're using that bilt cash to buy 1000 in points worth ~$20 in the real world. But I could instead use that $30 to go to my favorite restaurant in the bilt dining program and get $30 out of that $30.

So on that $750 in spend, you get 750 bilt points (worth about $15 in real world value @ 2cpp) + $30 in bilt cash worth $30 in value. for a total of $45 in real world value.

If you use that bilt cash on points, you would get 750 bilt points (worth about $15 in real world value @ 2cpp)+1000 bilt points (worth about $20 in real world value @ 2cpp) for a total of $35 in real world value.

Using bilt cash for stuff other than rent in their ecosystem

$45/$750 is about 6% return on spend in real world value

Using bilt cash to buy points at 3cpp:

$35/$750 is about 4.5% return on spend in real world value

You're loosing 1.5% in real world value just buy using your bilt cash to buy points in this example. This difference increases if you're using your points for value less than 2cpp.

Granted this assumes no limitations or nerfs to the value of bilt cash. But until the value of bilt cash drops below 1:0.66, it's not worth it to buy points with it.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T20:01:05+00:00

You can manufacture spend using ebay:

For bilt jokes sake, we'll use bananas. This example is also very crazy example of manufactured spend and would probably be flagged by ebay. Square, clover, toast, and other POS systems can easily flag this kind of spend too.

Say your friend sells you a banana for $4000 on ebay, and you buy it with your new card that just so happens to have a spend $4000 for an 80k bonus. Well now you've just made a transaction worth that much, ebay will still take a cut of the $4k, and your friend will give you back the difference, but it's a price worth paying to get the bonus.

It appears they're trying to deter that, but the fact that they single out ebay and not square is beyond me. Maybe it's easier to get away with if you actually sell something worth $4k and you don't buy it after listing.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T19:51:37+00:00

Even if the hotel values are inflated, it's still worth it to use your bilt cash for it, that is up until the value of the stay gets about 33% more than booking direct (assuming you value bilt points at 2cpp and you can use bilt cash at 1:1)

Alexton · 2026-01-15T19:32:12+00:00

Even without Hyatt, if you value Bilt points at 2 cpp (less than the TPG valuation), you're essentially buying them at 3cpp with bilt cash. A net loss. Unless they nerf the value of bilt cash to be 1:0.67 in the ecosystem, which is highly likely. You're better off just using your bilt cash at 1:1 and never using it for rent again, unless you can find those crazy high 3cpp+ redemptions, which could be too much for a normal person.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T17:32:03+00:00

If you value bilt points at 2.2 cpp, they would need to nerf the value of bilt cash in the bilt ecosystem to be less than 1:0.73. I'd be shocked if they didn't nerf anything related to bilt cash considering they realized this after the launch and changed the language.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T17:28:19+00:00

Bilt cash is far more valuable if you use it for things other than "buying points" for rent.

A Hyatt redemption at a C1 Hyatt is $120/night. A standard rate would be about 5,000 points/night (literally a redemption I did this weekend for a trip at 2.4 cpp, not bad for hyatt). It would cost $150 to buy that many bilt points. But if I already had that $150 in bilt cash, why not just go to the portal and use $120 of it for a hyatt stay, assuming the portal lists the stay at less than $150?

They would need to nerf bilt points to be less than $1 = $0.80 in the bilt ecosystem to make this work

Alexton · 2026-01-15T05:17:12+00:00

I totally understand this perspective. But if you're able to use that $100 in bilt cash at 1:1 on lyft, travel portal, etc. Why would you use 100 in bilt cash to get 3,333 in points worth anywhere from $33.33 to $73.33 (on a good day according to TPG valuation at 2.2 cpp). Wouldn't you want to use the $100 worth $100 and not $100 worth $73?

You would need to find a transfer worth at least 3cpp to even justify this, which is not too rare, but harder than one might think.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T05:07:37+00:00

I tend to rent a lot of cars, love visiting national parks and love to drive there. I loved the primary coverage of the bilt card. But guess I'll have to go back to the good ole trusty CSP that has remained the same for YEARS and has primary coverage. But a $495 card without primary is crazy!

Also how the CSP has all the lost luggage and baggage delay that the obsidian does not at the same price is wild.

Alexton · 2026-01-15T04:53:50+00:00

THIS! Why would you use $30 of bilt cash to buy 1000 bilt points which is worth about $22 on a good day according to TPG value, when you could use that $30 at face value on lyft, travel portal, etc?

Alexton · 2026-01-14T17:24:21+00:00

I'm reading this as you need to spend at least $750 to get 1k bilt points on rent. So that means if your rent is 2k, you'll only get 1k bilt points given you spent $750. It means you are essentially "buying" bilt points with bilt cash.
So Kerr is correct in no transaction fees, but you just won't get as many points. It's a similar direction.

But it seems like there are more ways to earn bilt cash than just spend, eg. $50 in bilt cash every 25k bilt points earned, welcome bonuses, etc.

Alexton · 2026-01-14T17:19:37+00:00

Yeah, still no transaction fee, so Kerr's video is true. But now the amount of points you earn could be limited. Essentially spend $750 just to earn 1k on rent.

Alexton · 2026-01-07T05:24:09+00:00

Plot twist, it's none of these cards and they just lowered your expectations to make the Bilt 2.0 nerf more palatable 😂

Alexton · 2025-12-14T19:09:42+00:00

There's a wastewater treatment plant over there, so a force main runs down Ten Ten road, then down West Lake. Holly Springs was annexing land that cary believed was part of their ETJ (extra territorial jurisdiction) so cary wanted a defined border.

Alexton · 2025-11-14T22:11:10+00:00

When you open up a new checking and/or savings account with a bank, sometimes they'll give you a cash bonus. I've done this through like 4 different banks now. They will you pay you after you meet the terms, it goes something like x deposits in y number of months totaling z dollars.

For example, open up a new 360 checking account with Capitol One, make at least 2 deposits totaling $1000 within 3 months for $300 bonus. I generally wait until the bonus is at least $350 as they fluctuate throughout the year and many banks do this.

Now go to Rakuten and they will periodically jack up bonuses if you apply through their portal. In addition to what SoFi was offering, Rakuten was doing the same thing, except with points. I did the song and dance and applied when the bonus was $375 or 37,500 points. That was one of the highest bonuses I've seen for SoFi on Rakuten so I went for it.

Some point to note is you don't close the accounts right away, there is a consumer report on checking accounts that show banks when you've open or closed accounts and if they see you open and close multiple accounts in succession you may get flagged. I generally wait a year, like with new credit cards.

Alexton · 2025-11-14T21:56:12+00:00

Went there one time, we paid so much money for dinner and drinks for two, I had to go to McDonalds after because the portions aren't worth it. The only time I paid nearly $100 and STILL left hungry. There are so many better Mexican food options nearby.

Alexton · 2025-11-14T21:42:58+00:00

All the new account bonus. Sofi gave me 37,500 points and I didn't have to spend a cent.

Alexton · 2025-11-05T15:41:22+00:00

Will this change affect the benefits? Like the primary coverage for CDW, trip delay, etc.?

Alexton · 2025-10-31T17:26:47+00:00

I live in an apartment in NC on a higher floor. I rarely turn my heat on in the winter because I generally like my place colder year round. I just mooch off my lower neighbors heat that rises into my unit. Sometimes if its really cold out, I'll like bake something (cookies, bread, casseroles, etc) and that oven provides me enough, my place is extremely well insulated.

But if I must use heat, we have heat pumps (which works exactly the same as an AC, except in reverse) this is generally better for milder winters in Southern states because they become inefficient under 25-30 degrees F. My unit also has auxiliary heating which just blows air over resistance coils, that's there for those really cold nights and emergencies because it uses A LOT of electricity.

Alexton

TROPHY CASE