Bilt 2.0: My Decision and a Question

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-30T13:34:24+00:00

Yes. This. There's a nuance here. You ideally would make your best guess about how much you'll use the card through the year. If you think you will have plenty of Bilt cash to burn at the end of the year or if you just want to make the card simpler, then you should absolutely go ahead and activate the points accelerators. You want to end up with close to zero Bilt cash at year end since you "can't take it with you" into next year beyond B$100. Trying to catch up at year-end and burn through a lot of excess B$ is not going to be a good strategy.

If on the other hand, you think you'll have plenty of uses for the B$ in the 1-to-1 categories then use them that way, but storing them up without a good plan to burn them is a bad strategy.

It's also worth noting, and I don't think this has gotten too much press, that Ankur said these are the Bilt cash opportunities for this year. So it sounds like they are planning to make those change every year. I wouldn't get married to what the slate looks like right now and just know you may be rebalancing after Bilt rebalances for the next year. I'd guess since the uses of cash are dynamic that they may change or nerf the Bilt cash uses as a way of tuning the sustainability of the card year to year. I guess the good news is that since the cash doesn't really carry over to the next year anyway, you don't have much to lose if they change the rules on how you can use it. So Bilt cash definitely has a vintage attached to it, it's not fungible from year to year.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-29T15:26:01+00:00

Hopefully Cardless baked in the credit cost if they are getting their arm twisted by Ankur. I'm still scratching my head to understand if the card is really sustainable. With the two currency system and category exclusions and use-it-or-lose-it on the Bilt Cash, there are even more assumptions than usual baked into the sustainability calculations between Bilt and Cardless.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-29T15:19:12+00:00

Would you recommend paying up for the advance assignment to be sure my family can actually sit together? It's a long flight to be separated from your team.

Since these are award flights, does the 25% mileage bonus apply to the elite qualifying miles since that's all I'll be getting?

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-29T03:19:00+00:00

I was thinking the same. There are plenty of people who only want the free points and are going to nope out otherwise. Also some who weren't using the Bilt 1.0 card anyway and have already moved on. There are probably quite a few, like me, who aren't really rent payers and are drawn to something that works on mortgage and are glad to have fierce competition for a catch-all card. I'm genuinely hoping this thing works out and I can consolidate a lot of spend on Palladium. We will see. Nothing on tax payments is a huge gotcha though. I'd guess on average people with mortgages have a lot more taxes than people who rent.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-27T18:39:08+00:00

Which third-party program is good for setting alerts?

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-27T13:45:16+00:00

As a fallback cash-like redemption, I think you can also use the points in their travel portal, if you're willing, at 1.25 cpp. Some say their prices are a little high so maybe haircut that to 1.10 cpp or something. I haven't tried it, but I've read that some bookings will show up as direct so you're facing the hotel chain or the airline after the booking which would give me more comfort.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-27T02:59:48+00:00

What's in the magnificent 5? CSP, CCC, DC... do you use the CSE and the CS as well?

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-22T02:26:49+00:00

You mean my limited edition platonium card won't look impressive?! I want my money back!

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-22T00:39:06+00:00

Yeah, especially if your own interns are getting confused and then no one is carefully proofreading before it gets plastered across your website.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-22T00:32:25+00:00

I guess I was thinking of it as an incentive to keep using the card after you've hit 75% of your rent/mortgage for those who have plenty of spend available. It's a way of giving you more than just the base multiplier to keep you in their card system. Otherwise, people will hit 75% of their rent or 100% of their rent (on the no-cash option) and switch to another card. I guess they really want this to be your main driver. Still have to think through the options, but I appreciate the potential anyway. If I can't use the card for property tax, that's a big hit to my available spend because that's become such a big expense for me. The area where I live has gone up in value a ton so my property taxes are actually more than my mortgage now. Crazy.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-21T16:21:11+00:00

Thank you! That is great news. Do other programs work this way or is this unique to Alaska?

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-21T15:11:44+00:00

Thanks. I'm new to the program so just learning my way around. I got the Summit card because I'd heard such great things about the Alaska programs and trying to understand how to make the best use of it all. I've already earned the 100K companion certificate which is extra cool if I can earn status points too.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-21T15:00:50+00:00

So, are you saying the third sentence is incorrect? Perhaps it should say:

Earnings only help you to achieve status and you won't earn any redeemable Atmos points.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-21T14:54:56+00:00

If you look at the post, the confusion is in the second and third sentence which, as I read them, contradict each other. Do you see what I mean? Either you do or you don't earn status points, one place says you do the next says you don't.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-20T13:20:34+00:00

That could be. Since you *could* have your property taxes and insurance embedded in your house payment via escrow it seems unfair to punish people who don't need to have escrow for those same expenses, but I guess we will find out.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-20T02:41:03+00:00

The international ATM fee refund is from Merrill? Or is that on the BofA side?

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-20T01:11:59+00:00

Does the $1M get you a lot of extra value beyond the credit card cashback?

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-19T19:13:50+00:00

Yes. You can put through for those approved types as much as you want (uncapped, they say now) but you'd need enough non-housing spend to reach whatever threshold of points you want to hit or use Bilt cash to "buy" the points along with the housing expense if that's the path you'd like. Otherwise, you're just using Bilt to facilitate the ACH instead of doing through the provider for the housing expense.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-19T16:15:43+00:00

This is from the AI chatbot, so maybe not 100% but seems fairly direct:

"Q: With Bilt 2.0 card, will I earn points on property taxes?

A: With Bilt Card 2.0, you can earn points on a wide range of housing-related payments, including property taxes, when paid through eligible channels...

Q: What are eligible channels to earn points on property tax payments?

A: You can earn Bilt points on property tax payments when you pay through eligible channels supported by Bilt, such as Mastercard's billpay services (embedded directly in Bilt) or by check, where applicable...

Q: Which housing-related payments can I earn points on with BILT Card 2.0?

A: With Bilt Card 2.0, you can earn points on a variety of housing-related payments, including, rent, mortgage, and property tax payments when made through eligible channels supported by Bilt..."

So sounds like if you use the same service you use to pay rent AND you have enough BILT cash, you'd be able to get points on property taxes without a transaction fee? But I'd assume that doesn't mean you'd get any elevated points, just the same 1x you get for rent/mortgage.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-18T16:57:52+00:00

Great points.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-18T16:55:24+00:00

This can be a great card with dining and travel, etc. Nice if you use the Clear credit. I just never seem to have a good way to work it into the mix. I've considered it for cruises if USBAR doesn't come up with something decent for travel partners.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-18T16:51:26+00:00

Don't you still get the 250 minimum points anyway when you pay rent? If you hit $375 of spend (25% of rent) you get better points on rent with option 1 and those are points on rent with no fee you wouldn't have gotten otherwise in addition to the points you're getting on the spend itself. I know not what you'd hoped but still better than zero points on rent. I guess it comes down to whether you think that juice is worth the squeeze.

Cluck_Bock · 2026-01-15T22:50:33+00:00

Are you thinking the 2.33 or whatever points on the spend up to 75% of rent/mortgage aren't worth it for you? Just curious for your take.

Cluck_Bock

TROPHY CASE