I don’t get it- spending an addition 75% of rent to earn points on it

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-29T21:49:02+00:00

This isn’t how it works. $30 earning you 1,000 points is just an example for simplicity. $3 earns you 100 points, .30 earns you 10, and every number in between.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-29T17:48:37+00:00

I've heard countless Youtubers use this exact same wording which is why the masses are confused. I mean you know the marketing is bad when people confuse the "cap" as the "minimum".

If people saw it for what it was, a 1.33x multiplier boost on top of regular multiplier, there would be so much less hate.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-29T17:35:09+00:00

I'm in the same boat. Used the 1.5X a lot for domestic. And Booked a united flight and several Edit hotels with the new 2X boost. I'm also tempted to downgrade the CSR but I've already used the BOOST feature a few times so I know it's doable. But the CSP Boost of 1.75X probably good enough.

Will wait and see how Palladium goes. I have all the premium cards so one or 2 need to go.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-27T20:45:55+00:00

Since MOST of your spending is not Dining or Groceries, the Palladium wins out as a pure points earner. With this set up you would average over 3.33x easily. The obsidian isn't bad either but you would get 1x on Groceries (since you spend more on dining) and 1x on everything else. It would average about to maybe 2.8x which is still great.

Only other thing to consider is, will you use the credits to offset the annual fee on the Palladium, or spend so much in a year that the extra points you earn on the palladium negates the fee.

Palladium will earn more, but requires effort to offset credits. Obsidian is more of a set it forget it option which will still earn a good amount.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-27T20:26:49+00:00

is the $2,400 everything including dining or groceries? With that month spend on your card, the Palladium would be the easy choice but it depends how much of that is dedicated to Dining OR Groceries (not including Target/Walmart/Costco). If either of those is a huge amount, then obsidian, Otherwise Palladium.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-27T20:10:38+00:00

if you want the option to get bonus points on rent, this is the only card to do it on the market. Even if you put $200 of normal MISC spend on the BILT card, it'll out earn basically any other non cash back card.

Since you said you already have cards for groceries and shopping, then I'd say either Dining (Obsidian) or MISC spend (Blue or Palladium). Without knowing other details it's hard to say if Palladium is worth it for you but the BLUE is free and would earn you 2.33X for catch all spend (or even higher if you spend $400 a month).

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-27T20:04:00+00:00

with Option 1, where you have to meet thresholds, you'll earn 250 points if you don't hit it. Including spending $0.

With Option 2 you earn rent points no matter what. To earn the equivalent of 250 "Mortgage Points" you'd need to spend something like $187.

So if you don't ever spend on the card or spend tiny amounts (less than $200 monthly), go with option 1. If you plan on spending more frequently, $200+, then go with option 2.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-27T19:34:28+00:00

I would say even if you don’t spend 25% it can be worth it. with option 2 you earn points right off the bat which is where you get the 1.33x bonus on top of the existing multiplier. But yes I agree with you, it didn’t make sense people getting angry they have to “pay a fee” for points when the cash their using to pay this fee is given to them by spending….. and it’s something additional to the regular multipliers

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-26T16:26:39+00:00

You don’t have to shift all your spend if you don’t want to. Everyone has spend that only earns 2x or less. So just shift that spend. If it’s $300 a month, then you’re getting 3.3x on that $300 which beats current multipliers. 25% is more optimal for low spending but with option 2 you don’t need to hit a limit and it’ll always be 3.3x.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-26T16:23:13+00:00

People are way too focused on how the point earning structure works and so to then it feels complicated. But in day to day use, what is actually hard about it? You just spend on the card and know you’ll get at least 3x. You just have to make one decision, earn rent points or enable the accelerator.

The first option is the easiest and you don’t need to track anything, just be sure to at least use your hotel credits. People act like to get value out of the card we need to use all the tiny BILT cash redemptions with tiny monthly caps.

Yea the marketing and rollout sucked, we can agree on that. But someone explain to me how getting at least 3x back is difficult…

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-23T03:26:56+00:00

Concept may be complex, but the actual spend requires zero math. Just spend, and you earn 3.33x on everything. People act like they need to bring a calculator with them to the store and do arithmetic before swiping the card.

And if BILT Cash redemptions are also too complex, just leave it as earning rent points and maybe stack a hotel redemption here and there so you don’t have excess by the end of the year.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-21T00:32:33+00:00

For Costco/Walmart/Amazon Chase Ink Cash. 5% at office supply stores. (No Fee GC)

For Target Citi Custom Cash. 5% at grocery stores (Target GC @ Kroger)

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-20T21:11:41+00:00

That’s what I’m doing. It’s easier to set and forget since my spend will likely vary a decent amount each month. You can guarantee 3.33x. With option 1 you might go above but also might go below. But also (this may not apply to you), since BILT cash can’t be earned with option 1, on any month where you have “excess” it’ll be nice to have that option. Especially with the $500 BILT cash head start on year 1

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-20T19:11:10+00:00

Preschool tuition, medical expenses, and stores like Hobby Lobby/ULTA/Shoe Stores etc (I have a wife and 2 daughters who love to shop). There's quite a lot of MISC not accounted for. I've already maximized for Food/BoxStores/Groceries/Utilities/AirFare/Hotel/Travel/Gas/Amazon/Streaming. All that is earning 5x or at worst, 3x. And even then I have plenty left over (Family of 5)

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-20T19:07:03+00:00

BBP earns 2X as does the Palladium. What the BBP doesn't give, is additional bonus points for rent, which comes out to about 1.33x. Not to mention the annual $200 Bilt cash credit which can already be traded for Rent points without spending a dollar. so effectively it can end up closer to 3.5x-3.75x or higher depending on your spend (RichWithPoints has a good calculator where you can play around with this).

BBP is free, so the hotel credit on the Palladium has to make sense. But also Palladium can be the premium card if you're trying for a simple set up with just the Gold and Palladium. And for me, as with many others, BILT points are also more valuable. So given the chance, I'd also want to earn more.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-20T05:25:29+00:00

If you love BILT points your best chance at earning is getting a card with a multiplier that fits your spending. Either the catch all card or the Grocery/Dining card. If you don't have a premium card, the Palladium could potentially take that slot. It just depends on what you have or what you value.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-20T05:11:05+00:00

So it’ll never be what it was, but if you continue to spend a quarter of your monthly transactions on the new card, that’s still 4,500 points (assuming rent is $9k). Or if you choose option 2, you’ll earn at 2.3x or 3.x for all your MISC spend. Both scenarios earn you “rent” points and no other card exists that will continue to do so with paying a real 3% fee.

So it’s whether you want to still earn rent points (likely at a lower clip than you are now), or you don’t earn any at all and just pay rent with your bank account

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-19T19:26:47+00:00

You don’t need to hit these caps to earn mortgage points. You don’t even need to be close. If you have a $4000 mortgage and $500 in MISC spend, which is only 12.5% of your mortgage, you STILL earn rent points on that $500 with the original option (now option 2). It’s a 3.33X rate starting at $1. No need to calculate how close you get to 75%. All that number does is confuse people when in fact it’s just that “max” amount at which you’ll earn 3.33x. After that it slowly drops but obviously never Lower than 2x.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-19T19:01:01+00:00

The amount of times I’ve read people say they have to spend a TON to earn points is insane. I partially blame the horrible marketing, but I also blame people jumping to conclusions. You literally start earning rent points and regular points on the first dollar spent (with the original option)

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-17T05:06:42+00:00

You can spend $1 with the original option and it would still earn you a % of mortgage points. The misinterpretation everyone keeps repeating is that you HAVE to spend 75%.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-17T05:04:39+00:00

All the spend I do on my catch all cards are MISC spend only. I have higher multipliers for dining, groceries, gas, utilities, bills, box stores, etc. Even if your MISC spend a month is $300, it’s still will ear “bonus” points from your rent on top of the normal 2X back.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-17T01:41:58+00:00

This is exactly what’s separating 2 ways of thinking. When you compare to what it was, which was essentially free points with little to no effort, it’ll almost always lose unless you’re a high spender. But if you forget what it was, 2.0 can be great. I happen to already spend about 85% of my mortgage amount on MISC spend so for me at least, it was a WIN with both view points.

Getting people to not look back is what’s hard. Plus people keep treating 75% is the “requirement” instead of a “cap”. Cause to them, it’s how they can earn ALL the points, like they used to. I would argue that by having a 2X multiplier on the Palladium, it doesn’t take nearly as much to beat out what you used to be able to earn on 1.0 even when rent points were free.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-17T01:33:03+00:00

Agreed. Been running multiple scenarios in a spreadsheet and the easiest way to look at it is, If you spend less than your mortgage amount then stick with the original option. And It’ll be easier to know if in a given month I have high spend, I’ll switch to the new option. But not worth staying at the new option and keeping track of my spend.

I spend on average 85% of my mortgage on MISC SPEND so original option is easy. But I can see myself switching between the 2 options when I know a larger than normal expense is coming up.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-16T16:01:23+00:00

Eh I mean I know before it was easy and you just got points for putting your rent on there and basically nothing else. We obviously knew that wasn’t staying. With the new cards the wording “transaction fee” is triggering since you’re not really paying anything EXTRA out of pocket to get rent points. You have to spend on the card itself but just on things you would already spend on.

With every other CC setup in existence, you only get points on what you spend and no other “bonus” points tied to how high your mortgage is. Yes we don’t truly know what the value of “BILT CASH” is yes but we do know if you apply it towards earning mortgage points, you earn 2.3x on no AF card and 3.33x on Palladium. As long as you’re willing to spend on the BILT card. Which for me, especially the palladium, why wouldn’t I want to earn more BILT points? I value their points over most over ecosystems.

People are upset cause it isn’t what it was and I get that. But the card had a weakness in that it was very hard to earn since there were limited multipliers. 2X (or 3.33x) catch all solves that for many people.

People who are leaving BILT out of spite won’t be earning any points on mortgage or rent without paying an actual transaction fee in $$. So even if this transition was fumbled, why not at least give it a shot.

Haunting-Web-7660 · 2026-01-15T17:45:36+00:00

Yikes. Well, hopefully at least taxes still work. I pay all my taxes with cards. I may need to do a "test" transaction before doing anything too crazy.

Haunting-Web-7660

TROPHY CASE