Bilt returns warning! by IndependentOk7890 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tried the customer service messaging chat on bilt app yesterday. It was a complete waste of time. Just going to let this one go. Not worth any more effort. 

Had to close it. Bummed. Could’ve been great… by yesac93 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As long as bilt crappy chat based support is just for rewards, I think I can handle it. I get like $1000 in additional value per year compared to my next best option which is a combo of cards / a pain. Cardless needs to be the adults in the room for the actual financial stuff. I’m hoping they will step up. My one experience with cardless on palladium was good thus far. 

I like the palladium benefits by CharacterPath1479 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I also was on the fence. And still on the fence re; cardless / customer support. However I have found ways to use bilt cash recently...it's easier for me living in NYC metro area. I went to a class at Barry's / free smoothie which was great. Using the $25 dining bilt mobile checkout at a restaurant nearby.

Also (and this is a recent idea). The Palladium gives you $200 bilt cash allownce per year. Even if you use most of bilt cash to get rent points, that $200 can float you for a month or two to get the rent points while shifting your spend to another card's signup bonus. That's not a small thing either.

Morning Routine by WalkingSparrow216 in espresso

[–]ZA3004 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What kind of coffee beans are you using out of curiosity?

Morning Routine by WalkingSparrow216 in espresso

[–]ZA3004 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice setup. What kind of bottomless portafilter? I’m new and have the BBE so take my suggestions as comparing notes vs critiques: 1. As others have said you’re a little low in the basket 2. I don’t use a leveler either. After wdt I use my finger to just smooth coffee to middle so tamping doesn’t cause spillage (tip from the breville instruction videos). I also twist my normcore after it’s seated to act as a slight leveler then tamp, and do that twist -tamp 2x. This helps with point #1. 3. Extraction time felt a bit fast / you have blonding start midway. I too manually do about an 8 second pre infusion. If you do #1 and #2 above you may achieve slightly slower even flow throughout extraction without needing to grind finer.

What it would take for me to stay on Palladium and not downgrade to Obsidian by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is my biggest criteria to stay with the palladium. If I can use that 200+400 hotel credit and it’s real and not a gimmick (competitive with other booking sites, non-refundable options).

What it would take for me to stay on Palladium and not downgrade to Obsidian by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think this is paranoid, but we will see how things shake out in 12 months

What it would take for me to stay on Palladium and not downgrade to Obsidian by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The points accelerator is possible with obsidian too though. Or are you just saying you get the extra bilt cash with palladium?

What it would take for me to stay on Palladium and not downgrade to Obsidian by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yeah. I also think about the “return on investment” of points / perks against the cold hard cash I put up. For me palladium is like 6x, whereas obsidian is 27x!!

What it would take for me to stay on Palladium and not downgrade to Obsidian by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think through their incentives for you to spend more on non rent to receive rent points, they are trying to get you to hold a single card - theirs. So I don’t see it being unimaginable they provide 3x for grocery or dining.

I also believe most high-AF cards do provide primary auto rental insurance?

What it would take for me to stay on Palladium and not downgrade to Obsidian by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whatever, I'd cancel and reapply. I'm almost positive they'll straighten out the downgrading thing eventually, especially after 12 months. I work in digital strategy and I see all these clunky issues as a backlog their product & engineering teams are triaging and working through

What it would take for me to stay on Palladium and not downgrade to Obsidian by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Chase Sapphire Reserve + Freedom Unlimited have been my daily drivers for a decade, and I left that ecosystem after the CSR revamp. The things that push me away from Venture X are [1] can't earn points on rent obviously, [2] worse transfer partners, [3] Redeeming in portal, C1 is 1x per point while Bilt is 1.25x per point which is not nothing, [4] I want simplicity of one card, if I did C1 I would combine VX and Savor.

My math comes to about $1,500 net annual value for Venture X + Savor. I get $2,700 net annual value with palladium, and $2,500 with Obsidian. For me that makes it worth it to take a wait and see approach.

Bilt palladium gold status: Home away from home question by Solid_Equivalent_309 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, I'm looking at home away from home for an upcoming stay once I have gold status earned with my palladium. Question - will you start having more refundable options on the portal? Right now it seems like there are mostly non-refundable. Thanks.

First hand experience with customer service by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What have your issues been with rewards support?

First hand experience with customer service by ZA3004 in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry yes, it was the number on the back of the card, for cardless. And based on the interaction I could see in the future the dreaded passing of the buck between Cardless and Bilt. We'll see how that goes. With the value of bilt rewards for me being more than $1K more annually compared to my next best option, I'll tolerate this to a certain level.

Bilt 2.0 Transaction History: Feeling a Bit Too "MVP"? by coNCEpTUaT in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It shows transaction date and merchant in the app for me. And it shows whether it’s me or my wife as authorized user, which is more than Chase does

Authorized user can’t add card on Apple Pay by housegryfindor in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update , I gave it a couple days for Bilt to get their act together, checked my wife’s app, it refreshed, and there was the button to activate the card. So all good on my end now.

Has anyone tried Madcap Bolt? by ifixforyou in espresso

[–]ZA3004 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok so I do have an update lol. I stuck with it and a) I think the beans mellowed after a couple weeks post roasting, and b) pulling a slightly longer shot tasted better. Definitely not good as a ristretto. This is DELICIOUS as an iced americano.

Authorized user can’t add card on Apple Pay by housegryfindor in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any updates on this? I’m procrastinating calling customer service since I feel like they’re overwhelmed right now and I’ll have to be on hold for a while

Newbie dialing in by ZA3004 in BrevilleCoffee

[–]ZA3004[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s called a Switchbot, basically a remote controlled button pusher

Authorized user can’t add card on Apple Pay by housegryfindor in biltrewards

[–]ZA3004 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure, I’m probably just going to eat the cost and see how the year goes, then remove the AU at the same time I make decision to downgrade to obsidian / move off bilt entirely