Is Bilt 2.0 worth it?

https://alexchao.substack.com/p/is-bilt-20-worth-it

by alexchaomander • 6 months ago

2 2 6 months ago

alexchao.substack.com

s Bilt 2.0 worth it?

Like a lot of people over the past week, I asked myself that question. After an embarrassingly long time searching, reading X/Reddit and watching TikToks on the subject, I walked away more confused than informed.

What used to be a no-brainer credit card with Bilt 1.0, suddenly became a big-brained endeavor with Bilt 2.0.

Before: “Pay rent, get points.” Now: “Calculate your spend-to-rent ratio, Use Bilt Cash to offset your rent/mortgage fees (huh?), Choose multiplier tiers, etc...”

So I built myself an app.

https://is-bilt2-for-me.pages.dev

Read the full in-depth post on my newsletter Chaos Theory! https://alexchao.substack.com/p/is-bilt-20-worth-it

If the app is helpful to you or a friend, please share it!

tart-lemonade• 6 months ago

After using this I'm even more confused. For what I spend in a month, there is zero upside to using it for rent: if this calculator is correct, every $100 of the first $800 I spend on rent reduces the net value by $10. I thought this was supposed to be suited towards paying rent, not towards not paying rent!

In fact, with the $495/year Palladium card, all you need to break even is $50/mo on travel. If this calculator is correct, I find it hard to believe that would pencil out for Column N.A. considering I'd be getting $600/year in annual credits. Assuming there's no monthly spend requirement past the initial $4k in 3 months and I can just get the rewards with one month of purchasing thereafter, all I need to do is buy 6 month-long transit passes and I'm already up $155 for the year (ignoring the $1400 welcome bonus since I'd need to spend $4k to get it).

It seems like a great deal (half a year of free transit passes every year) but surely there's a gotcha somewhere in the fine print.

Is Bilt 2.0 worth it?

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