Best in Class
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Bilt Blue Credit Card Review
Key Takeaways
You can still earn points on rent (and now mortgage), but you must meet a required amount of non-housing spend to unlock that earning rate.. Bilt points remain transferable to a strong lineup of airline and hotel partners. You'll earn 4% back in Bilt Cash (which is different from Bilt points) on all non-rent, non-mortgage purchases, plus a few modest category bonuses. But as with most no-annual-fee cards, the other perks are thin.
Why This Card Could Be Right For You
You can still use this card to pay your rent, and you can also use it to pay your mortgage. The biggest change with Bilt 2.0 is that earning Bilt points on those payments must come by putting other, non-housing spend on the card. Fortunately there is still no annual fee on this introductory card.
You will earn $100 in Bilt cash for signing up for the card, with no spending requirement. That effectively serves as the welcome offer. You’ll also earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on all purchases excluding rent and mortgage.
Bilt Cash was introduced with Bilt 2.0 and can be used in several ways. Most notably, you can use it to earn Bilt points on rent or mortgage payments (every $30 in Bilt cash earns 1 point per dollar on $1000 in rent or mortgage payments). There are a variety of other ways to use Bilt Cash. You can see those in the "How to Redeem" section of the Bilt Rewards page.
Other Bilt Blue features include:
- Cellular Wireless Protection
- Purchase assurance
- MasterRental Coverage
Maximizing points efficiency
We don't often recommend no annual fee cards, but the Bilt Blue might be an exception because of the ability to earn points on housing. If you pay housing through Bilt and spend 75% of that amount on your card with non-housing purchases, you unlock 1x points on that housing spend.
- With a $2,000 housing payment and $1,500 in non-housing spend, you'll earn 3,500 total points using the Blue card
- That's an effective 2.33x return on your actual card spend, which is a very strong value for a no annual fee card
When The Usual Advice Doesn't Apply
The exceptions where this card might not be good for you:
- You were a Bilt 1.0 cardholder and used the card to earn points on rent with no caveats
- The new system no longer works for your budget and spending habits
What to Know About Bilt Rewards
No longer a slam dunk for renters, but Bilt’s strong transfer partners make the program worth watching
- Bilt now has three credit cards, all with points transferable to partners that rival, or even outshine, Chase
- You can earn points for both rent and mortgage, but you'll have to put a significant amount of other monthly spend on the card to earn it
- Earning points on housing is more complex, and Bilt’s user base is shifting
- Bilt is now best used as a daily spend travel rewards card when not working on a new card welcome offer
- The program can still be highly rewarding, but you'll need a clear plan to maximize point earning
How The Bilt Blue Credit Card Fits In The Bilt Rewards Ecosystem
The Bilt Blue Card is the entry-level option in the Bilt lineup. It has no annual fee and offers a modest $100 sign-up bonus, paid in Bilt Cash (which is separate from Bilt points).
The next tier up is the Bilt Obsidian Card, which carries a $95 annual fee and includes:
- $200 Bilt Cash welcome bonus (no spending required)
- 4% back in Bilt Cash on all non-mortgage, non-rent purchases
- Stronger bonus categories than Bilt Blue
- $50 hotel credit, twice per year, for bookings made through the Bilt portal (requires a two-night minimum)
- If you use Bilt to pay your housing then spend 75% of that amount on non-housing purchases, you can effectively earn 2.33x, 3.33x, or 4.33x on that non-housing spend depending on the bonus category
At the top of the ecosystem is the Bilt Palladium Card, with a $495 annual fee. That’s partially offset by:
- $300 in Bilt Cash (no spending required)
- 50,000 Bilt points + Bilt Gold status after spending $4,000 on non-rent, non-mortgage purchases in the first 3 months
- 2x points on everyday spend (excluding rent and mortgage)
- Elevated multipliers with select partners
- $200 in additional Bilt Cash on your account anniversary (starting in year one)
- If you use Bilt to pay your housing then spend 75% of that amount on non-housing purchases, you can effectively earn 3.33x on that non-housing spend
All three Bilt cards earn points on rent and mortgage payments under the same rules. You choose one of two ways to unlock housing points:
- Option 1: Spend a required percentage of your monthly housing amount on non-housing purchases to unlock points on rent or mortgage, earning on a sliding scale up to 1.25X per dollar. The more non-housing spend you put on the card, the higher your housing earn rate.
- Option 2: Use Bilt Cash to unlock points on housing. Every $30 in Bilt Cash unlocks 1X points on up to $1,000 in rent or mortgage payments (with a 1x max redemption option)
Card Information
Bonus Points
0
Minimum Spend
$0 / 3mo
Point Value
1.7 ¢
Annual Value
Annual Fee
$0
1st Year Value
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Differentiating Perks
Points for Paying Rent & Mortgage
Rules
Potential Boosts
$100 Bilt Cash
Card Benefits
No benefits are available for this card.
Historical Card Offers
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Average Frequency
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Average Offer Length
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Estimated Next Offer
Start Date
Offer Length
Bonus
Minimum Spend
Spend Categories
1.7¢
Per Dollar
Spent
Spent
Bilt Blue Application Rules
Chase applications will be declined if 5 new cards have been added to your personal credit report in the past 24 months.
Point Transfer Options
+11 Lower Value Transfers Show
Best for Series
Below is a snapshot of where this card performs best compared to the other cards in our database:
Rank
6th
Honorable Mention
