Bilt Obsidian Card: Is This $95 Fee Card The Sweet Spot For Housing Rewards?

Link: Apply for a Bilt credit card, with three options to choose from

Bilt is the platform that is most known for offering rewards for housing payments. We’ve seen major changes to the company’s rewards concept, and Bilt now has three Mastercard credit cards serviced by Cardless, which are potentially worth considering. This includes the no annual fee Bilt Blue Card, $95 annual fee Bilt Obsidian Card, and $495 Bilt Palladium Card.

I’ve written a guide to Bilt credit cards, and in general, I’ve argued that the highest annual fee Bilt Palladium Card is most worthwhile. That being said, I’ve also had plenty of people tell me that they think the mid-tier Bilt Obsidian Card is the sweet spot. So in this post, I’d like to talk about that in a bit more detail, and present the argument for sticking to this more reasonably priced card.

Is the Bilt Obsidian Card actually the most compelling card in the portfolio for many cardmembers? Let’s talk about the basics of the card perks, and then we’ll analyze the value proposition a bit more.

Basics of the $95 annual fee Bilt Osidian Card

As mentioned above, the Bilt Obsidian Card is the middle card in the portfolio, between the no annual fee product and the premium product. Here are the basics of the card:

• The Bilt Obsidian Card has a $95 annual fee, with a $50 annual fee per authorized user
• The Bilt Obsidian Card has a welcome bonus of $200 in Bilt Cash upon approval
• The Bilt Obsidian Card offers 3x points on your choice of dining or groceries (dining is uncapped, groceries is capped at $25K of spending per year), 2x points on travel, and 1x points on all other purchases (Bilt Rewards points are super useful)
• The Bilt Obsidian Card offers 4% back on spending in the form of Bilt Cash, which can be redeemed for all kinds of things, including the ability to earn 1x points on housing payments, points accelerators on spending, and more
• To help offset the annual fee, the Bilt Obsidian Card offers up to $100 in Bilt travel portal hotel credits every calendar year; this comes in the form of a $50 semi-annual credit, valid for a two-night minimum stay

I’ve written in-depth about Bilt Cash, so I recommend checking out that post if you have questions regarding that currency, since there’s a lot to understand. It makes up a key part of the card’s value proposition, so you can’t get a good sense of the program while overlooking that.

Who should apply for the Bilt Obsidian Card?

As I see it, the $95 annual fee Bilt Obsidian Card is a good card for someone who doesn’t want to pay the $495 annual fee of the Bilt Palladium Card, but is still willing to pay something to get more value than what’s offered by the no annual fee Bilt Blue Card.

Personally, I think it’s pretty easy to make the math on this card work. As I see it, this is the best credit card in the portfolio for those who spend a moderate amount, but aren’t necessarily huge spenders in non-bonused categories (let’s say you plan on spending well under $100K per year on the card).

As I see it, you’ll do pretty well with the card’s value proposition. Earning 3x points on your choice of dining or groceries is great, and the general 2x points category for travel is also useful. But the icing on the cake — and what really makes this worthwhile — is that you also earn 4% back in the form of Bilt Cash.

So let’s assume you spend $50,000 per year on the card, which would earn you $2,000 in Bilt Cash (and you’d actually earn more than that due to the threshold bonuses with Bilt Cash, but let’s be conservative):

• You can redeem $30 in Bilt Cash to get 1,000 points on a housing payment (like rent or a mortgage) as often as you’d like
• You can redeem $200 in Bilt Cash to earn an extra 1x points on everyday purchases for the next $5,000 spent, up to five times per year

For example, this means you could redeem $1,000 in Bilt Cash to earn an extra 25,000 points on your spending (by using the 1x points accelerator five times). And then you’d still have $1,000 in Bilt Cash, which would be enough to earn 1x points on $33,000+ worth of housing payments.

At an absolute minimum, that $50,000 in spending would be unlocking you 108,000 Bilt points, and that assumes you’re not using any of the 2-3x points categories.

Assuming you spend a decent amount on housing payments — and potentially even if you don’t — I think there’s a lot more to having the Bilt Obsidian Card. Of course if you can get decent value out of the Bilt travel portal hotel credits then the math is even better, but I’m trying to be realistic with the value of these portal credits.

Is the Bilt Palladium Card still the better option?

Any lack of excitement I feel toward the $95 Bilt Obsidian Card is simply because I think the $495 Bilt Palladium Card is a better option for many people. As I see it, this comes down to a few main factors:

• Unlike the lower fee and no fee cards, the Bilt Palladium Card has a welcome bonus of 50,000 bonus points and Bilt Gold status after spending $4,000 within the first three months (on non-housing purchases), plus $300 in Bilt Cash upon approval; so the first year value on the card is really good, and it gets you a valuable Bilt elite status tier
• On an ongoing basis, the card offers $200 in extra Bilt Cash annually, plus a $400 Bilt travel portal hotel credit (in the form of a $200 semi-annual credit, valid for a two-night minimum stay), and a Priority Pass membership, with up to two guests allowed; everyone will value those perks differently
• I love the card’s rewards structure, as you earn 2x points on everyday spending, which is hard to beat

As I see it, there’s a big incentive to give the Bilt Palladium Card a try for at least a year, particularly given the welcome bonus. In the long run, I think the Bilt Palladium Card will prove better for big spenders, where this card really is in a league of its own. That being said, for more moderate spenders, or those who spend a lot on dining, groceries, and/or travel, I think the Bilt Obsidian Card could be a better option.

Bottom line

The Bilt Obsidian Card has a reasonable $95 annual fee, and is probably the Bilt credit card that seems the most worthwhile, on the surface. The card offers 3x points on either dining or groceries, 2x points on travel, and 4% back in Bilt Cash on all purchases. That will help you earn lots of points on housing spending, or even with the points accelerator feature.

I think it’s really easy to make the math on this card work. My only real hesitation is that the $495 annual fee Bilt Palladium Card is potentially even better, thanks to the far superior welcome offer, the 2x points on everyday spending, and more.

Where do you stand on the value of the Bilt Obsidian Card? Do you prefer it to the Bilt Palladium Card?