Bilt Obsidian Card review: A slightly complicated but rewarding all-in-one option

Of the three new Bilt 2.0 cards launched in February, the $95-annual-fee Bilt Obsidian Card most resembles the now-discontinued Bilt Mastercard®. Cardholders earn elevated rewards on travel and either dining or groceries, plus rewards on rent or mortgage payments.

However, the new rewards system is more complicated than the old one and requires you to put a significant portion of your non-housing spend on the card. This change is great if you’re willing to commit to Bilt, but less ideal if you’re a rewards optimizer and like to mix and match multiple cards. Here’s what to know. 

New cardholders can earn $200 in Bilt Cash upon approval.

The Bilt Obsidian offers $100 in Bilt Travel Hotel credits each year (issued as two $50 semiannual credits) for qualifying bookings of two nights or longer through the Bilt Travel portal. 

Cardholders also get travel and purchase protections, including: 

• Cell phone protection 
• Purchase protection
• Extended warranty coverage on items with an original warranty of 24 months or less
• Secondary rental car coverage in the U.S.
• Trip delay insurance 
• Common carrier trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance
• Lost or damaged luggage insurance 

Finally, cardholders also get World Elite Mastercard benefits, like concierge service, and Bilt Rewards membership benefits, like free fitness classes and Rent Day offers. 

Bilt has two rewards currencies, Bilt Points and Bilt Cash, each with different earning and redemption options. 

Earning

The Bilt Obsidian earns:

• 3X points on your choice of dining or grocery (up to $25,000 in purchases per year for the grocery category)
• 2X points on travel
• 1X points on other eligible purchases

Rewards on housing are more complicated. You can earn points on rent and mortgage payments through one of two options:

Option 1 (housing-only option):

With this option, you can earn up to 1.25X points on housing, with the rewards rate determined by the ratio of your everyday spend compared to your housing payment amount. The minimum you earn on housing is a flat 250 points, and the maximum you can earn is 1.25X points per dollar. You won’t earn Bilt Cash on everyday spend with this option.

Option 2 (flexible Bilt Cash):

This second option earns 1X points per dollar on housing payments with a 3% transaction fee, alongside 4% Bilt Cash on all eligible non-housing spend (on top of Bilt Points earned). Your Bilt Cash can be redeemed to cover the 3% fee.

Redeeming

Bilt Points don’t expire and can be redeemed for:

• 1:1 point transfers to hotel and airline partners (best value)
• Travel bookings through the Bilt Travel portal
• Student loan payments
• Rent credits
• Statement credits
• Gift cards, merchandise, fitness classes and more

Bilt Cash can be redeemed for:

• “Unlocking” Bilt Points on housing payments with the Flexible Bilt Cash option
• Hotel bookings in the Bilt Travel portal
• Third-party merchant credits (Lyft, Walgreens and more)
• Fitness classes, comedy experiences and merchandise purchases in the Bilt app
• Point accelerator: Spend $200 in Bilt Cash to earn an extra 1X Bilt Points per dollar on up to $5,000 in eligible purchases, on top of your card’s regular rewards (up to 5 activations annually; expires after $5,000 everyday spend or calendar year-end)

Monthly redemption limits and additional terms apply for some options. Bilt Cash expires at the end of the calendar year in which you earned it, but up to $100 of unused Bilt Cash automatically rolls over into the next year. 

Bilt transfer partners

Bilt has 23 transfer partners – 18 airlines and five hotels:

The Bilt Obsidian Card charges a $95 annual fee, plus $50 for each authorized user. There are no foreign transaction fees.

The card has a 10% introductory APR on new purchases for the first 12 billing cycles after account opening. The regular variable APR is 26.74% to 34.74%.

Bilt Obsidian vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred

Like the Bilt Obsidian, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) has a $95 annual fee, an annual hotel credit and lots of travel benefits.

The Sapphire Preferred earns 5X points on Chase Travel^SM purchases; 3X points on dining, online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale club) and select streaming services; 2X points on travel and 1X points on everything else.

It’s a good alternative for anyone who likes the Bilt Obsidian’s travel perks and rewards structure on non-housing purchases, but prefers a more established card from a major financial institution.

Bilt Obsidian vs. Bilt Blue Card

The Bilt Blue Card is Bilt’s only no-annual-fee card, earning 1X points on all non-housing purchases. Its housing rewards structure is the same as the Bilt Obsidian.

Though less rewarding than the Bilt Obsidian and many no-annual-fee cash back credit cards from competitors, the Bilt Blue is the only card that lets you earn points on rent or mortgage payments for no annual fee and with the potential for no transaction fee.

In addition to its rewards rate, the Bilt Blue comes with perks like no foreign transaction fees, cell phone protection and a $100 Bilt Cash bonus upon approval.

The Bilt Obsidian is one of the few cards that let you earn rewards on rent or mortgage payments. But to do so in any meaningful capacity, you’ll need to put significant non-housing spend on the card. 

The card’s bonus categories, including travel and either dining or groceries, will likely be useful for many people, but it’s not a great choice if you don’t spend a lot on those categories.

If you like to mix and match multiple cards for maximum rewards, do some careful math to determine whether earning points on housing with the Bilt Obsidian is worth the opportunity cost of additional rewards on everyday spending from competing cards with higher rewards rates.

In other words, you’ll likely need to make the Bilt Obsidian your primary card for spending to get the most out of it, but it can be very rewarding for the right spender.

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Information about the Bilt Obsidian Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.”