BILT CASH vs. THE POINTS CHART – WHICH OPTION IS BETTER?

Option 1 appears better because the max 125% has been reached, yielding 2,500 points, while the Option 2 (Bilt Cash) caps out at 100%, or 2,000 points. However, after the cap is reached, Bilt Cash continues to be earned; in this case, $20 in Bilt Cash.

In general, Option 1 (the chart) is a better option when your everyday spend is much lower than your rent spend. As your everyday spend increases in relation to your rent spend, Option 2 (Bilt cash) becomes the better option.

In absolute numbers, the better option switches back and forth as everyday spend increases relative to rent spend.

The Points Chart starts out better with the minimum 250 point award. Then Bilt Cash is better until everyday spend is 25% of rent, where the Points Chart becomes better again until it reaches 37.5% of rent and switches back to Bilt Cash. At 50% it changes back to the Points Chart and at 56.25% is changes back again to Bilt Cash, which remains the better option ad infinitum. Once everyday spend reaches 75% of rent spend, Bilt Cash remains the better option because the cash begins to accumulate after all rent points have been unlocked. That cash is valuable and there are a number of ways it can be used in the Bilt ecosystem.

To learn the best way to utilize Bilt Cash, check out my article “WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO SPEND BILT CASH?”.

Max’s Take

The challenge with finding the best rent return is that it is difficult to pinpoint spending. If you have a high rent compared to your everyday spend, you are targeting the option that provides the best points return. The math will tell you that the absolute maximum return that can be achieved is using the Points Chart option and having an everyday spend that is 25% of rent spend. But do you want to be monitoring your spend that closely to be able to stop when it reaches that amount and switch to other cards? If you were to lose focus and fall short of the 25% target it could be very costly as rent earnings drop to 250 points.

In addition, using the Points Chart, once you exceed a 25% ratio, additional everyday spending bears no fruit in unlocking rent points until you reach a 50% ratio, thus reducing your rental point return rate.

One potential alternative is to check the possibility of varying your rental payment. Will overspending one month result in a reduction owed the next? This way, if you shut down everyday spend on the card at some point, you can maximize the return by paying a rent that is exactly 4x your everyday spend. The next month, the everyday spend target could be lighter to align with the lighter rent debt.

If you have a lower rent compared with your everyday spend, Bilt Cash is clearly the best option. If the Bilt Cash option is selected, available Bilt Cash is funneled toward unlocking rent points each month. If you earned more Bilt Cash than what is required to unlock all of your rent points, then you will accumulate Bilt Cash. Aside from unlocking rent, Bilt Cash can be used multiple ways in the Bilt ecosystem.

To learn more, check out my article “WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO SPEND BILT CASH?”.

For free guidance on any question you may have regarding Bilt credit cards, or questions about maxing your credit card portfolio or returns, contact us at email@maxyourplastic.com. We’ll guide you to the best solution, free of charge.

Introduction

The Bilt credit cards are innovative and fascinating. They can also be confounding due to their complexity. Personally, I find them quite fun, but that is only because I have some time to invest and I enjoy math. If you don’t want to spend some thought on how to extract max value out of this credit card, it may not be for you.

The unique aspect to the Bilt credit cards is that they enable you to earn points through rent or mortgage payments. To earn those points, however, you must use the card for everyday spend as well. The greater your everyday spend is in proportion to your monthly rent, the more points you earn from your rent. For a good overview of the Bilt credit cards and how they work, check out my article “BILT 2.0 CARDS – THE REAL SCOOP”.

This article assumes you are already familiar with this, and are aware of the two options you have to unlock rent points. In it, I'll give a quick refresh, then provide you with a visual diagram that will help you determine which option is best for you in any situation.

This article includes:

• Summary of Options to Unlock Rent Points

• The Rent Diagram

• Analysis with examples

• Max’s Take

Summary of Options to Unlock Rent Points

The two options Bilt provides are a Points Chart (Option 1) (see image) and Bilt Cash (Option 2). As a cardholder, you can switch your selection as often as you like and it will be effective the next month. This can be important in maximizing points.

The points chart enables you to unlock points in tiers based on the ratio of your everyday spend to your rent spend, and the Bilt Cash option unlocks points at a 4:3 ratio. Each dollar of everyday spend on the card earns 4 cents of Bilt Cash, and for every 3 cents of Bilt Cash, 1 point is unlocked through rent. So $1 of everyday spend unlocks 1.33 points through rent.

If you select an option and later determine it isn’t the best option for you, no problem. Some good news is that you are not locked in once you have selected an option. You can change any time, and the change will take effect the following month.

The Rent Diagram

So, which is the better option? It depends on how much your everyday spend is in relation to your rent spend. The diagram below compares the two options, irrespective of how much you spend on rent each month.

The horizontal axis shows non-rent spend (everyday spend) as a % of rent spend, so for example, if your rent is $2,000 and you use your Bilt card for $1,000 on everyday purchases, your non-rent spend is 50% of your rent spend. The vertical axis shows points earned as a % of rent. So, if you are paying the same $2,000 in rent, 75% points earned means 1,500 points.

The green lines reflect Option 1 - the Poins Chart. Note how they are tiered like a stairway. They reflect the thresholds established by the chart. If your everyday spend is 25% of your rent spend, you earn 50% of your rent spend in points. If your everyday spend is 35% of your rent spend, you still earn 50% of your rent spend in points, all of the way up to 50% of your everyday spend, at which point you jump to earning 75% of your rent spend in points.

The dashed green line reflects the base award of 250 points regardless of everyday spend, which you don't receive with Option 2.

The red line reflects Option 2 - Bilt cash. In this option, Bilt cash is earned through everyday spend, then spent to unlock rent points. The red arrow moves upward, reflecting a steady increase in rent points as the everyday spend to rent spend percentage increases. It continues this way until the rent points reach 100% of rent spend, at which point they are capped. However, after that cap you will continue to earn Bilt cash as your everyday spend continues. That Bilt cash can be used to unlock rent points in future months, or it can be redeemed dollar-for-dollar for monthly credits across the Bilt ecosystem, or for exclusive benefits like points accelerators, higher transfer bonuses and special access to experiences.

Analysis with Examples

Drawing a vertical line up from your projected everyday spend to rent spend ratio shows which option is better for you. Where that vertical line crosses the green line shows what percentage of your rent you will receive in points in Option 1 (the Points Chart), and where it crosses the red line shows what percentage of your rent you will receive in points in Option 2 (Bilt Cash).

Let's look at three examples, using a $2,000 monthly rent:

First, a case where everyday spend is low...30% of monthly rent ($600).

We can see that the Option 1 green line (the Chart) results in 50% points earned, or 1,000 points, whereas the Option 2 red line (Bilt Cash) has a lower point yield of 40%, or 800 points.

Now let's look at a larger everyday spend of 70% of monthly rent ($1,400).

The same approach shows us that the Bilt Cash (Option 2) is now better, yielding 1,867 points vs. 1,500 points from the chart (Option 1).

Finally, let's look at a third option where everyday spend is $2,000, 100% of monthly rent.

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