In July, I shared a mini-series about my credit card journey and credit card strategy. As a reminder, responsible credit card usage means only spending money that you have in your bank account / would have spent anyway. In addition, it’s imperative to pay off your balance on time and in full to avoid interest charges and dings to your credit score. As outlined in those earlier posts, my core setup consists of no annual fee cashback credit cards. While this is still my preferred strategy, the challenge is that my largest expense each month is rent. Since none of my credit cards could cover the 2.5% credit card transaction fee, I initially paid my rent directly from my checking account. I later opened up the Discover checking account for their cashback debit card which earns 1% back on up to $3,000 in spend per month. Paying with a debit card did still incur a fee, but it was low enough to be easily offset by the cashback. This was working well for me, but sadly my apartment complex just changed its payment system to one that charges a 3% transaction fee for both credit and debit cards.
Thus, it was time to revisit the Bilt Mastercard as it’s the one card that earns points on rent without the transaction fee. I mentioned sort of wanting this card even though it went against my general cashback strategy in my last credit card-related post. The earning structure is 1X on rent, 2X on travel, 3X on dining, and 1X on everything else. (There’s also a rent day bonus of double points on the first of the month). These points are then optimally transferred out to travel partners for redemptions above one cent per point. (They can alternatively be applied to future rent payments at only 0.55 cents per point or towards Amazon purchases at 0.7 cents per point). The one other interesting redemption option valued at 1.5 cents per point is towards the downpayment on a house. If redeemed strategically, points offer higher value than the seemingly equivalent cashback rates. It’s for this reason, that many people prefer points cards. What I like about cashback is the simplicity, predictable value, and ability to redeem right away. Nonetheless, I did decide to apply (and was approved) for the Bilt Mastercard to earn these points on rent as it has no annual fee and because I had to make a Bilt account anyway (as they are the new payment system used by my apartment complex). The one drawback to this card is that five transactions (including rent) are required each statement period to earn the points. My current plan is to make multiple small internet and/or electricity payments each month and possibly use the card for dining. It’s still to be foreseen if this becomes my favorite or least favorite credit card, but once I gain some experience with the point redemption side of things, I plan to write up a full review. While I can’t yet recommend the card, here’s a referral link.
