Bilt Bulletin June 2026 | Palladium Card Updates, Credit Limit Increases, CFPB Complaints & Bilt Cash Redemptions
Justin Vacula of the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast is joined by returning co-host Darren for a June 2026 Bilt Bulletin, covering the latest Bilt Rewards updates, Bilt Palladium Card developments, Bilt Cash strategy, credit limit increases, CFPB complaints, and real-world redemption experiences.
In this episode, Justin and Darren review key features of the Bilt Palladium Card, including Bilt Cash vs. Rent Multiplier, the welcome bonus, Gold status, hotel credits, and the Point Accelerator feature. They also discuss how they are using the card, what benefits have been useful so far, and where the program may be headed.
A major topic is the surprise automatic credit limit increases some cardholders received, including limits jumping as high as $50,000. Justin and Darren discuss why these large credit limit increases may be useful, but also raise questions about credit pulls, frozen credit reports, utilization, and how higher limits could affect future credit card approvals.
They also discuss a possible value boost for Bilt’s 1:1 Hyatt transfer partnership, especially as some Chase-to-Hyatt transfers shift to a less favorable 4:3 ratio. For points and miles fans, this could make Bilt points even more valuable for Hyatt redemptions.
The episode also covers a Fortune profile of Bilt’s growth claims, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s letter citing CFPB complaints related to payment disruptions during the transition away from Wells Fargo, and broader concerns about customer service, card servicing, and program reliability.
Finally, Justin and Darren share real Bilt Cash redemption stories, points balances, earn-and-burn strategies, dining credit experiences, and plans for using Bilt Cash before year-end expiration.
Timestamps
00:00 Podcast Intro Theme
00:32 Welcome And Episode Setup
01:47 Bilt Program Basics
03:27 Bilt Cash Vs. Rent Multiplier
04:47 Surprise Credit Limit Jumps
07:46 Hard Pull Rumors And Credit Freezes
10:40 Hyatt Transfer Shakeup
12:58 Bilt Building Big Picture
18:02 Support The Show Announcements
20:46 CFPB Complaints And Warren Letter
27:17 Dining Credit Redemption Stories
31:56 Points Balances And Earn-Burn Strategy
34:15 Year-End Planning And Travel Wrap Up
37:34 Closing: Thanks And Outro Theme
Listen to the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast:
👉 SoundCloud → https://soundcloud.com/hurdygurdytravelpodcast
👉 Apple Podcasts / iTunes → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hurdy-gurdy-travel-podcast/id1489093490
👉 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/0PRUx83Z4XKHengsgOoLWg
👉 TuneIn → https://tunein.com/podcasts/Podcasts/Hurdy-Gurdy-Travel-Podcast-p1275539/
👉 iHeartRadio → https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-hurdy-gurdy-travel-podcast-51807405/
👉 Podbean → https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/vvdph-a3425/Hurdy-Gurdy-Travel-Podcast
👉 Pocket Casts → https://pocketcasts.com/podcasts/1a722d50-2d0a-0138-96d6-0acc26574db2?_prerender=true
👉 Podchaser → https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hurdy-gurdy-travel-podcast-1153719
👉 Podcast Addict → https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/hurdy-gurdy-travel-podcast/3497422
👉 Castbox → https://castbox.fm/channel/Hurdy-Gurdy-Travel-Podcast-id4351553?country=us
👉 …and many other podcast platforms worldwide! 🌍🎧
📡 Prefer using your favorite app? Simply copy & paste my podcast RSS feed:
http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:706382626/sounds.rss
—
💜 Support My Work & Unlock Special Perks:
👉 Support me through helpful referral links on my site: https://hurdygurdytravel.com/donate-referral-links/
👉 Use my CardPointers affiliate link to save on annual and lifetime memberships → https://www.cardpointers.com/hurdygurdytravel
CardPointers helps you activate card-linked offers and take advantage of other powerful credit card features.
👉 Use my Savewise affiliate link to activate grocery coupons, maximize shopping portals, and more:
https://getsavewise.com/pro?ref=hurdygurdy
👉 Become a Frequent Traveler University member and sign up for events.
https://ftuniversity.com/?aff=24
👉 Earn 500 miles when signing up for Rove Miles using my referral link:
http://www.rovemiles.com/?signup&referralCode=8AS1JSG9
👉 Use my AutoPilot affiliate link to save points, miles, and money with this flight rebooking tool
https://www.withautopilot.com/?partner=HurdyGurdy
👉 Use my Descript referral link to edit your podcast episodes, videos, and more. Descript offers tools, including studio sound, removal of filler words, and the ability to edit from a generated transcript.
https://descript.cello.so/yiM83psckcY
—
👉 Visit the Support Tab on my website to contribute via SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.com/hurdygurdytravel
🎁 Subscriber & Supporter Perks Include:
✨ One-on-one calls with me
✨ Advance notice of upcoming podcast guests (submit your questions!)
✨ A custom podcast episode recorded just for you 🎙️💬
✨ Bonus content 🎁
—
🌐 Stay Connected With Me:
🔔 Subscribe on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@HurdyGurdyTravelPodcast
👍 Like on Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/HurdyGurdyTravelPodcast
🐦 Follow on Twitter / X → https://x.com/HurdyGurdyTravl
📸 Follow on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/justinvacula/
—
✨ Thank You for Listening & Supporting the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast!
Stay tuned for more tips, strategies, and stories to help you optimize your travel, rewards, and lifestyle. 🚀🌍💳
Rough Transcript:
Travel at low cost with points and miles. Credit card rewards bring the smiles. Many adventures, tales to be told. Make and save money, the world will unfold
Fight the war on happiness, pick up the gold. Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast breaks the mold
You’re listening to the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast. I’m your host, Justin Vacula, here to help you make money, save money, and travel the world at low cost with credit card points, miles, benefits, and loyalty programs. Today’s episode is another Bilt Bulletin discussing recent developments involving Bilt and Bilt credit cards in June of 2026.
Returning co-host Darren joins me to discuss what’s new with Bilt. On with [00:01:00] today’s episode, recorded June 15th, 2026. Welcome back to the show, Darren. Thanks, Justin. Always enjoy being on the show, and especially talking about Bilt. Lots of developments this month. Excited to talk about it as we’ve talked a lot off the air, and now we’ll bring it to listeners.
Yeah sometimes good, sometimes not as good, Justin. It seems like Bilt has been in the news for most of this year since trying to launch and launching their new set of cards and lining up with cardless, which is a little bit of a misnomer for those that have the card, of course. It does, in fact involve a card.
They are, it seems living by the idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity, Justin. We’ll find out in today’s episode. But first, for those new to Bilt, here is a short description. Bilt is a loyalty program and has a credit card component. Both Darren and I have the Bilt Palladium credit card, which gives a base two times points on spending, [00:02:00] and the option I and Darren eventually chose, 4% and a secondary currency, Bilt Cash.
Use Bilt points mainly to transfer to travel partners, airline programs including Atmos Rewards for Alaska Airlines booked flights, and hotel programs including World of Hyatt. Bilt Cash can be used with rent and mortgage payments, letting you earn some Bilt points.
Bilt Cash can also be used to boost your 2X spending to 3X up to $25,000 in spending per calendar year with the Point Accelerator feature. You can also redeem Bilt Cash for $100 hotel credits, monthly dining credits, we’ll talk about that a little later, and much more. The Bilt Palladium Card also gave us a 50,000 point welcome bonus.
Looks like that is still the case in June of 2026, and it grants Bilt Gold status, which gives various benefits, including bonus points transfers to the travel programs. You also get [00:03:00] $300 in Bilt Cash as part of the Palladium welcome bonus and an annual $200 in Bilt Cash, which should post with card approval.
You get two $200 hotel credits per calendar year that can stack with the $100 hotel credits, priority pass, and more. Lots to be had with Bilt, and we’ll break it down today. Yeah. I felt like you were gonna say, “But wait, there’s more” somewhere in there, Justin, but I guess there is wait, and there will be more.
The alternative to Bilt Cash is the Rent Multiplier, and for those that have listened previous episodes may remember that I was stuck in the Rent Multiplier option to start with when my card first transferred from Wells Fargo over to Cardless.
I think for those that are focused on maximizing return on the $495 annual fee, I would not recommend the Rent Multiplier as their most lucrative option. When you do that, you miss out on all the Bilt [00:04:00] Cash options whether that’s hotel credits or Blade, Justin.
Potentially there’s Blade rides involved down the road. We’ll see. Maybe. I think even at the lower annual fee Obsidian card, which is a 3X dining or groceries, Justin, is that correct?
And you have to pick one. Even at that, I think it’s still worth for most folks that are again, looking to maximize the program, the Bilt Cash is certainly the way to go.
What do you think, Justin? You think I’m on the right page there? Palladium was the choice for me for sure, because we’re spending a lot, we’re traveling a lot, we’re engaged with the program, but maybe Obsidian or Blue can be for some, but I’m almost always recommending the Palladium card. And I got approved with a $10,000 credit limit, which I thought was okay, but we have what crazy thing did Bilt or Cardless do this week to borrow from Frequent Miler, although this [00:05:00] was some weeks ago, dramatic increases in credit limits.
I didn’t request a credit limit increase. This just automatically happened. I logged into the Bilt app. I went from $10,000 credit limit to $50,000, and then a few hours later, there was an email stating, “Your credit limit has increased.” I’ve only had this card for a few months. I’ve heard this data point from many others also getting $50,000 credit limits.
I’ve received automatic credit line increases with other cards, but not this dramatically. Maybe it would go from something like 10,000 to 13,000 or 14,000, but never, as far as I remember, from 10,000 to $50,000, Darren, that you could spend each month on your Bilt Palladium credit card. Yeah, 50,000 is a big number.
I think most were surprised. It caused quite the buzz in the points and miles community. Same experience with me, Justin. I’ve never had a [00:06:00] card that automatically increased that much. I had a little higher credit limit going in, but still nothing close to 50,000.
That’s one way for Bilt and Cardless to encourage spending on their credit cards. If folks weren’t meeting expectations early, there it is. Give us a little more room to do that. I would expect overall it would have a positive impact on credit scores as it reduces overall credit utilization, right?
This is a question that we have discussed in the past, Justin, but don’t have good answers for yet, but it may limit other Cardless card possibilities since sometimes banks will indicate that they can’t approve you for a new card because they’ve already extended enough credit to you.
If you have 50,000 with this one card, does it make it harder for me, for example, to get the Qatar card? Don’t know the answer to that. Haven’t tried, but certainly could see that as a potential downside. And time will tell of whether we can get a second Bilt card as well, but it seems like the current [00:07:00] answer to that is no.
But you’re right, it will help with credit utilization. If you close a statement with, say, $1,000 balance, you’re not paying interest. We’re here advocating to pay statement balances in full, spend responsibly, use credit intelligently. But if we were to close, say, with $1,000 balance, our payment didn’t go through before the statement closed, some transactions took longer to post, whatever the case might be, if you had $1,000 balance out of your 10,000 credit limit, because America loves math, that would be 10% utilization on that card.
But if you had 1,000 out of 50,000, the audience can do the math here, it would be a much lesser percentage and not adversely impact your credit score as much. I like it. I like having the ability to spend more, even if I’m not going to use it every month or even at all there was some concern in the Bilt Facebook group and other online places where points and miles enthusiasts gather [00:08:00] that they may have or think they did or definitely did receive a hard pull, Justin, for this credit increase.
What do you know about that? I think there’s a lot of confusion because it might be the case that the account opening is showing on their credit report, and maybe they got this confused with a credit limit increase. Personally, I’ve had my credit frozen, my personal credit bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, and I almost always recommend that people do this instead of having them open because there could be unauthorized credit pulls.
There could be bad actors. A lot of things can go bad. It’s like in poker, we talk about something called a negative free roll, where you’re in a situation where there’s nothing to gain and everything to lose. If you were to, say, get all in with a straight, your opponent also has a straight, but they have the potential to draw out to a flush.
You can’t improve, but they can. It’s a negative free roll. In this case, I like freezing my credit for many reasons, and if your credit was frozen, then they couldn’t do a [00:09:00] hard pull on you, is my understanding, even if they were to give you an automatic credit limit increase. But what might be happening, again, is the new account is showing up, and this wasn’t because of the new limit.
I haven’t seen any reliable data points, just speculation in groups. It would be interesting to have a deeper dive into that to see whether some bad outcomes happened. There was some mistake with the credit reporting. I don’t know, but I think that there’s just confusion on this
I agree. I think there’s a lot of FUD is the term I see and hear. Ooh. Yes. Yeah. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. That’s correct, Justin. Everyone loves a good acronym. In fact, Puma, Justin, please use more acronyms. Everyone loves a good acronym joke. You mentioned that you froze your credit, not to get too waylaid on this episode, Justin, but how easy is it for you to lock and unlock your credit report, for listeners that are not familiar with that process?
Very easy, just a few minutes. I do it on browser. I don’t do it on my phone. I think that makes it even easier with some authentication, and being able to [00:10:00] use the mouse and keyboard. I’m almost always recommending applying for cards, booking travel, and much more using browser, and certainly for freezing and unfreezing credit.
You just have to remember to unfreeze before you apply, but that’s just been a habit of mine. If I’m planning on applying for cards July 1st, I’ll unfreeze towards the end of the month and have a thaw, where my credit is open for, say, four or five days, and then I’ll apply for cards. I haven’t had problems with that.
Just make sure to remember. Super easy. I think best practice to keep that credit frozen if you’re not applying for stuff.
I think that’s a good tip. It’s hard to think of an instance where that would be a downside, as you said.
And we have another development, BILT adjacent. I mentioned earlier in the episode that BILT points can transfer to Hyatt. Chase Ultimate Rewards can also transfer to Hyatt, but in coming months, we won’t go too much into the details here, some Chase to Hyatt transfers will be 4:3 because America loves math.
Not a positive transfer, but [00:11:00] a negative transfer, a devaluation, not an enhancement. I have the Sapphire Reserve credit card, and now will likely keep it to preserve the 1:1 Hyatt transfers and other features, but the Sapphire Preferred, the lower annual fee members, will lose the ability to transfer to Hyatt at 1:1.
As far as I know, Bilt remains at 1:1, so in some way maybe this improves the value of the Bilt Palladium Card and other Bilt credit cards. I agree, Justin. Depends on which online resource you like to use, but Bilt points are at or near the top. Hyatt is such a valuable program even with the recent change in their program. Most folks would view that as a devaluation.
I tend to agree, certainly. The other thing between Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Bilt is the annual fee. The Chase Sapphire Reserve, $795 annual fee to preserve that 1:1 transfer [00:12:00] versus $495 or even lower for the Bilt card, depending on which version you get, and you still get 1:1 Hyatt transfer options.
I know the Sapphire Reserve has some nice features and credits, but if you’re just paying $300 to get 1:1, you better be transferring a lot of Hyatt points and you better have plans for that. I think oftentimes, Justin, many of us get into the situation where we accumulate a lot of these cards, but we don’t do a good job of then culling them from the card herd, if you will to ensure that we’re leveraging and using them and not paying annual fees that are not needed.
Definitely using benefits to make those annual fees make sense, sometimes downgrading after the first year with a card, sometimes canceling. It depends, but nice to have the one-to-one Hyatt with Bilt even if Chase is going to make it 4:3. Lot of math on that.
We’ll move on to Bilt in the [00:13:00] news. A recent fortune.com article titled, “Ankur Jain,” that’s the founder of Bilt, says, “Bilt is building.”
Bilt is building, that’s the title. “The Shopify for housing and the company’s card is only the beginning.” Ankur says the Bilt credit card, odd article writing here, in the first sentence because there are multiple Bilt credit cards. It says the Bilt credit card is less than 11% of his business. Jain gives big figures for Bilt, his platform clearing $1 billion in revenue, Bilt’s in 25% of US apartment buildings, and 100 billion in annual housing spend.
Jain compared Bilt to Shopify, noting it’s linked with so many merchants, including restaurants, restaurant booking, and payment systems. Is it looking good for the future of Bilt, Darren? Some thought Bilt would quickly fail, as did some other platforms or credit cards [00:14:00] like Mesa. RIP Mesa, war on happiness.
Yeah, I had to chuckle at the Mesa reference there in the notes, Justin. Yeah, I haven’t thought about Mesa in quite some time, which I guess is telling. The big difference here is there’s someone at Bilt that knows the game, right? And they’ve gone through a number of iterations where even at the five bananas level when it first launched. Lots of times we’re focusing, or we as credit card users and consumers are focusing a lot on that and aren’t seeing the other part of this platform, right?
The rent payments the partnership with restaurants and dining and so forth. Shopify is a big deal, right? The opportunity for small stores to build online presence is seamlessly and easily and with payment all included.
Maybe it’s not a bad comparison. I guess if you were a small real estate holder and you’re trying to figure out how to ensure that your tenants pay [00:15:00] rent on time and in a way that values, their payments or brings value back to them for their payments, maybe Bilt has something there for them.
Yeah. And- Definitely reducing headaches. Yeah. When I first moved into my complex, there would often be reminders of, “Make sure to send your payment in early because the mail might take a few days to process the payments, and late payments will incur fees,” and this and that. Now I’m using Bilt to pay rent.
There’s a payment portal online with my apartment complex, and it is very easy to pay rent through that portal. The landlord doesn’t have to wait to get paid. There’s no checks lost in the mail, allegedly. Fewer excuses from tenants and I think a lot easier to do it. That’s probably a good development for both landlords and tenants, even though some fees are involved, as I discussed in a recent episode responding to an NBC News article about credit card acceptance and more.
It looks like Bilt is here to stay, that they’re very integrated. But [00:16:00] One concern I have is that if Bilt tries to do too much, can this be a bad thing because they’re spread so thin and they aren’t specialized?
Yeah. It’s certainly possible, right? Especially if they get outside of the things they’re good at and they fall prey to that, “Hey, we’re really good at these three or four things, so that means we’re gonna be good at everything we do.” And don’t take the same approach to finding someone that’s an expert in the field, bringing them in working through them to ensure a long-term sustainable program.
People are gonna continue to want to travel. They’re gonna continue to have rent to pay or mortgages to pay. People like the ideas we see from credit card signup bonuses about earning points in a way that, allows them to do some things that normally they wouldn’t be able to do.
That’s you and me too, Justin. You’re flying all over the country, just back from Vegas. Just had a cruise. My wife and I took a [00:17:00] short anniversary trip down to Virginia. Used some Bilt hotel nights for that. There’s lots of things that we’re doing that maybe we wouldn’t be as eager to do or would be as easy to do if it weren’t for Bilt and
points and miles. yeah, you could have a Bilt trip. You can schedule all the Bilt cash redemptions, the hotel stay, the dining, and much more. Definitely reducing the cost of travel
bilt sets an interesting lifestyle option that you get to use all these benefits when you travel, use them together, use them on the same trip, as long as you find the right restaurants, the right redemptions, the right hotel. It’s nice to have options anyway, and you could also combine Bilt with existing programs, and that’s how it was for me as I was not with the Bilt Wells Fargo card.
I wasn’t in the older system, but now I’m using it to supplement what I’m already doing, and it’s driving me to have different experiences too, as we’ll [00:18:00] talk about later with some of the Bilt dining. But first, we’ll take a short break for announcements This show is like a job for me and free for listeners with no paywall.
I spend time editing audio, creating transcripts, and prepping for the show. I also pay for software and subscriptions. Please support me through affiliate links and by becoming a Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast patron on subscribestar.com or YouTube. Comment for free on YouTube to support the show and feel free to engage on social media.
Ads are included here, just like on many other shows. I also welcome your feedback, email from listeners info@HurdyGurdyTravelPodcast.com. Visit meetup.com/PhillyMilesAndPoints to RSVP for monthly Greater Philadelphia Travel Credit Miles and Points meetups I host in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
Join us for upcoming events on June 28th, July 19th, and August 16th, 2026. [00:19:00] Find a link in the show notes. I’m a Frequent Traveler University affiliate. Grab an FTU annual membership for online courses, monthly virtual seminars, member perks, event discounts, and more. Use my membership link in the show notes.
I’m also an affiliate with CardPointers. If you have multiple credit cards like me, because the answer to everything is more credit cards, the CardPointers browser extension activates bank offers and knows which card to use for maximum rewards. The CardPointers app also has many helpful tools. Use the link in the show notes, CardPointers.com/HurdyGurdyTravel for a discount on annual and lifetime plans.
I’m also an affiliate with SaveWise. SaveWise helps you clip grocery coupons with one click at Acme, Kroger, and about 5,000 other stores. SaveWise also compares shopping portals and offers many other features. Use my link in the show notes, GetSaveWise.com/HurdyGurdy. Finally, I’m also an affiliate with AutoPilot, [00:20:00] a flight repricing tool that alerts you to price changes.
Simply cancel existing flights and rebook when AutoPilot emails you about lower fares. Find my link in the show notes. And interestingly, I got an email from United. They said that the price of the flight had changed, an email from AutoPilot, and I got about $60 in future flight credit with United. That was a new feature to me with AutoPilot.
First time that happened, I didn’t have to rebook. That was pretty good. We’ll return to the show and our discussion of BILT. This is the June BILT Bulletin with my returning co-host, Darren. Thanks again for coming on the show You bet, Justin. BILT has brought us together.
Yes, they have, Justin. We have the opportunity to talk a lot about points and miles, but BILT seems to be a topic that keeps coming up in the news, just like this recent article from our friends at CFPB. I guess they’re still around. Yes. This time BILT [00:21:00] not in such a positive light. This was on housingwire.com and many other sources.
Senator Elizabeth Warren presses BILT on payment disruptions during bank shift. Letter cites a February spike in CFPB complaints. That’s the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Complaints tied to BILT’s transition away from Wells Fargo. Warren wrote, “BILT users have reportedly made rent or mortgage payments that never reached the landlord or lender, were rejected or returned, or were only delivered after a significant delay.
Others have been unable to make payments on outstanding balances still held at Wells Fargo or had their Wells Fargo balances transferred to the new cards without their authorization. Furthermore, consumers have reportedly struggled to reach BILT representatives to address their concerns.”
I feel like this is a summary of old news here, Justin. We’ve talked about some of the challenges with the Bilt rollout, including issues with [00:22:00] payments issues with outstanding balances that didn’t roll over and they wanted them to. New partners, new program. Yeah, I would love to have seen it come out smoothly. I’m not in the federal regulated financial industry and so don’t have a good understanding of what is expected, but I do work in a regulated field. And sometimes, yeah, it could have been better, but is it negligent or is it just, hey, there were some things that didn’t go as planned?
I don’t know. What are your thoughts, Justin? The failure to pay rent was troubling. Many people were reporting early on they tried to pay rent, it didn’t go through, the landlord’s imposing late fees, there are problems. I use this the first time. I planned on paying my rent early in case it didn’t go through, and then I’d have to resolve it later.
Mine went through, but I wouldn’t think to pay rent on the first of the month if I was using a new processor or program, whether it was Bilt or [00:23:00] something else. I don’t like to see people having problems when issuers transition credit cards or systems change, but it’s likely best practice to pay rent early if it’s your first time using a certain system to do it, and it’s good practice to pay your balances before card transitions or being transferred to new cards.
I had this happen with Barclays transferring to Citi. I knew the transition was going to happen. I made sure to zero my Barclays balance before the transition to Citi, so I wouldn’t have issues later on. About being transferred to new cards, I saw people having options to stay with Wells Fargo or move to the new cards.
Past podcast guest, Deker, said that he received messages. He had the old card, the old Bilt card, and he had the option to stay with Wells Fargo, and it would be transitioned to a different credit card with them, or you can upgrade or change to the new cards. He thought about it. He made his decision. He had time.
Did [00:24:00] some not get the message? Did they stall? Did they delay? I don’t know what happened, but not everything went perfect, of course. Even though things didn’t go so well with this change, we’ll see what Bilt has to say to Elizabeth Warren.
And in the future, when credit cards transfer or there are new systems, probably best practice to be proactive and resolve things maybe a week ahead of time I think that’s good advice that a new program, a new process, don’t anticipate that it’s gonna work perfectly the first time every time. Build in a little bit of a safety margin there, make sure it gets through.
And if it doesn’t, for example, rent or mortgage, then you have the opportunity to, pay a different way in order to do that. We continually see cards change hands. Barclays American Airlines card to Citi.
Bilt card, of course from Evolve to Wells Fargo and now to Cardless. These are not uncommon events in the points and miles world, and it’s probably a good idea [00:25:00] to have a best practice there of paying those off and making sure that you’re not transferring a large balance, and you’re not hit with unexpected late fees or things like that.
And always zero those balances in full. Don’t pay interest. Use credit responsibly. The article continues with Warren saying, “Bilt has yet to provide a reasonable explanation for why its transition between bank partners caused such turmoil for its customers.” There was also a Yahoo article that said it was a rocky transition or a rocky start.
Back to the article, Warren says, “Further, Bilt has yet to clarify the extent to which customers’ rent payments were delayed, denied, or lost, and how Bilt intends to rectify the situation for consumers. The senator requests written responses detailing the steps Bilt has taken and will take to protect consumers no later than June 9th, 2026.”
And that’s the end of the article. June 15th we’re recording. I don’t see a Bilt response in Google News. I’ve looked for one. I could [00:26:00] be missing something. Hopefully, they’ve already responded, and we’ll hear a good explanation
Yeah and certainly they may have responded privately to the committee or to, Senator Warren or to CFPB directly and not made that public outlining what happened and why. Some of that certainly could be proprietary and confidential and maybe it does include some ways to try to rectify.
I have not followed this closely. I did not have a lot of, or really any problems besides what we already discussed. So I’m not sure if Bilt tried to make amends on, paying late payments or things like that. I know other credit card companies have tried to do that, and as you might imagine, sometimes with a little Photoshop or especially now with generative AI, folks pile on and take advantage pretty quickly.
I’m not sure how they would do that in a way that is in good faith and responsible for them as well. The situation of what happened and everything else, that’s what dictates that [00:27:00] Exactly right. Terry Collins he’s shared with us so many important life lessons. Yeah, for listeners who might be new to the podcast or don’t get the reference, you could YouTube Terry Collins baseball manager discussion, and you’ll find a very interesting not safe for work clip.
But let’s move on to our recent Bilt redemptions and stats. I recently returned from Las Vegas. Surprise, right? I went to a Mediterranean restaurant, Zatynia inside the Caesars Palace Forum Shops. I was able to use $25 in Bilt Cash and paid zero out of pocket. I liked the restaurant.
There was spacious seating. I made a reservation in advance, but didn’t need it for a weekday trip. It’s nice. It was a very large restaurant with a bar area too. The food had good taste, service was friendly, and it was super easy to use the 25 in Bilt Cash. I told the waiter I wanted to use Bilt Cash, and he brought a receipt with a QR code that allowed me to pay with Bilt.
[00:28:00] Scan the code, it opens the Bilt app, and you apply the $25 in Bilt Cash. This even lets you cover tax and tip. I ordered a falafel plate for $16 and a side of fresh veggies for $4. This was $20 before tax and tip, and I made the total exactly $25, perfect for zero dollars out of pocket. The portion size was small, but free is free.
I also saw a type of Greek salad that was in a medium-sized bowl, but again, nothing huge. Thanks to fan of the podcast, David, for joining me in Las Vegas. We both redeemed Bilt Cash on the same visit. The server was savvy, and he said he had to ring us up as different tables, and this tracks because I had a problem in Washington, DC when the server put me and guests at the same table in the payment system.
It wouldn’t let us pay the individual checks. It kept going to one of the checks at the same table. But it worked out really well. Basically, a free [00:29:00] dinner, or maybe more appropriately, lunch with the small portion size. I’m glad it worked out for you, Justin. I’ve been struggling to use the Bilt cash for dining.
My wife and I were in Northern Virginia and tried to find a breakfast place called Toastique, which I had found on the Bilt app and filtered under mobile checkout as a place that would likely accept Bilt cash, but unfortunately, that location of Toastique did not. Other locations did.
Oh, wow. But that location did not. You would have thought that it would be like a- Oh … a company-wide approach that they would’ve integrated, but not in that situation, Justin. It’s nice Vegas has the options. I haven’t had any problems there. I also went to one inside of the Shops at Crystals, and there’s a third option as well.
I could try all of them, see which one I like the best, but I like Zatinya [00:30:00] more than the other one at the Shops at Crystals. And if you go to Vegas every month, you could definitely use the Bilt Dining Credit, that’s one thing, or Vegas locals. Certainly in New York, locals can use it, and again, in Washington, DC I was able to use it.
I’d like to see a bigger footprint. This is one weakness of the Bilt cash redemption, but it’s not contingent on getting your money back, as this is an optional thing with the Bilt cash. I’ve had to use external sites to find the restaurants that have this Bilt Mobile Dining option, and I’ve had success.
It would be nice to see the Bilt app having better transparency, where you could just go in the app and find out does this restaurant have the Bilt Mobile Dining at checkout? There’s a lot of confusion there because there are some that show they’re a partner with Bilt or whatever terminology there is, or earn extra Bilt Points at this place.
I went to a local place when I first got the card. They said they didn’t know what Bilt was, and I could not use the Bilt cash there. That was a fail for my local area, but in these major cities and while traveling, I have been [00:31:00] able to use the $25 dining Bilt cash on a few occasions Yeah and traveling’s been where I’ve used a lot of my Bilt cash as well.
My wife and I were able to use the $200 hotel credit that comes every six months with the Bilt Palladium Card, at a Marriott location in Northern Virginia.
I added on, $100 Bilt cash redemption for the two night and that pretty well covered the entire stay, so that was nice. I’ve heard mixed reviews on whether that will track for Marriott reward nights. I was able to add my Marriott number to the account or to the stay, so fingers crossed that I get credit for that as well.
That would be a nice bonus. Good to have those redemptions, and it is nice in that they stack the $100 Bilt cash with the $200 hotel benefit. And to continue on our redemptions and stats, I’m [00:32:00] currently at 140,000 Bilt points. I haven’t used any yet. I’ve had the card pretty close to launch since January of 2026.
I’m almost at the maximum of my five point accelerators, having earned 3X on most of my, Bilt Palladium spending. I also got bonus points with RentDay and some other promotions. I’ve been paying my rent with Bilt for more points, I mentioned earlier. The app has me at $29,126 in spending this calendar year, 2026, a bit over 25,000 because of delays between activating point accelerators and going over the $5,000 thresholds.
I’m aiming for 50,000 spend for a Bilt Platinum status on the Palladium, more 2X points, and more Bilt cash. I still have a lot of Bilt cash, though, even after my hotel credit redemption, point accelerators, dining credits, Walgreens credits, rent payments, and more. Currently, [00:33:00] $361 in Bilt cash. I’ve been aggressively using it because I know that at the end of the year, it’s all scheduled to expire except for $100 in Bilt cash That’s right, Justin.
Earn and burn that Bilt Cash because you can only roll over 100 bucks. I’ve been stockpiling Bilt Points for longer than you have, Justin, so I have quite a bit more, 376,000 not many of them used. I have had one transfer to Alaska and another one to transfer to Hyatt .
I’m on my third point accelerator with the Palladium card and about I think $2,000 into that $5,000 spend. Overall spend year to date is about 20,000. Some of that was transferred from the Wells Fargo card not all of that was eligible for the accelerator, and that has earned a little over 61,000, points this year.
And I’ve been earning and burning my Bilt Cash, and I’m at $135 and some cents on that. I feel like I’m in a good spot there, have some rent to [00:34:00] pay or mortgage to pay here coming up. We’ll continue to look for opportunities to, redeem a Walgreens gift card here and a Lyft ride there and try to get that whittled down to under $100 here as we turn over the new year.
Someone in the Bilt Facebook group had a question. He was wondering, “What happens when it’s time to pay rent in the beginning of January 2027?
Will they have Bilt Cash on the 1st of January, especially since all but 100 expires at the end of the calendar year?” I think that’s an interesting question. The Bilt Palladium should give another $200 in Bilt Cash in January of 2027, but it might not post right when the ball drops. To be safe, I’m thinking pay rent a bit early at the end of December 2026 rather than waiting for the 1st of January
Yeah that’s probably a good idea if you can pay down some of your rent or mortgage at the end of the year. This is the Bilt Bulletin, Justin, but [00:35:00] I’ve forgotten how many Bilt mortgage or rent payments you can make. There’s no specific cap, right? I don’t believe so.
You could probably pay early, definitely about a few days or a week early, that’s for sure. When you’re rolling over your $100, if you only have $100 in Bilt Cash on the first of the year, and that’s when your mortgage or rent is due, that would cover a little over $3,300 at the current redemption rate.
You wanna make sure you have enough there to earn points at the beginning of the year. I like that people are starting to think about that, and it fits nicely with our discussion earlier about making sure you’re not trying to carry over, or not trying to, but accidentally get to the end of the year and have too many Bilt Bucks or Bilt Cash, and what can you do there.
Maybe an early rent or mortgage payment makes sense in a lot of different ways. Yes. I just don’t wanna chance it. Who knows what’s gonna happen on January 1st. Just pay [00:36:00] it a few days early. It’s going to be okay.
Any thoughts on using your $200 BILT hotel benefit stacking with an additional 100 in BILT cash for a hotel stay in July or through December of 2026? Not yet.
My wife and I seem to be on a bit of a concert tour. We saw a local band in northern Virginia in May, and the band Cracker not Uncle Kracker, that’s a different band, but Cracker here in June, and talked about maybe seeing They Might Be Giants at a show in Minneapolis or Minnesota later this year.
That would be a weekend trip and might fit nicely with a two-night BILT hotel redemption. We have a lot of options. That’s a good thing. I’m still yet to book two cruises. I can definitely take another BILT stay before a cruise, and some other travels might come up. I booked Hermitage Bay using Hilton free night certificates.
This is a property in Antigua, [00:37:00] all-inclusive, and usually quite expensive, but getting good value from the Hilton free night certificates. I was looking at flights to and from Antigua. Some of the routing gets a little strange, some layovers, but I’m able to do it without having to stay extra hotel nights in Miami, Atlanta, or other places that the routes wanna take me.
But maybe a pre-cruise stay later in the year. We’ll see what happens That’s the great thing, Justin. Like you said, lots of options.
Something for us to talk about in the next BILT Bulletin. Very good. Thanks for coming on today, and thanks to everyone for listening. Stay tuned for future episodes. For more content between shows, follow Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast on Facebook and X. Follow Justin Vacula on Instagram. Subscribe to Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast on YouTube for daily content, including travel videos, podcast clips, and posts.
Find more information, including [00:38:00] episode transcripts, at hurdygurdytravel.com. Search Hurdy Gurdy Travel on subscribestar.com or become a channel member on YouTube to support my efforts, starting at the $5 a month tip jar level. Receive special perks at higher subscriber levels, including private one-on-one conversations about card strategy, creative credit card spending, and asking podcast guests your questions.
The website UDIO, Udio.com, created the podcast intro and outro music. It’s not me singing. AI features of the website Descript helped me edit and improve audio quality. Thanks for listening. Have a great day.
Travel at low cost with points and miles. Credit card rewards bring the smiles. Many adventures, tales to be told. Make and save money, the world will unfold[00:39:00]
Fight the war on happiness, pick up the gold. Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast breaks the mold