Bilt 2027 opt-out calculator: keep Flexible Bilt Cash or take the new benefits?
From your card’s 2027 anniversary, existing Bilt cardholders move to the new benefits unless they opt out in the Bilt app before that date. Either way the choice appears to be permanent, so it’s worth running your own numbers.
Our conservative default; set your own.
Rent, mortgage or HOA fees
Leave out spend that stays on a 5%+ card either way (e.g. Amazon or streaming on a store card) — counting it at a lower rate overstates both Bilt options.
Earn 2x points worth more than 1¢ each (e.g. Venture X)? Use Custom.
Hotel stays (2+ nights) / yr
Lyft / Walgreens
Count only what you’d buy anyway at that price. Per stay: new benefits up to $200 of Bilt Cash; keeping Flexible a $200 hotel credit + up to $100 of Bilt Cash. Hotel redemptions are twice a year. Lyft/Walgreens is up to $10 a month; other uses include Blacklane, Blade and fitness classes.
The new benefits look better by about $98/yr, but switching to Bilt Obsidian could net about $192/yr more.
Hotel bookings decide it: keeping Flexible pulls ahead at 1 booking a year or more.
Keep Flexible (Bilt Palladium)
$146/yr net
- Earnings vs your other cards38,400 pts × 1.45¢ = $557, minus $384 your other cards would earn on that spend$173
- Bilt Cash in: $1,068$768 from 4% on spend + $200 annual + $100 milestones; worth what it’s used for below$468
- Housing (unlocks points)$668 → 22,267 pts on housing × 1.45¢$323
- Point Accelerator2 × $200 → 10,000 pts × 1.45¢$145
- Annual fee−$495
New benefits (Bilt Palladium)
$243/yr net
- Earnings vs your other cards62,400 pts (38,400 everyday + 24,000 on housing) × 1.45¢ = $905, minus $384 your other cards would earn on that spend$521
- Bilt Cash in: $700$600 annual + $100 milestones; worth what it’s used for below$218
- Point Accelerator3 × $200 → 15,000 pts × 1.45¢$218
- Expires unused$100 → $0$0
- Annual fee−$495
Switch to Bilt Obsidian (new benefits)
$435/yr net
- Earnings vs your other cards56,400 pts (32,400 everyday + 24,000 on housing) × 1.45¢ = $818, minus $360 your other cards would earn on that spend$458
- Bilt Cash in: $200$100 annual + $100 milestones; worth what it’s used for below$73
- Point Accelerator1 × $200 → 5,000 pts × 1.45¢$73
- Annual fee−$95
All figures are $/yr net of the annual fee, compared with putting the same spend on your other cards. Switching to another Bilt card moves you to the new benefits.
How hotel stays change the answer
| Hotel stays / yr | Keep Flexible (Bilt Palladium) | New benefits (Bilt Palladium) | Best other option |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $146 | $243 | $435 · Bilt Obsidian |
| 1 | $398 | $371 | $435 · Bilt Obsidian |
| 2 | $673 | $498 | $463 · Bilt Obsidian |
Don’t miss your Bilt anniversary
Create a free account, add your Bilt card with its open date and turn on annual-fee reminders — we’ll email you before your anniversary (Obsidian and Palladium; Blue has no annual fee to remind about). No bank linking, no card numbers.
Assumptions
- Hotel stays, Lyft/Walgreens and other uses are things you’d buy anyway, so Bilt Cash spent on them is valued at face value, up to each cap.
- Bilt Cash goes to its most valuable use first. On Flexible, Bilt Cash on housing is worth your point value ÷ 3 (it unlocks points on your rent or mortgage) and those points count toward the $50-per-25,000-points milestone.
- Point Accelerator: whole $200 blocks only, each earning up to 5,000 bonus points on everyday spend (housing doesn’t count), at most 5 a year, Obsidian and Palladium only.
- Bilt Cash isn’t one flat value here: it’s worth what you’d use it for (the hotel, Lyft/Walgreens and other-uses inputs, housing, Point Accelerator). The “Bilt Cash value” in your Preferences isn’t used on this page.
- Bilt Cash expires 12 months after it’s earned, with no rollover beyond that. We count only what you’d use in a year; the rest is treated as lost.
- Not modeled: Hyatt transfers at 4:3, Daily Rewards, sign-up bonuses.
- Hotel credits kept by opting out need a stay of 2+ nights booked through Bilt Travel: Palladium keeps $200 each half-year (topped up with up to $100 Bilt Cash); Obsidian keeps $50 each half-year (top-up at your status cap).
- Switching to a different Bilt card (upgrade or downgrade) moves you to the new benefits, even if you opted out — so the third column is always on the new benefits.
- Lyft/Walgreens Bilt Cash works on every Bilt card. Bilt Cash can’t be cashed out.
Informational only — not financial or tax advice. Verify card terms with the issuer.
Why estimates may be conservative ›
Reward estimates lean conservative on purpose. They may not include limited-time promotions, very-high-spend bonuses, online-only grocery bonuses, or certain card-specific redemption floors. Points from a card that only transfers alongside a partner card (like a Freedom card with a Sapphire) are valued as cash back unless you hold that partner card. Some travel rules and category definitions can move your real earnings either way. Statement credits on cards we suggest are estimated by how easily each credit is used and by how you use your current cards' credits — your own usage can only pull an estimate down from that easy-case rate, never above it or above the credit's face value — and you can adjust the figure. The Bilt opt-out calculator values Bilt Cash by the uses you enter, within Bilt's limits: hotel stays, Lyft/Walgreens and other uses count at face value, which assumes you'd buy them anyway, and leftover Bilt Cash is treated as expiring. Ask the Strategist answers are drafted with AI help, reviewed by a person, and based on these same estimates. Always verify current terms with the issuer. Read our full methodology ›