What’s Easier Than Bilt 2.0?

Tl;dr: If you want the simplest system, Capital One is best—but at the cost of weaker rewards. Citi strikes a balance between simplicity and power. And a Delta Gold card could be a dark-horse option. But Bilt remains my top choice for all-around value.

Bilt 2.0 launched last week, and the new Bilt rewards system is less than intuitive: the New York Times called it “the most complicated rewards system we’ve ever seen.” 

But as someone with a blog dedicated to navigating the credit card points landscape in simple and lazy ways, I don’t think it’s so bad. That’s for two main reasons:

• The new cards—especially the premium ones—are compelling even if you completely ignore all the complicated ancillary rewards based around rent or Bilt Cash

• You can boil the rent rewards down to a simple rule: spend less than the cost of your housing (paid through Bilt) and you’ll earn an extra ~1.3x Bilt points on top of those already solid rewards

To me, the problem with these cards is the hotel credits on the premium cards: they only apply to two-night stays, you have to use one in each half of the year (January to June, and July to December), and you also have to specifically apply the credit during checkout. That’s a lot to keep track of, especially if you don’t book hotels that regularly. I also worry that the short six-month window could make it hard to use a credit if you have to cancel a booking. Those are serious issues, because the annual fees are difficult to justify if you can’t recoup those costs with the hotel credits. I think I will be able to do it, but it’s not easy. 

With that in mind, what are some simpler alternatives to the Bilt cards?

Capital One

When it comes to earning and redeeming points and justifying a card’s annual fee, nothing beats the Capital One Venture X for simplicity. 

It earns double points on all base purchases (more when booking through the Capital One Travel Portal), and those points can be redeemed to “erase” travel—any travel, booked anywhere, and paid with the card—at 1¢ per point. It only has a single credit to keep track of: a $300 credit to be used throughout the year at Capital One travel. You also receive 10,000 points on renewal each year, so that’s $400 in travel value each year for a $395-fee card. To top it off, you can earn points even faster by adding a no-fee Savor card to your wallet to get 3x on more categories like dining and groceries.

The downside? Beyond those simple 1¢ per point travel redemptions, it can be complicated to try to unlock more value from Capital One’s weaker collection of transfer partners. 

Atmos Summit

The Atmos Summit offers one of the strongest blends of simplicity and value.

The Summit has a $395 fee, and it is primarily justified via an annual 25,000-point discount on an award flight, valid globally. The only thing you really need to remember to do each year is use that companion discount.

The card earns 3x on dining and foreign spending and 1x on all other purchases, with a 10% bonus if you have an eligible Bank of America account. If you spend $60,000 in a given year, you’ll receive another companion discount worth up to 100,000 points, which can make for exceptionally high return on spend. Alaska points are my favorite thanks to their solid award chart and deals like Global Getaways. In addition to redeemable points, card spending generates “status points” towards elite status—between status points from spending, award flights, and the card’s status point boost on renewal, the card can also vault you into the elite tiers of Alaska and Oneworld status.

You can even use the card to earn 3x points on rent via Bilt. Although this requires paying a 3% fee, the points may be valuable enough to justify that cost, especially if that spending also unlocks higher status and/or the 100,000-point companion certificate.

Citi

Citi’s premium cards also rely on hotel credits to justify their annual fee, but you may find them easier to use than Bilt’s. 

Citi’s Strata Elite card boasts powerful earning and has multiple options for high-value, low-stress redemptions. The card earns 1.5x on base purchases, 3x on dining, and more for Citi Nights dining purchases and for travel booked through Citi’s travel portal. Transfer partner American Airlines generally has reliable redemption opportunities at great pricing, while Citi’s 1:2 transfer ratio to Choice Hotels provides an excellent lazy value option. You can recoup most of the card’s $595 fee with an annual $300 statement credit toward a hotel stay of 2+ nights booked through Citi and a $200 credit redeemable at brands like American Airlines and Best Buy. However, recouping the rest of that fee might be trickier, although there is a semi-annual credit for chauffeur service.

Citi’s $95-fee Strata Premier has the same great redemptions, and can be a powerful earner, with 3x points on dining, groceries, gas, air travel, and hotel purchases. The card comes with $100 off a hotel stay booked with Citi—but only if you spend $500 before taxes and fees.

Amex (Delta Gold)

The Amex Delta Gold card is a surprisingly compelling option for a single-card wallet setup. It doesn’t earn powerfully, with just 1 SkyMile earned for each base dollar, and only double SkyMiles on dining, groceries, and Delta purchases. While the card’s free checked bag benefit can quickly justify the $150 annual fee if you would otherwise pay to check a bag, for non-Delta benefits there’s only a $100 credit toward hotel stays booked through the airline’s portal. But the card’s economics look better if you spend $10,000 in a calendar year, which unlocks a $200 Delta credit. Plus, the 15% discount on award flights provided by the card makes it possible to snag Delta’s often-incredible deals. If you want to start turning your everyday spending into international travel, this could be a compelling, lazy option.

Lazy Take 🦥

Despite the new complexities, Bilt 2.0 offers an incredible combination of earning power, rewards value, and redemption simplicity. The ability to recoup the annual fee with just two hotel credits (plus Bilt Cash, in the case of the Palladium card) is great—if you can use them. But there are other options that might be a better fit for you depending on your preferences and spending habits. I particularly like the Capital One Venture X, Citi Strata premium cards, and the Delta Gold card as low-effort alternatives.