Yes, I am at a loss to understand the appeal of this card for non-renters.

There is no SUB. The category bonuses (dining, travel) are mediocre compared to other cards. The double bonus on rent day is competitive, but I have several other cards that do not limit everyday spend bonus to 12 days and instead offer 2/$1 on everyday spend 24/7/365.

Perhaps the best thing that can be said for BILT is that points transfer to AS, so maybe the card is useful if that is your ultimate goal (as the BofA AS card is even weaker for everyday spend). But otherwise I see no reason to waste a 5/24 slot on this card (already did that way too may times, e.g. JCB Marukai, CNB Crystal, X1).

Or am I missing something??

For Hyatt people, AFAIK, this card is the only way to get 2x on spend like tax payments (I know, gone 10/1), insurance payments, medical bills, etc. So for the last few years, it's been great for non-renters who stay at Hyatts.

If you have another way to get 2x on otherwise non-bonused categories, I'm all ears.

It's also a decent all-around card for people who don't want to pay an annual fee, eat out some, and travel internationally some.

I have, for years now, gotten 5X UR (=5X Hyatt) by paying my insurance, medical bills, taxes and some other unbonused spend with Visa/MC giftcards that I bought with my Ink Cash at OD/OM or Staples. Admittedly there is more effort involved, but those unbonused categories are a pretty large percentage of my annual spend, so it seems worth it.

Good point about Hyatt, I have probably missed some opportunities there though often my large non-bonus spend is used for SUBs.

There are several 2x/$1 spend cards including Cap1 Venture, Cap1 Spark Miles, Citi Double Cash, Amex Blue+ Unfortunately the best Chase cards only offer 1.5/$1 so not as good if your ultimate destination is Hyatt.

I think what you're missing is that most people don't churn cards and SUBs. Most people are leery of annual fees. Most of my friends (30-40 years old, high earners in tech or professionals) have just a few credit cards. Many value the simplicity of a cash back card over figuring out points and miles. Until I met them, my partner only had a costco credit card and a clothing store credit card despite having excellent credit and a high income.

I don't rent, and I have the card. I like the fact that it doesn't have an annual fee and gets 3x points on dining (which is the bulk of my spending).

Chase Freedom Unlimited also has no annual fee and earns 3 points per dollar on dining (and drugstores). How do you redeem the Bilt points?

That exact “more effort”, along with occasional lost/counterfeit/used GCs, is a dealbreaker for some or many people. Not as bad as MS which requires a visit to Walmart Customer Service, for which I personally would rather gouge out my own eyeballs with a hot fire poker, but for some/many people that juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

Of course, as with everything in this (points and miles) game; different strokes for different folks, one person’s meat is another person’s poison and it all depends (on several different factors).

(Geez, I feel like a professional athlete: so many clichés, so little time :D.)

For one of my coworkers, even opening a credit card dedicated for rent is "too much" work and they just use a cashback card for everything. We have to keep in mind at all times that we're the 1% in terms of effort put into this. :)

Don't have any Chase cards currently. Don't spend much in drugstores, either.

Have only had the card for about a year, so haven't redeemed any points yet (I don't usually make speculative transfers). When the time comes, will likely transfer the points to either BA, VS, AF/KLM, or maybe AC.

Right. I have zero interest in doing MS (other than occasionally peaking into the MS forum here to see what's going on). I practice category shifting, so I don't buy more giftcards than I can reasonably use for natural spend in the next couple of months. $76,200 later I have not had a single case of fraud, lost cards etc. But it definitely is a risk I am aware of.

And the effort for category switching is definitely something worth considering. It costs time and money to drive to office supply stores. I used to that part of town other reasons, so I tried to not make a special trip. That has changed and I go less often. I shifted a lot of my category switching activity to eGift cards from giftcards.com. Instead of 5X UR with no fee I was paying the card fee and earning 3X or 4X AA miles and LP via the shopping portal. But I could do it from my desk :)

And yes, there are times when I think I should just get a 2% cashback card and simplify my life. But that thought quickly vanishes when I sit in that comfy J seat on the way to Europe :) But the 2% card is the right choice for many people who aren't interested in investing a lot of time in this hobby.

I'm not too worried about gift card fraud. In nearly 15 years of doing MS, I only had one bad Visa gift card from CVS, and Incomm was able to transfer the funds and activate the card I had within 12 hours of filing a claim.

That being said, all of my miles and points earning today comes from optimizing my spend based on category bonuses for each card in my (now mostly digital) wallet, Bilt offers an easy way to get points for rent (or HOA fees). While it would be possible to go the Chase Ink route, the cost of the Visa/MC gift cards plus the $2.95 flat fee that the payment processor for our HOA's management company levies would not make the spread worth it.

If it works for your use case, and you're able to swing 5x for all of your spend, that's fantastic. In my case, Bilt allowed me to go from earning 0x to 1x on my HOA fees and a zero effort 2x on Rent Day for purchases that I can time.

Our HOA fees are relatively low and there is no CC payment option (though of course could pay via BILT).

As noted above, the question now (for those of us who don't currently hold the card) is whether it is worth wasting a 5/24 slot on this card especially now that the rent day bonus is capped at $1k in spend. The 5x bonus discussion on the Chase card is irrelevant, and I'm not going to spend $1k dining on the first of the month. So it really boils down to an extra 1000 points on everyday spend - which I already get elsewhere 24/7/365 (no special timing needed).

Given your situation, I personally wouldn't. I probably wouldn't get the card myself now. It was a different calculation when I applied for the card. There's no cost to holding the card, so I'll keep it as long as Bilt is a thing. The points for the HOA fees are a plus, and I can still put some 2x spend on the card on the first of the month.

One consideration I have now is the uncertainty of Bilt's viability. It would be unfortunate for Bilt to go bust and having Wells Fargo product change everyone to one of their in house cards without any sign up bonus.

Agreed, 5/24 considerations were my main “cons” to my application for a Bilt MC but I bit that bullet about a year ago and applied (successfully). I use the card only for my monthly HOA charges and 5 other small ($5-$10) charges per month, I maintain a minimal Bilt balance, regularly transfer 2000 or 3000 points to a partner program.

My main “pros” were/are:
- The prospect of ending the intense annoyance of a significant (approximately 10% of my annual credit card charges) monthly payment being non-pointsetized*.
- Once I decided it would be a one-time application (not churned), I viewed it as taking (not wasting) a 5/lifetime slot (not a 5/24 slot). It only counts toward 5/24 for 2 years and this game is a marathon, not a sprint.

Much as I think Bilt’s business model is not sustainable, I do think it will last for at least another few years. With any luck, Bilt will motivate competitors, maybe Chase or AmEx, to start a similar process (to pointsetize rent and HOA payments).