Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. BILT Rewards Card: Which is Right For You?
Credit cards with travel rewards are extremely popular because they make it easy to earn points or miles that can be redeemed for complimentary flights, hotel stays, car rentals., and more. However, choosing the right credit card can be a daunting task, especially with the (frankly overwhelming) number of different card options out there.
Two of the most popular examples of these travel cards are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Bilt Rewards Card from Wells Fargo. Both of these cards offer competitive rewards programs and perks, but they have completely different set-ups at their core and therefore can be tough to decide between. While these are both excellent credit cards and you can’t go wrong with either, one of them likely makes more sense for you based on what you prioritize most.
However, at the same time, they also share enough similarities in their benefits that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to use both as your main everyday spend card. Therefore, in this article, we'll explore both the similarities and differences between these two cards to help you make an informed decision about which one better fits your spending habits and lifestyle!
It only makes sense to add one of these cards to your wallet: but which one?
First, let’s start with the basics of each card individually:
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred
Background
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is one of the most well-known and popular credit cards currently on the market and is arguably the most frequently recommended intro travel card out there. For just $95 a year in annual fees, you can a wide range of benefits, including great point redemptions, easy reward earning, and top-tier support. Not only is this card an excellent travel card for beginners, but it also has enough variety with its transfer partners to give a lot of value to credit card pros as well! Even if you don’t know the first thing about travel cards, the Sapphire Preferred is simple enough that you can still get enough value from it to negate the annual fee.
Spending Rewards & Sign-Up Bonus
The Sapphire Preferred gives you a return of 3 points per dollar on all dining (including delivery and takeaway), online grocery orders, and select streaming services, 2 points per dollar spent on all forms of travel, and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
New cardholders can also earn a signup bonus of 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of opening the account, which nets between $600 and $1000 depending on what type of redemption you use. However, this sign-on bonus can go as high as 90,000 points, so we recommend doing some research to see if there are any rumors of an increase coming! Additionally, cardholders can earn 25% more value from their points when they redeem their points through Chase's Ultimate Rewards program, providing a significant incentive to book your travel through the Chase travel portal. While you’ll still likely get more value by transferring to travel partners (e.g., Hyatt), booking through the portal is a great option for beginners.
Other Benefits
In addition to the standard point return, the Sapphire Preferred also gives $50 a year in hotel credits for hotels booked through the Chase travel portal. As well, one of the more unique features of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is that it offers primary rental car insurance, meaning if you get into an accident while driving a rental car, you don't have to file a claim with your personal insurance first.
The card also has no foreign transaction fees, making it a great option for international travel. However, as we hinted at earlier, the biggest source of value from the Chase Sapphire Preferred comes from the incredible list of transfer partners (see below). Transferring your Chase points to Hyatt can net let you redeem your points for upwards of 2 to 3 cents per point!
Wells Fargo BILT Rewards Card
The BILT Rewards Card
Background
The BILT Rewards Credit Card is one of the most unique credit cards you can get, in that it lets you earn points on your rent payments without having to pay any fees! Normally, you either can’t earn points on your rent payments or you have to pay brutal fees to use a credit card; however, with the Bilt card’s system, you just submit your rent payment to the Bilt portal, and then Wells Fargo sends the payment directly to your landlord, all with no fees. Many people are also unaware that there is actually a wide variety of things you can use Bilt’s unique system for, including utilities and utility bills! The best part? Unlike the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Bilt Rewards card has no annual fee.
Spending Rewards & Sign-Up Bonus
The Bilt Rewards card from Wells Fargo gives you 1x points on all rent, utilities, and similar living-related expenses that normally don’t give any points. As well, the card gives 3x points on dining and 2x points on travel, just like the Chase Sapphire Preferred. While there is no sign-on bonus for this card, you can still get great value by earning points on your rent. Given that BILT points are surprisingly valuable for how rare the card is, if they ever do add a sign-on bonus it will likely come with an increase in annual fee.
Other Benefits
The Bilt Rewards card has many additional benefits beyond just point earnings. To start, you can use your points to pay for your next month’s rent or a downpayment on a house! Bilt also has different tiers depending on how much you spend which can unlock new benefits, such as interest on your points and homeownership concierge. However, arguably the best benefit is Bilt’s shockingly good list of transfer partners (see below), including many shared with Chase, such as Air Canada, Hyatt, and United! Interestingly, Bilt Rewards is the only bank transfer partner for American Airlines! All your points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, meaning you never lose any value when you transfer (just as with the Chase Sapphire Preferred). However, you will likely have already noticed that many of the big transfer partners are shared between Chase and BILT.
Transfer partners for the BILT rewards credit card, including World of Hyatt, Air Canada, and United!
So, Which Card Is Right For You?
Now that we’ve covered the basics of each card, which one is actually right for you?
We’ve established that both cards have extremely similar rewards (3x on dining, 2x on travel), and similar travel partners, but the Bilt card also lets you earn points on rent and renting-related payments. Since the list of transfer partners is largely similar, and the ones with the best benefit are shared (e.g., World of Hyatt, United), the better card for you is going to depend more on how you can earn more points:
If you are currently renting and rent is one of your biggest payments every month, the Bilt Rewards card may make more sense for you. The biggest downside of the BILT card is its customer service—we’ve seen many people have issues with getting consistent responses when they need help. This looks even worse compared to Chase, which has extremely good customer service. While this isn’t a dealbreaker, if you’re someone who frequently needs to contact customer service, you may want to do your own research to see if you can expect to have any issues. Otherwise, the BILT card is excellent and matches many of the spending benefits of the Chase card (while also allowing you to earn points on rent).
On the other side, if you own your home or really value the travel benefits that are offered (e.g., hotel credit), the Sapphire Preferred is likely going to be the better option for you! The Chase Sapphire Preferred is incredibly common, meaning that if you ever have any issues, there is a plethora of information and tips out there to help you succeed.
If you want an easier intro card, the Bilt Rewards not having an annual fee makes getting value out of your points much easier, while the Chase Sapphire requires a bit more work (and has an annual fee) but can still return a ton of value, particularly if you’re a heavy traveler!
However, the bottom line is that both are among two of the best cards currently on the market, so no matter which one you choose, you’re going to be getting a great card! As well, you can always consider getting both—with so much overlap in transfer partners, it can very effective to combine your Chase and Bilt points together for a single redemption.
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