S3E11: Bilt's New Credit Cards: Earning Points on Rent & Mortgage Explained

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<v SPEAKER_00>Built has introduced three new cards and options for earning points while paying your rent or your mortgage.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It's a convoluted new system, but a lot of people have questions, so we're gonna parse it out today.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Welcome back to Points for Normal People.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm Katie and I'm here because I know that travel costs add up, especially for a family.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But I believe travel isn't just for the rich.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That's why on Points for Normal People, I share the tips and tricks that my family has been using for over a decade to help you use your everyday expenses and credit card welcome offers to supercharge your travel points so that you can pay for entire vacations every year.

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<v SPEAKER_00>When Built announced it was going to have some way to earn points on paying mortgages, a lot of people got really excited.

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<v SPEAKER_00>For so many people, housing is their biggest expense, and it's been a pipe dream to be able to earn points on it.

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<v SPEAKER_00>In my 15 years in points, there have occasionally been different schemes that give an opportunity to earn points on mortgages.

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<v SPEAKER_00>For a while, you could pay your mortgage by paying a fee with plastic, and then gradually that got more limited to just being able to pay with a MasterCard, and then the fees kept increasing.

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<v SPEAKER_00>There was a brief rise of Mesa, which helped you earn points on mortgages, but that folded very quickly and without warning.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And then Built announced how they were going to offer this option, and it was overwhelmingly underwhelming, or at least underwhelming for anyone who is working on a broader points and miles strategy.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Earning points on rent and mortgage through Built is a full brainer exercise.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I had to read through the fine print multiple times to make sure I even understood how it all worked.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And then just a few days after announcing all of these new schemes, Built already started announcing changes.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And this is before the cards have even officially launched.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'll tell you up front that I think there's a narrow group of people that this really does make sense for.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It makes the most sense if you have a significant rent or mortgage payment, and you also have a lot of everyday spending.

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<v SPEAKER_00>With those high expenses, this can work if you really just want to have one card you do almost all your spending on, or if you have enough spending you could do a lot on a built card and still have spending left over to use for other new card offers.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I also want to say that while I understand that earning points on your housing payment seems very exciting, I don't actually think it's a game changer.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The median housing payment in the US is around$3,000 per month.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you earn one point per dollar, that comes out to 36,000 points per year.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Is that better than nothing?

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<v SPEAKER_00>Of course.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That could be one night at a fancy Hyatt each year or a number of nights at a lower end Hyatt, or a lot of other things, but I like to think of my points in terms of Hyatt nights right now.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But that's also just about half of a standard welcome offer on a credit card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And because of the way this program is structured, this might mean that you might not be able to open as many cards for welcome offers.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And so for some people, you might end up earning fewer points overall just for the sake of earning points on your housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>As always, I'll break it down step by step so you can figure out if this makes sense for you.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'll start with a general overview of how you can earn points on your housing payment with Built, and then go into the differences between the three Built cards that are launching February 7th.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That way you'll be able to see if this even makes sense for your overall strategy.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If it does, I'll help you figure out which card specifically it makes sense for you to get.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now, Built claims that there is no fee to pay your mortgage or rent.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And this is technically true.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That's because basically built just gives you the option of becoming an ACH middleman where you pay from your bank account to your mortgage with built as an intermediary.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So that part is always fee-free.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It's just if you want to earn points on your housing payment that you're making through Built, that there's a convoluted system where sometimes it could cost a fee to earn points on those housing payments.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So really it's semantics here because the fee is on earning the points, not on the actual payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>What you have to understand about any of these options is that Built was working to find a way to give people some points on earning housing payments while not going broke themselves.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The Built card was initially issued by Wells Fargo and had a different structure for earning points on rent, and I'm not going to go into those details.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But I will say that it wasn't profitable, and Wells Fargo dropped Built after reportedly losing millions of dollars.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So Built had to shop around for another card issuer to partner with.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And now built cards will be issued by Cardless, which is a minor card issuer.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I think that if banks thought there was a lot of money to be made on letting people pay mortgages and rents and earn points on them, the big banks would have done it already.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Or they would have picked up the built card when Wells Fargo dropped it.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So in order to try to not lose a bunch more money and go out of business, the way that this works with the new built cards is that they're going to require you to spend a lot of money on your built card throughout the year in order to have that privilege of being able to earn points on your housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I think they structured it this way because banks earn 2-3% in swipe fees every time you use your card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So they need you to be using your card a lot in order to offset the cost of the points to them.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Built is giving people two options for earning points on housing.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And to be clear, you have to have one of the three built cards for any of this to work.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And then they're gonna make you choose one of these housing earning schemes.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So first you can choose a system involving earning and redeeming built cash, which is not cash back.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It's a cash currency that built has just made up.

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<v SPEAKER_00>One of my friends compared it to Shroot Bucks if you've watched The Office.

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<v SPEAKER_00>With the Built Cash option, there would be a 3% fee to earn points on your housing payment, but you can offset the fee by using built cash.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And you earn built cash in addition to earning points when you use your card for purchases.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And some of the cards give you built cash as part of the welcome offer or ongoing each year.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It's kind of complicated from the get-go.

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<v SPEAKER_00>All of the cards earn 4% built cash for every purchase that you make.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Again, this isn't actual cash back, it has fairly limited usage.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Let's use some made-up number examples to make this a little bit more clear.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Let's say your housing payment is$1,000 a month.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If it is, obviously we all want to know where you live, but I'm using that because it is a nice round number.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you want to earn points on that mortgage payment, you need to have$30 of built cash every month to cover the 3% fee to earn points on a$1,000 housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>To regularly earn$30 of built cash each month, you would need to spend$750 a month on your built credit card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The ratio is three to four.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So you can always take whatever your mortgage payment is and find 75% of that amount, and that's what you would need to spend on a built card to earn points on your full housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So that's the first option and the quick calculation you could do to figure out what you'd need to spend monthly on a built card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Take your monthly housing payment and find 75% of it.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now it might actually be a little less since, like I said, some of the built cards come with annual built cash, but that's a general guideline.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And that's how that first method works.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The second option was unveiled a few days after all of the card details were announced, probably because honestly, Built was getting a lot of hate on Reddit for the rollout.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I think anytime you see changes very quickly after a product launch, it means it didn't go as they were hoping.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The second option is that depending on how much you spend on your card each month compared to your housing payment, you will earn more on your housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you spend the equivalent of 25% of your monthly housing payment on your card, you'll earn half a cent per point on your housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So if your mortgage was$1,000 and you spend$250 on your card, you'll earn 500 points on your housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you spend 50% of your housing payment, you'll earn 0.75 cents per point.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So you'd earn 750 points on a$1,000 mortgage.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you spend 75% of your housing payment, you'll earn one cent per point.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So$1,000 points in this example.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And that's the break-even point with the other method.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you spend the same on the card as you do on your housing payment, you'll earn$1.25 per point.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So in this example,$1,250 points.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you hit none of those tiers, you'll still earn 250 points on your mortgage payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So you can clearly see that they are really forcing you into spending regularly on your card with either system.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I personally think they would have been better off just launching with one system, because anytime you add more choices, you're adding more opportunity for discontent.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now, each option has pros and cons.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The first system with built cash is more complicated for sure, but it's also more flexible because you could have just a few big purchases a year and earn enough built cash and then just use that built cash throughout the year to cover those fees every month for your housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That first system also allows you to adjust spending if you've earned built cash through promos or holding a certain built card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Just keep in mind you can only carry over$100 of built cash from year to year.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But during most of the year, it provides some flexibility month to month if you want to spend more on some months than others.

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<v SPEAKER_00>With the second system, you'd have to manage and track how much you're spending every single month to stay in the earning tier that you want to stay in.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you have a really regular budget and you're really not planning to use a lot of different cards to earn welcome offers, this might be an easy one and done option for you.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This second option also works if you just get the no fee card and want to just pay your housing through built and earn that 250 points per month, even without any spending on your built card at all.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It's not much, it's just 3,000 points a year, but it's something.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So that's the overview of the structure where you can earn points on housing payments through built.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You can change the scheme you're involved in any month, but you have to be in one or the other.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I'm gonna circle back to this and talk about strategy options as I talk about these other cards as well.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So let's talk about those different card options.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Now we've created a very detailed calculator to help you walk through all of this and these cards to see if any of them make sense for you.

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<v SPEAKER_00>There's a variety of options and levers to pull here, so it should help make it more clear once you put in real numbers for yourself.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That calculator is in our built card review on our blog, which is linked in the show notes.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The first option is a no annual fee built blue card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You earn one point per dollar on every purchase you make.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And at least right now at launch, you get$100 of built cash added to your account just for getting approved.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This is the most straightforward option.

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<v SPEAKER_00>It would be fairly easy for you to figure out how much you could earn by opening this card and using it to pay for housing payments with either of the methods using our calculator.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I personally think you'd want to choose the built cash method at least until your built cash from the intro offer is drained, because those first few months you could earn on your mortgage without even spending anything on the card yet.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That$100 built cash would allow you to earn 3,333 points on housing payments.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Then after you've used all of that, you could switch to the tiered earning option as a possibility.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Even if you never spend another dime on the card, you could earn that base 250 points per month for your housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Or you could stay in the built cash system too.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If we go back to our hypothetical$1,000 housing payment, if you want to earn points on your housing payment long term and you had the built cash system, you'd need to spend$750 a month on the card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And then you'd earn 750 points from spending and a thousand points from your mortgage.

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<v SPEAKER_00>At the end of the year, you'd have 21,000 points.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You'd also have almost earned built silver status, which is enough to unlock the one-to-one ratio from Racquutin to built.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So at that point, you'd probably want to make sure to spend$10,000 total on the card so that you could have that good Racquutin transfer rate.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back and review last week's episode about how to earn built points without a credit card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The next level up is the Built Obsidian card, which has a$95 annual fee.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I think this one they were trying to sort of make comparable to the Chase Sapphire preferred card.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This one gives you$200 built cash as a welcome offer, at least right now at launch.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That's enough to cover the fee and earn$6,666 points from$6,666 of housing payments.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This card also advertises up to$100 in hotel credits each year, but the way it's broken down makes it harder to actually use.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That's because it's two$50 credits and you have to book via built travel.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So on first glance, that might seem comparable or even better to the Sapphire Preferred$50 annual hotel credit, but this one with built, you have to use on a stay of two nights or more.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So it's really just$25 off per night.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Because of that, I'd honestly rate this credit as almost negligible in actual utility.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I know a lot of people who really like that Sapphire Preferred credit for one night one-off stays, but as soon as you have to do it for two nights, it's going to make it harder to use.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The earning structure on this card does give you some decent earning options.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You earn two points per dollar on travel purchases, and then you earn three points per dollar on one category that you have to select, either dining out or groceries.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So that's a decent earning option, but does mean picking and committing to one category.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And there is a maximum of 3x earning on$25,000 per year.

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<v SPEAKER_00>One issue with the 2x on travel is that the travel protection this card provides isn't very good and pales in comparison to the Sapphire Preferred.

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<v SPEAKER_00>First of all, you need to charge the full trip to this card to get coverage.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And then you only get$2,000 of coverage maximum per trip, compared to$10,000 of coverage per trip with the Sapphire Preferred.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So while the 2X would be fine for travel purchases like transit and parking, I can't recommend using it for flights or hotels if you want decent travel protection.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That's one reason I personally feel like this card shouldn't be your only travel card, because those travel protections just aren't nearly as robust as the Sapphire Preferred.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Or other cards for that matter.

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<v SPEAKER_00>The 3X on dining or groceries loosely mirrors the Sapphire Preferred, which gives 3x on dining and 3x on online groceries.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But for the built obsidian, you do have to choose one category or the other.

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<v SPEAKER_00>I think one possible simple strategy option for anyone with a decent sized grocery bill relative to their housing payment would be to choose that grocery category and use this as your only card for groceries.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That particularly would work if you can meet other minimum spends on additional cards throughout the year with all the other expenses you have besides groceries.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So you'd be earning 3x on groceries, and then you'd unlock a fair amount of built cash to be able to earn points on a little bit of a housing payment.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So if you spend$1,000 a month on groceries, you'd earn 3,000 points per month on that.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You'd also then be able to earn enough built cash to earn another 1,333 points on a housing payment each month.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So really, you're earning 4,333 points per month.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And that comes out to a total of about 52,000 points per year.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You'd also earn built silver status because you've spent$10,000 on your built card in a year, which unlocks that ability to keep earning via Raccoutin at a one to one ratio.

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<v SPEAKER_00>If you can do that while also opening other cards regularly for other offers, it's one way you could just maximize your grocery bill.

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<v SPEAKER_00>You could do the same for dining out if your monthly dining out expenses are higher than your grocery expenses.

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<v SPEAKER_00>Then the final level of built cards is the built palladium card with a$495 annual fee.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This is the only one that's offering a welcome offer that also includes points.

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<v SPEAKER_00>This one you'd earn$50,000 points and$300 built cash and built gold status after you spend$4,000 in three months after account opening.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So after you did the$4,000 required spending on this, you'd have another$160 of built cash.

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<v SPEAKER_00>And as an ongoing benefit, this card gives you$200 in built cash each calendar year.

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<v SPEAKER_00>So that's actually a total of$660 built cash as soon as you've met your$4,000 required spend.

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<v SPEAKER_00>That's enough to cover the fee to earn$22,000 points on$22,000 of housing payments.

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<v SPEAKER_00>But keep in mind you'd need to make sure you were able to pay that much in housing payments by December 31st, since built cash mostly expires at the end of the calendar year, and you can only roll$100 over.

00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:44.559
<v SPEAKER_00>So you're out$495 for an annual fee, but you've earned$50,000 points as the welcome offer, and then you could earn 22,000 points on your housing, and you would have earned 8,000 points while you did that$4,000 spending, so you're at 80,000 points.

00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:54.160
<v SPEAKER_00>Personally, I don't think that's an amazing return on investment for a$495 annual fee compared to other cards, but of course, there are a few other perks you're getting.

00:17:54.319 --> 00:18:02.960
<v SPEAKER_00>So you'd get built gold status right off the bat, which gives you that one-to-one ratio with Raccootin and possibly some other transfer bonuses on built day.

00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:08.319
<v SPEAKER_00>You do get two$200 hotel credits per year for hotel stays of two nights or more.

00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.119
<v SPEAKER_00>This does have to be booked via built travel.

00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:14.240
<v SPEAKER_00>And these could be useful for quick trips or sports tournaments.

00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:18.880
<v SPEAKER_00>You also get priority pass access for the primary cardholder and two guests.

00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:24.640
<v SPEAKER_00>So this just includes access to lounges and not to other experiences like spas, gameway, or restaurants.

00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:31.440
<v SPEAKER_00>If as a family you have another card with Priority Pass that doesn't quite cover everyone in your household, this might help bridge that gap.

00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:34.559
<v SPEAKER_00>The other protections on this card are somewhat of a mixed bag.

00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.559
<v SPEAKER_00>The travel protections aren't great.

00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:39.440
<v SPEAKER_00>I really can't recommend booking travel with this card.

00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:47.920
<v SPEAKER_00>It has the same$2,000 per trip limitation as the Obsidian card and requires you to book the full ticket with this card to get coverage.

00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:53.920
<v SPEAKER_00>Whereas the Safari products have coverage that kicks in even if you only pay for taxes and fees with the card.

00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:57.839
<v SPEAKER_00>The protection for physical items is okay, but also a mixed bag.

00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:02.720
<v SPEAKER_00>It includes an extended warranty that will be better for some purchases, but not others.

00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.720
<v SPEAKER_00>That's because it doubles a warranty period up to two years.

00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:10.720
<v SPEAKER_00>So for items with a two-year warranty, it gives you an extra two years.

00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.000
<v SPEAKER_00>But for items with a shorter warranty, it only doubles it.

00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:18.880
<v SPEAKER_00>So if you buy an item with a 30-day warranty, it only gives you 60 days total.

00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:26.000
<v SPEAKER_00>Because of that, and because I personally like to keep things simple, I'm not sure I would default to making purchases on this card.

00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:33.359
<v SPEAKER_00>I'd personally rather know I'm always getting a full year extension, since a lot of items have warranties of a year or less.

00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.240
<v SPEAKER_00>So I would choose to put those purchases on a different card.

00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:41.599
<v SPEAKER_00>Plus, you really want the card you use for extended warranty to be one you plan to keep long term.

00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:45.839
<v SPEAKER_00>And so you'd have to be really sure you'll be keeping this card long term.

00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:52.559
<v SPEAKER_00>This does have one great benefit, which is price drop protection for 90 days, which is a benefit I haven't seen in a while on a card.

00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:57.839
<v SPEAKER_00>With this, if you buy something and it drops in price, you can file a claim for the difference for 90 days.

00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:06.480
<v SPEAKER_00>And it does have purchase assurance, which is Like purchase protection on the Sapphire cards, but it does not have return protection, which a lot of other premium cards offer.

00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:11.039
<v SPEAKER_00>So it's certainly not a slam dunk, but again, more of a mixed bag on these protections.

00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:19.359
<v SPEAKER_00>And like I said, I really don't think it can be the sole card in your wallet if you make travel arrangements, because it just doesn't have good travel protections.

00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:26.640
<v SPEAKER_00>When it comes to earning, the palladium does have a simpler structure, and you just earn a flat two points per dollar on every purchase.

00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:29.599
<v SPEAKER_00>So that's the lay of the land when it comes to build.

00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:34.799
<v SPEAKER_00>For a quick overview, there are the two different methods to earning points on housing payments.

00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:42.480
<v SPEAKER_00>You can either pick a tiered method where you earn on your housing payment based on what you spend monthly relative to your housing payment.

00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.440
<v SPEAKER_00>Your tier can change every month for that.

00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:52.079
<v SPEAKER_00>Or you could use the built cash method to offset the fee to earn points on a portion or all of your housing payment.

00:20:52.400 --> 00:21:02.160
<v SPEAKER_00>Then there are three built card options: the$0 annual fee blue, the$95 annual fee obsidian, and the$495 fee Palladium.

00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:05.359
<v SPEAKER_00>Each has different earnings structures and welcome bonuses.

00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:12.400
<v SPEAKER_00>It's also really important to note that as of now, they're saying that you won't be able to product change between these cards.

00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:17.759
<v SPEAKER_00>These cards are issued by Cardless, which doesn't allow product changes on other cards it has either.

00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:22.319
<v SPEAKER_00>So that means if you get the Palladium, you can't downgrade to the Obsidian after a year.

00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:27.440
<v SPEAKER_00>Well, maybe they'll work something out and you'll be able to, but as of now, they are saying that you can't do that.

00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:30.559
<v SPEAKER_00>I personally haven't decided how I'm going to proceed.

00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:38.799
<v SPEAKER_00>Our mortgage payment isn't that big because we just got lucky when we bought a house and we bought towards the bottom of the market, and we also decided to buy a house that needed some work.

00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:41.200
<v SPEAKER_00>So my earning potential isn't great.

00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:48.240
<v SPEAKER_00>I'm a little bit more motivated personally by the chance to lock in built silver status and earn one to one on Rackotin longer term.

00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:56.319
<v SPEAKER_00>So if we get one built card, I'm personally leaning toward the strategy of getting the obsidian card and moving all our groceries to that card.

00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:06.799
<v SPEAKER_00>But honestly, I'm not even sure we'd spend enough to make it worth that$95 fee in the hassle, because many of our groceries are purchased at Costco, which doesn't code as a grocery store.

00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:13.039
<v SPEAKER_00>So at this moment, it's also kind of feeling like a hassle to earn what might not be that many points per year.

00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:18.079
<v SPEAKER_00>Because despite the hype when I do the math, I'm not fully convinced for my own situation.

00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:19.839
<v SPEAKER_00>But let's talk action steps.

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:29.759
<v SPEAKER_00>What I'd encourage you to do is use our resources to make a decision on whether you want to forget built, open a card, or shelve this for a few months or a year down the road.

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.000
<v SPEAKER_00>You might have listened to this episode and already know it's not for you, and that's great.

00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:35.519
<v SPEAKER_00>Now you can move on.

00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:40.480
<v SPEAKER_00>Keep working on the three-year plan or opening cards at your own pace for your own goals.

00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:56.319
<v SPEAKER_00>But if you're still in that decision process and you want to do some calculations, head to the built card guide link in the show notes and spend some time entering in a few scenarios to the calculators to see how many points you'd earn and if that seems worth it to you.

00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:02.319
<v SPEAKER_00>You probably are going to need a piece of paper to write some things down because these calculations are somewhat complicated.

00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:10.720
<v SPEAKER_00>The calculators will be more accurate and helpful to you if you already know your housing payment, as well as what you spend on groceries or dining out every month.

00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:15.359
<v SPEAKER_00>It also helps to know how much overall you could spend on a credit card in a month.

00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:23.680
<v SPEAKER_00>That way you can also figure out if you devote a certain amount to a built card, if you'd give up too many other opportunities for opening other cards.

00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:27.599
<v SPEAKER_00>You have until February 7th to sign up for a card with the current offers.

00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:33.680
<v SPEAKER_00>If you missed last week's episode on earning built rewards without a credit card, I'd encourage you to go back and give it a listen.

00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:40.720
<v SPEAKER_00>I walk through a few ways to set yourself up to earn points, even modestly but automatically on purchases.

00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:44.799
<v SPEAKER_00>And also how to double down on Raccoutin earnings for the next few months or so.

00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.480
<v SPEAKER_00>If you're just getting started with points, I'd also encourage you to do two things.

00:23:48.720 --> 00:24:04.720
<v SPEAKER_00>One is to go back to season one, episode one of the podcast and make sure that you listen to that first season sequentially in order, because that's where I really set the ground and give you the overview of what you need to know to take advantage of this wonderful world of miles and points.

00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:08.000
<v SPEAKER_00>And then with that, I'd encourage you to download our free beginner's guide.

00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:12.079
<v SPEAKER_00>All of our resources are free, but I'd just like to emphasize that they're free.

00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:20.240
<v SPEAKER_00>So you can download that, the beginner's guide to points, also down in the show notes, and that'll help give you that same framework to get started.

00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:27.680
<v SPEAKER_00>Thanks so much for spending time with me today, and I look forward to seeing you next time where we will continue to unlock these secrets of travel points together.