Bilt Palladium

Bilt built the Palladium around something almost no other card does: you can put rent or mortgage on it with no transaction fee and still earn up to 1.25x points, on top of a flat 2x on everyday spend. At $495 a year the math leans on the credits, a $400 annual hotel credit paid as two $200 statement credits for Bilt Travel bookings and $200 in annual Bilt Cash, plus Priority Pass lounge access and no foreign transaction fees. The catch is how conditional the best numbers are: the 1.25x on housing only applies on the housing rewards track, since the Bilt Cash track drops housing to 1x, the 4x transit rate covers Lyft rides only after you link your account, and the 4x hotels and 3x flights require booking through Bilt Travel. The intro APR is unusual and worth reading twice, a 10% fixed rate for the first 12 billing cycles rather than 0%, before a regular 26.74% to 34.74%. It opens with 50,000 points plus $300 Bilt Cash after $4,000 in three months, and that same $4,000 in 90 days earns Gold Status. It is worth the fee mainly if your rent is large enough that fee-free housing points carry the $495 on their own.