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This is a 2026 comparison of Bilt Obsidian and Chase Sapphire Preferred for a renter or homeowner choosing one $95 card, or deciding whether paying both fees is worth it.
Bilt isn’t one card anymore. As of September 28, 2026, Bilt’s official site lists three cards: Blue at a $0 annual fee, Obsidian at $95, and Palladium at $495. Chase Sapphire Preferred also carries a $95 annual fee, so Obsidian is the like-for-like match.
The split is simple. Bilt cards earn points on rent and mortgage payments, up to 1.25X, with no transaction fee on the housing payment. Sapphire Preferred has no official rent-or-mortgage earn path, but it pays 5x on Chase Travel and adds a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS credit.
Below: housing rewards, everyday earn rates, hotel credits, transfers, the welcome offers each issuer showed, and who should pick which card.
- $95 Bilt Obsidian annual fee
- $95 Sapphire Preferred annual fee
- Up to 1.25X on Bilt rent and mortgage
- 5x on Chase Travel
Card terms and offers here follow the official Bilt and Chase card pages as of September 28, 2026.
At a Glance: Bilt Obsidian vs Sapphire Preferred
- Fees: as of September 28, 2026, Bilt lists Blue at a $0 annual fee, Obsidian at $95 and Palladium at $495. Chase lists Sapphire Preferred at $95. This comparison covers Obsidian and Sapphire Preferred only.
- Housing: Bilt’s site says, “Make housing payments with no transaction fee through Bilt, always.” Rent and mortgage earn up to 1.25X.
- Obsidian earn: up to 6X at Bilt partner restaurants; 3X on your choice of dining or grocery (grocery up to $25K a year); 4X on hotels and 3X on flights booked through the Bilt Travel Portal. Its hotel credit is $100 a year, applied as $50 twice a year.
- Sapphire Preferred earn: 5x on Chase Travel, 3x on dining, 2x on all other travel, 1X on everything else. Its hotel credit is up to $100 each account anniversary year on stays purchased through Chase Travel.
- Transfers: Bilt's pages differ (28 on the cards page, 25 on the Obsidian page and partner list), so we use 25. Most transfers are 1:1; Accor is 3:2 and I Prefer is 1:2. Chase names 10 airline partners and 4 hotel partners for Sapphire Preferred, listed below.
Offers and earn rates can change; check the official Bilt and Chase card pages before you apply.
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Paying $2,000 in rent through Bilt
Bilt’s own wording: “With your Bilt Card, if your rent is $2,000, you’ll pay $2,000.” The charge is processed on your Bilt Card and paid off by your linked bank account within 24 hours.
Takeaway: the housing payment itself carries no added transaction fee.
Example 2: A light month of everyday spend
Per Bilt, “If you do not meet the minimum 25% of your housing payment, you’ll earn 250 points.” That is the floor for the billing cycle, below the 0.5X to 1.25X grid.
Takeaway: everyday spend on the card in the same cycle decides your housing multiplier.
Example 3: Redeeming Bilt Cash on housing
Per Bilt, “Every $30 of Bilt Cash you redeem means 1,000 Bilt Points” on housing, up to 1X.
Takeaway: Bilt Cash is a second route to housing points, separate from the spend-share grid.
Example 4: A hotel stay booked through Chase Travel
Chase lists a “$100 Chase Travel Hotel Credit: Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel.”
Takeaway: the credit applies to hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel.
Example 5: Paying the Global Entry application fee
Chase lists “one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee” for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS.
Takeaway: it reimburses an application fee, and it comes around once every four years.
Example 6: Holding both cards
Housing payments stay on Obsidian. Chase Travel bookings and the up-to-$120 every-four-years credit stay on Sapphire Preferred. Each card has a $95 annual fee, so that setup means two $95 fees.
Takeaway: two cards only make sense if you will use what each one does best.
The Bilt Lineup, and Why This Is Obsidian vs Sapphire Preferred
As of September 28, 2026, Bilt’s official site lists three cards by name and annual fee. Chase lists Sapphire Preferred at a $95 annual fee. Bilt’s terms name the issuer as Column N.A., Member FDIC.
| Card | Annual fee | Role on this page |
|---|---|---|
| Bilt Blue | $0 | The cheaper Bilt option |
| Bilt Obsidian | $95 | Compared head to head |
| Bilt Palladium | $495 | The pricier Bilt option |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | $95 | Compared head to head |
Both Obsidian and Sapphire Preferred print a $95 annual fee, which is why they are the fair pair. Blue and Palladium are the alternatives if you want to pay less or more; this page doesn’t compare their earn grids.
How Bilt Housing Rewards Work
Per Bilt, “Make housing payments with no transaction fee through Bilt, always. With your Bilt Card, if your rent is $2,000, you’ll pay $2,000.” Bilt adds that “When you make a rent or mortgage payment, the charge is processed on your Bilt Card and is paid off by your linked bank account within 24 hours.”
Path 1: Everyday spend as a share of your housing payment
For housing-only rewards, Bilt compares your everyday spend in the billing cycle to that cycle’s housing payment. Bilt’s grid:
| Everyday spend as a share of your housing payment | Housing multiplier |
|---|---|
| Below 25% | 250 points |
| 25% | 0.5X |
| 50% | 0.75X |
| 75% | 1X |
| 100% or more | 1.25X |
In Bilt’s words, “If you do not meet the minimum 25% of your housing payment, you’ll earn 250 points.”
Path 2: Flexible Bilt Cash
The other route runs through Bilt Cash. Everyday purchases earn 4% back in Bilt Cash, and “Every $30 of Bilt Cash you redeem means 1,000 Bilt Points” on housing, up to 1X.
Per Bilt, “Bilt Cash expires December 31st each calendar year; up to $100 carries over to the next year.”
Bilt’s FAQ also says: “The 5-transaction monthly minimum was a requirement of the original Bilt Card and does not apply to any Bilt Card 2.0 product.”
Everyday Earning and Credits: Obsidian vs Sapphire Preferred
Here are the printed rates side by side, from Bilt’s Obsidian page and Chase’s Sapphire Preferred page as of September 28, 2026:
| Category | Bilt Obsidian | Chase Sapphire Preferred |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $95 | $95 |
| Rent and mortgage | Up to 1.25X | No official rent-or-mortgage earn path |
| Dining | Up to 6X at Bilt partner restaurants; 3X on your choice of dining or grocery (grocery up to $25K a year) | 3x on dining |
| Booked through the issuer’s travel portal | 4X on hotels and 3X on flights booked through the Bilt Travel Portal | 5x on Chase Travel |
| Other travel | 2X | 2x |
| Everything else | 1X | 1X |
| Hotel credit | $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit, applied twice a year as $50 statement credits for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings | Up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel |
| Foreign transaction fees | None | None |
What only Sapphire Preferred lists
- 3x on gas stations, EV charging, and vacation homes at top brands
- 3x on top streaming services and online grocery, with exclusions that apply
- One statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS
Credits only pay off if you use them. If you want a model for tracking them, our Amex Gold credits checklist shows the habit. And if you aren’t paying rent through Bilt and are weighing another premium travel card, see whether Capital One Venture X is worth it.
Transfers and What Outlets Say the Points Are Worth
Bilt
Bilt's pages differ (28 on the cards page, 25 on the Obsidian page and partner list), so we use 25. Most transfers are 1:1; Accor is 3:2 and I Prefer is 1:2.
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase lists these transfer partners for Sapphire Preferred:
- Airlines (10): Aer Lingus AerClub, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club, Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM, Iberia Plus, JetBlue TrueBlue, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Hotels (4): IHG Rewards Club, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, and Wyndham Rewards
For a walkthrough of putting Chase points to work, read our Chase transfer-partner guide. If you’re weighing a hotel card against simply using Chase points, we break that down in the World of Hyatt card vs just using Chase points.
What outlets say the points are worth
The Points Guy reports, as of September 2026, that Bilt points are worth 2.2 cents each. Bilt’s own rewards marketing also displays “2.2¢ Per point valuation by The Points Guy.” The Points Guy values Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2.05 cents each as of September 2026.
Those are The Points Guy’s figures, not issuer rates, and Roaming Cactus doesn’t publish its own value for either currency here.
Welcome Offers Shown on September 28, 2026
These are the offers each issuer’s official page showed on September 28, 2026. Welcome offers are time-limited, not permanent, and neither one showed an end date.
Bilt Obsidian
“$200 of Bilt Cash when you apply and get approved.”
Chase Sapphire Preferred
“Earn 75,000 points after you spend $5,000 in purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.”
Offers and earn rates can change; check the official Bilt and Chase card pages before you apply.
Who Should Pick Which, or Hold Both
Pick Bilt Obsidian if rent or mortgage is your big points opportunity
Rent or mortgage is the spend you most need to turn into transferable points, and you will either hit the housing-multiplier spend share or redeem Bilt Cash to unlock housing points. Sapphire Preferred has no official rent-or-mortgage earn path.
Pick Sapphire Preferred if you book through Chase Travel
You will book through Chase Travel (5x plus the $100 hotel credit), want the Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS credit, and will use the dining, streaming, online grocery, and gas and EV categories more than housing.
Hold both if each card has a clear job
Holding both can be useful when housing payments stay on Obsidian and Chase Travel plus the $120-every-four-years credit stay on Sapphire Preferred. That is two $95 fees.
Bilt Blue is the $0 annual fee alternative and Bilt Palladium is the $495 annual fee alternative. When you’re ready to apply, use each issuer’s official card page.
Our own free tracker, RewardTracker.io, lets you track two cards free; a one-time $10 unlock adds the rest of the catalog on that account.
If Sapphire Preferred is your pick and you’re curious about Chase’s pricier card, read Sapphire Preferred versus Sapphire Reserve, then whether the Sapphire Reserve is worth its fee.
TL;DR – Verdict
Pick Obsidian if rent or mortgage is the spend you most need to turn into transferable points, and you will either keep enough everyday spend on the card to hit the housing multiplier or redeem Bilt Cash to unlock housing points. Sapphire Preferred has no official rent-or-mortgage earn path.
Pick Sapphire Preferred if you will book through Chase Travel (5x plus the $100 hotel credit), want the Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS credit, and will use the dining, streaming, online grocery, and gas and EV categories more than housing.
Hold both when housing payments stay on Obsidian and Chase Travel plus the $120-every-four-years credit stay on Sapphire Preferred. That is two $95 fees.
Other Bilt cards: Bilt Blue is the $0 annual fee alternative and Bilt Palladium is the $495 annual fee alternative. This page doesn’t compare their earn grids.
Point values: The Points Guy reports, as of September 2026, that Bilt points are worth 2.2 cents each and Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 2.05 cents each. Those are outlet figures, not issuer rates.
Offers and earn rates can change; check the official Bilt and Chase card pages before you apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bilt better than Sapphire Preferred if I pay rent?
Obsidian is the card with an official rent-or-mortgage earn path: up to 1.25X when everyday spend is 100% or more of the housing payment, with no transaction fee on the housing payment. Sapphire Preferred has no official rent-or-mortgage earn path.
Does Bilt charge a fee to pay rent?
Per Bilt, “Make housing payments with no transaction fee through Bilt, always. With your Bilt Card, if your rent is $2,000, you’ll pay $2,000.” The charge is processed on the Bilt Card and paid off by your linked bank account within 24 hours.
How does the Bilt housing multiplier work?
Everyday spend in the billing cycle, as a share of that cycle’s housing payment, sets the rate: 25% earns 0.5X, 50% earns 0.75X, 75% earns 1X, and 100% or more earns 1.25X. Below 25%, you earn 250 points. A separate path is 4% back in Bilt Cash, with every $30 redeemed unlocking 1,000 Bilt Points on housing, up to 1X.
How do the dining and travel earn rates compare?
Obsidian earns up to 6X at Bilt partner restaurants, 3X on your choice of dining or grocery (grocery up to $25K a year), 4X on hotels and 3X on flights booked through the Bilt Travel Portal, and 2X on other travel. Sapphire Preferred earns 5x on Chase Travel, 3x on dining, and 2x on all other travel.
Can I hold both cards?
Holding both can be useful when housing payments stay on Obsidian and Chase Travel plus the up-to-$120 every-four-years credit stay on Sapphire Preferred. That is two $95 fees.
What are Bilt points worth?
The Points Guy reports, as of September 2026, that Bilt points are worth 2.2 cents each, and Bilt’s rewards marketing displays “2.2¢ Per point valuation by The Points Guy.” The Points Guy values Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2.05 cents each as of September 2026.