There’s almost nothing that brings a smile to my face quite like going 3-for-3 on new card applications. The truth is, I took advantage of prequalification tools to have high confidence in two of the three. Still exciting to see the approvals roll in, one by one. Almost as exciting as the big bonuses that come along with the three cards. At the root, that’s why I did this.
Truist Business Cash Rewards
- Core terms & rewards: $0 annual fee, 0% APR for 9 months on purchases, 3% gas, 2% restaurants, 1% everywhere else (+10-50% bonus depending on deposit balance)
- Sign up bonus: $300 cash rewards for $3,000 spend in 90 days
- Why I applied: 1) Reasonable little sign-up bonus, 2) Business card, so no impact to individual bureau, 3) 9-month 0% purchase is going to be nice for April tax payment (a few extra months of float)
- New-card math: ~$450 total; $300 sign-up bonus, plus 0% for ~7 months on $5,000 payment (worth 5% APY to me, or ~3% = $150)
Bilt Palladium @ $15,000 line
- Core terms & rewards: $495 annual fee, 10% APR for 12 months, 2x BILT points everywhere plus 4% BILT cash everywhere; 2x $200 Hotel Credits; 1x BILT points on mortgage payments or ~2,000 free points monthly for me
- Sign up bonus: 50,000 BILT points for $4,000 in 3 months; $300 BILT Cash (+$200 annual BILT Cash)
- Why I applied: BILT throws out lots of big numbers around with their programs, but despite what they advertise, their BILT cash isn’t quite cash. There are, however, a range of redemption offers that could prove valuable (including redeeming $200 of cash for an extra 1x earn on $5,000 spend, effectively making the card a 3x-everywhere card. With transferrable points, that could actually be a pretty killer deal.
- New-card math: ~$840 total; 50,000 BILT points worth 1.2 cents each, valued at $600 (50,000 x 0.012) ; $500 in BILT cash estimated 50% redemption value, valued at $250 ($500 x 50%); 1x BILT points on mortgage payments worth 24,000 BILT points/year, worth 1.2 cents each, valued at $288 (24,000 x 0.012) ; 2x $200 Hotel Credits estimated at 50% of redemption value, valued at $200 (2 x $200 x 50%); offset by $495 annual fee
- I plan to do a more complete post on BILT once I have first hand experience using this card and can truly assess the value.
Barclays JetBlue Plus @ $24,100 line
- Core terms & rewards: $99 annual fee, 0% APR for 12 months on balance transfers, 2x restaurants & groceries, 1x everywhere else, free checked bags, 10% back on points redemptions
- Sign up bonus: 70,000 JetBlue points for $1,000 spend in 90 days (effectively 77,000 with 10% back perk)
- Why I applied: I absolutely loathe JetBlue. Every experience we have is terrible (most of our experiences involve cancelled flights). I want them to pay, so this new card helps me do just that, while also giving me a nice little travel-sponsorship payday. I have no open Barclays card, and I want to be in their ecosystem.
- New-card math: ~$740 total; 70,000 points are worth ~1.2 cents each (my last redemption was ~1.5 cents each), valued at ~$840 total; offset by first year $99 annual fee
Overall, I’d say this was a highly successful card application round. At the worst, I expect I’ll get my annual fees back. If I end up able to book travel this year using earned points, I expect I’ll be able to do significantly better.
