TLDR: While the Bilt Obsidian Card is a relatively simple card, there are a few things you should look into when you get the card.
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For folks who are new to the Bilt Obsidian Card, you'll likely know that its a relatively simple card with a low annual fee that has a lot of earning potential. However, upon receipt, there's a few small things you should do to make sure you're well positioned for success.
There are potentially two major spending promotions (targeted) for folks who preordered their Obsidians prior to Feb 07, 2026:
The best way to see if you're eligible for either of these promotional offers is by checking your email. I was only eligible for the Mobile Wallet one; sad that I'm not getting the awesome TPG deal...
Note that both of these spending promotions have very specific timelines with them. If you don't use them on time, you won't get the extra points.
While there aren't necessarily benefits you need to "activate" with the Obsidian, there are a few important things to consider.
You need to choose whether you would like to earn 3x on dining or groceries (grocery up to $25k/year) on your Bilt Obsidian Card card. I personally am going for the dining category because I spend too much money eating out haha.
Upon approval, the default category selected is dining. You have 30 days to change your 3x category selection. After that, you'll be able to change it once per year during the month of January.
Unlike some Amex or Chase cards, you do not need to activate any of the hotel credits on the Obsidian to receive them. So that makes life relatively easy on that front.
The Obsidian hotel credit has some restrictions associated with it:
Best to start looking into this a bit earlier rather than later, given our timeframe for the first set of the Bilt Obsidian Card's credit is a bit shorter than I'd like. This credit does not roll over; it is use or lose it.
It's in your best interest to make sure your Bilt Rewards is all set up properly so that you can earn additional points on various eligible purchases.
Making sure the right cards are linked with Bilt Wallet is crucial.
Follow these instructions:
Remember: you will not earn additional Bilt Points for eligible neighborhood dining purchases unless you pay with a linked card.
With a Bilt Rewards account, you can earn an additional 2x Bilt Points per dollar spent on Lyft rideshare if your Lyft/Bilt accounts are linked + you select Bilt your Lyft partner.
To do this, first get started by navigating to the Bilt Neighborhood page:
Once you're at this page, go to the "Rideshare" part of the options:
And then at the bottom of the page, you'll be able to see if your Lyft account is linked.
When you get your Obsidian, there's a singular Bilt Cash deposit made into your account: $200 Bilt Cash from the welcome bonus
Given you get $200 of Bilt Cash right away, there's a lot of things you can do with it. But, just to be clear, there's a clear mathematical hierarchy in terms of what the best redemptions are. From highest to lowest (฿ used for Bilt Cash symbol):
For example, you should realistically never use Points Accelerator until you've redeemed Bilt Cash for the others.
It's not necessarily a very easy answer; a bit of a complex one to be honest.
It depends on:
For me, my rent is $2,000, so I need ฿60 Bilt Cash if I want to get the full 2,000 Bilt Points per month.
However, from the opening of the card (subject to approval), I only start off with ฿200. Given I only spend about $1,000 per month on the card, I'll get ฿40 Bilt Cash every month.
This means my starting Bilt Cash is going to be all used up, either on credits or rent redemption. So points accelerator makes no sense to use.
The Bilt Obsidian Card comes with a short but nice list of benefits. And the best earning rate out of all of the Bilt 2.0 cards on dining or grocery purchases. While there's nothing you have to enroll in, there is a bit of strategizing to think about, especially if you elect to earn Bilt Cash via Option 2.
However, if you want to keep things simple, I would just use your Bilt Cash for your rent. That requires the absolute least amount of information and things to remember.
