What happened
Bilt has updated its card terms so that a downgrade within 30 days after the prior card's annual fee posts reverses that card's welcome-bonus Bilt Cash. The new card's welcome bonus is issued instead. Bonus points and elite status that came with the old offer are reversed, while status earned on its own stays. A downgrade after that window leaves the old welcome bonus in place and skips any upgrade bonus.
Upgrades can carry a bonus shown in the Bilt app or site. A 50,000-point bonus with Gold Elite Status posts only after $4,000 of Everyday Spend within 90 days of the product change. Inside the 30-day window, used annual credits are billed back and unused credit is stripped. The new card's credit is issued. Outside that window, prior-card credits last through the current anniversary year before dropping to the new amounts.
Frequent Miler notes the terms do not say whether the 30-day window runs from the first annual fee or a later renewal, and a reversal can leave a negative balance. Hold off on a Bilt product change until that window is clarified, and treat used annual credits as at risk if a fee just posted.
- Numbers
- 30 days: window after the prior card’s annual fee posts in which a downgrade reverses the old welcome bonus
- 50,000 points: upgrade bonus of Bilt Points paired with Gold Elite Status
- $4,000: Everyday Spend required to earn that points-and-status upgrade bonus
- 90 days: spend window after a product change to earn the 50,000-point upgrade bonus
- Who qualifies
- Bilt cardholders who upgrade or downgrade between Bilt products
- Takeaway
- Hold off on upgrading or downgrading a Bilt card until the 30-day fee-posting window is clarified, and treat used annual credits as at risk if you might product-change soon after a fee posts.