Compare the Features and Benefits of Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card and
Bilt Obsidian Card

The market for premium travel rewards cards is crowded, and every major card issuer has a product with an annual fee of $95, or close to it. While not a creative name for a card in this class, the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card appeals to those who want the cardholder benefits of premium card, but are happy to earn cash back rewards instead points that can be transferred to frequent flier miles or points with hotel programs.

This card earns double points on all travel and dining purchases, and 1.5 points per dollar spent everywhere else. But rather than being just travel rewards points, these points can be redeemed for one cent each as statement credits, bank deposits, gift cards or travel reservations.

So far, this is pretty similar to the no-fee Bank of America Travel Rewards card. But what makes this card “premium” are its benefits.

To start off with, you receive up to a $100 credit towards the application fees of TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, which includes PreCheck. These services are used by frequent travelers to speed themselves through the lines at the airport.

You also receive up to a $100 credit towards airline incidental fees. These are the charges for things like luggage or seat selection that everyone hates, and those who use this fee each year will completely offset this card’s $95 annual fee.

It also includes an entire range of travel insurance policies such as trip delay reimbursement, trip cancellation and interruption coverage, and lost or delayed baggage reimbursement. It even comes with emergency evacuation insurance, a feature only found on a fraction of the top credit cards with annual fees over $500.

Purchase protection and extended warranty coverage are also included.

In the end, you have a card that offers a fairly simple cash back rewards program, similar to what you would find on a no fee card. But at the same time, it has all the fee credits, travel insurance and purchase protection features you’d expect to find on a much more expensive credit card.

Anyone who travels regularly, even if not frequently, will find these benefits to be worth its modest annual fee.

The Bilt Obsidian Card sits in the middle of the three Bilt credit cards with its $95 annual fee.

You’ll earn valuable Bilt Rewards points with each purchase. One unique feature of this card is the ability to choose a 3X bonus category. You can choose (at the start of each year) whether you prefer 3X on groceries (up to $25,000 a year) or 3X on dining. You’ll then also get 2X on travel and 1X + 4% Bilt Cash on Everyday Spend.

It has no foreign transaction fees and the $95 annual fee can be offset by the $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. It’s available once per half year as $50 statement credits for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.

Bilt Obsidian Card

Your Best Credit Cards values Bilt Rewards points at 1.8 cents each, although the personal value you get from each point may be higher or lower. With 1X points earned on all everyday spend, you are earning an approximate value of 1.8% worth of Bilt Rewards plus another 4% in Bilt Cash on top.

Many know Bilt for the ability to pay your rent and mortgage with the card. You’ll be able to earn points for paying any personal rent or mortgage with this card. Simply redeem the Bilt Cash you earn from all of your non-rent spend to earn 1X points on your rent or mortgage payment, which has no transaction fees. Applying $30 worth of Bilt Cash for every $1,000 in rent or mortgage payments paid will earn you points on that portion of the rent or mortgage payment, up to the full amount. You can redeem Bilt Cash for all or part of your payment.

We love Bilt Rewards for their strong list of transfer partners which include World of Hyatt, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and JAL Mileage Bank, among many others as mentioned above. You can also get 1.25 cents per point in value simply by redeeming Bilt points in their travel portal and they even offer “direct bookings” that offer loyalty benefits despite being a third party booking. Just look for “Member Rate” or “Home Away From Home” labels when searching hotels or “Direct Book” when searching flights.

If you are looking for a Bilt card that offers a huge 2X (+ 4% Bilt Cash) on Everyday Spend with premium benefits, you might consider the Bilt Palladium Card. If you want to explore a Bilt card with no annual fee, that’s the Bilt Blue Card.