Head to head · issuer terms as read 2026-08-30
Bilt Obsidian vs Sapphire Preferred
Both charge $95 a year. Bilt Obsidian earns Bilt Points; Sapphire Preferred earns Ultimate Rewards points. Both have a cash floor we can stand behind at 1.0¢, so the receipts below compare them in the same unit.
On the published earn tables, Bilt Obsidian leads on groceries & supermarkets, rent, mortgage & hoa; Sapphire Preferred leads on gas, ev charging & transit, travel booked through the issuer's portal, streaming, phone & online shopping, everything else; the rest tie. Credits, as the issuers state them, add up to $100 a year on Bilt Obsidian and $406 on Sapphire Preferred — if you would have spent that money anyway. Monthly credits have breakage; count only the ones you'd really use.
Bilt Obsidian Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The terms, side by side
| Bilt Obsidian | Sapphire Preferred | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $95 | $95 |
| Foreign transaction fee | No foreign fee | No foreign fee |
| Earns | Bilt Points | Ultimate Rewards points |
| Transfers to partners | Yes | Yes · 14 on the official list |
| Credits stated | 1 · $100/yr if fully used | 4 · $406/yr if fully used |
| Welcome offer, as stated | $200 in Bilt Cash upon approval — no spend required | Earn 75,000 points after you spend $5,000 in purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
Earn rates by category, as stated
| Category | Bilt Obsidian | Sapphire Preferred |
|---|---|---|
| Dining & restaurants | up to 3X | 3X |
| Groceries & supermarkets | up to 3X | base rate |
| Gas, EV charging & transit | base rate | 3X |
| Travel booked direct | 2X | 2X |
| Travel booked through the issuer's portal | 4X | 5X |
| Streaming, phone & online shopping | base rate | 3X |
| Rent, mortgage & HOA | up to 1.25X | base rate |
| Everything else | base rate | 1X |
Green = the higher stated multiplier. Brand-specific, promotional and rotating rates are on each card page, not modeled here.
What each nets at sample spend
Three sample monthly budgets, every point at 1.0¢ (the Pay-with-Points floor we paid), fee subtracted, no credits counted. Estimates, not promises — your spend is the input that matters.
Run your own spendQuestions people ask
- Which has the lower annual fee, Bilt Obsidian or Sapphire Preferred?
- They're the same: $95 a year, as stated on the issuers' pages on 2026-08-30.
- Does Bilt Obsidian or Sapphire Preferred charge foreign transaction fees?
- Bilt Obsidian: no foreign fee. Sapphire Preferred: no foreign fee. Read off each issuer's page on 2026-08-30.
- Which earns more on dining?
- Bilt Obsidian states up to 3X; Sapphire Preferred states 3X.
- Can I transfer points to airline and hotel partners?
- Bilt Obsidian: yes. Sapphire Preferred: yes (14 partners on the official list).
- Which is better for me?
- It depends on where your spend goes. The receipts on this page use sample spend profiles at 1.0¢ per point; the Card Stack Optimizer runs your own numbers against every card we track, net of the annual fee.
- Bilt Obsidian: biltrewards.com redirects to bilt.com (301); both are treated as the issuer's own domain.
- Bilt Obsidian: Overview page (/card) additionally states a general '4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend' and a separate '$200 in Bilt Cash on account opening' credit not fully reconciled with the tier page's single welcome-offer statement; both mentioned here for completeness.
- Bilt Obsidian: transferPartners set to true based on Bilt Rewards program transfer-partner functionality referenced across Bilt's site.
- Bilt Obsidian: Issuer/network confirmed via the /card overview fetch (Column N.A., Member FDIC; Mastercard licensing reference) and the /card/obsidian tier page ('World Elite Mastercard').
- Sapphire Preferred: Network confirmed as Visa Signature via Chase's own 'Guide to Benefits Chase Sapphire Preferred, Visa Signature' PDF title and via Chase's /visa-credit-cards listing page (not stated in plain text on the main product page itself).
- Sapphire Preferred: 5x Peloton (over $150) and 5x Lyft earn promos are time-limited (through 12/31/2027 and 9/30/2027 respectively per issuer page) and were left out of the core earn-rate table since they are promotional, not permanent, categories — flag before publishing if precision on these is needed.
- Sapphire Preferred: Apple TV and DashPass credits are also time-limited promotional benefits as stated on the issuer page (activate by 12/31/2026); may not persist beyond that.
One email per trip report.
No card pitches. Unsubscribe in one tap.
List opens at launch.