The Bilt Palladium Card launched to a rocky start earlier this year, but the fuss about its complexity may be missing the point. Its annual fee is $495, and at its most basic it pays 2x points on everyday spending — arguably already the strongest flat-rate return in travel rewards, thanks to Bilt's long list of airline and hotel transfer partners and its famously generous transfer bonuses, which can reach 100%.

The card's signature feature is housing: it earns up to 1.25x points on rent or mortgage payments with no transaction fee, something no major competitor offers. New applicants get 50,000 Bilt points plus a year of Gold status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in 90 days, along with $300 in Bilt Cash. Perks include a $400 annual hotel credit paid as two $200 statement credits through the Bilt Travel portal, $200 in Bilt Cash each year, and a Priority Pass membership.

Where the card gets interesting — and admittedly convoluted — is in stacking. Opting into Bilt Cash earns an extra 4% back, and that cash can fund 'Points Accelerators': $200 of Bilt Cash buys an extra point per dollar on your next $5,000 of spending. Run that cycle continuously and your effective earning rate climbs toward 3x or better on everything, no category tracking required. Transfer those points during a Rent Day bonus promotion, use Bilt Cash to bump the bonus another 25%, and one blogger's worked example turns $33,333 of spend into 225,000 partner miles — roughly 6.75 points per dollar.

Transfer partners cover all three major alliances: United, Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish and Avianca on Star Alliance; British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Alaska, Qatar and Iberia on oneworld; Air France KLM and Virgin Atlantic on SkyTeam. Non-alliance options include Emirates, Southwest and Aer Lingus, plus hotel programs from Hyatt to Accor. Bilt points are also worth a flat 1.25 cents each through the travel portal if you'd rather not deal with awards at all.

So why the bad press? The January and February rollout was messy. Bilt was simultaneously migrating off Wells Fargo and splitting one card into three, early terms for Bilt Cash redemptions were unclear, and some legacy cardholders were unhappy losing a loophole that let them earn points on rent with minimal spend. A few users had hiccups processing housing payments. But commentary from the Frequent Miler podcast suggests complaints have settled into ordinary issuer-level background noise, and mortgage payments appear to be running smoothly now.

For a certain kind of traveller, the pitch is simple: one card for everything, no category juggling, points that convert into some of the most coveted airline currencies going. It even works as a household play — a $95 authorized user card comes with its own Priority Pass and can effectively double your annual Points Accelerator allowance. Anyone put off by the launch chaos may reasonably wait, but for frequent spenders the math is hard to argue with.