WSJ Bilt article, July 1st Bilt Rent Day reminder. The Bilt Mastercard offers rewards for all renters, plus they roll out special promos on the first of every month (“Rent Day”). On July 1st, they are offering:
- 25% to 100% Transfer Bonus on Alaska Airlines miles. Get 25% to 100% more Alaska Miles when you convert your Bilt Points to Alaska Miles, based on your Bilt level. Even the basic Blue members get a 25% boost. You must make the transfer on 7/1 (one-day only), so plan ahead now.
- Bilt Gold members: Alaska MVP Status promo. In exchange for 10,000 Bilt points, Bilt Gold members get 10,000 Alaska miles and 6 months of Alaska MVP Status, which includes Oneworld® Ruby status across all 13 Oneworld airlines.
- Play Bilt Rent Free (easy, free, and top scores get anywhere from 100 points up to Free Rent). Book special Dining experiences. Book free Soulcycle sessions. Play PointsQuest trivia game for up to 250 points (quick and free).
- The WSJ recently wrote an article about Bilt: Wells Fargo Bet on a Flashy Rent Credit Card. It Is Costing the Bank Dearly. (archive). Basically, we should be happy that Bilt is paying us rewards on Rent because they – well, Wells Fargo at least – aren’t making much money from it. But really, losses happen at times with many of these rewards programs from Chase, Citi, or American Express. Our job is to jump on the good deals and avoid the bad deals (like paying high interest on credit card debt).
I usually try to score 6X Bilt/Hyatt points on Dining during the usual Double Points on Rent Day:
Just joined recently? Don’t miss these free Bilt Points opportunities (any day). Bilt lets you earn bonus points for a variety of different small activities, which can add up to 1,000+ easy points. I don’t know if these are officially listed anywhere, but I got them.
- After I first got approved for the Bilt card, they offered me 5X Bilt points on all purchases (except rent) for a limited period of time (reader Eileen reports 5 days). This is a good opportunity to earn 5X points for everyday larger purchases like insurance, tax payment, charitable giving, or utility bills. Max 50,000 points.
- 100 points for linking each transfer partner. Link Hyatt? 100 points. Link Air Canada Aeroplan? 100 points. Link them all! 10+ partners = 1,000+ points.
- 500 points for Amazon Shop with Points. Link your Amazon account and you can buy stuff with Bilt points at the usual mediocre 0.7 cents per points value. Linking gets you 250 points, and using the program (spend at least 1 Bilt point) and get another 250 Bilt points.
- 100 points for each credit card linked to Bilt Dining (up to 300 points). Bilt Dining lets you earn 5X points per dollar when you pay at an eligible restaurant using a linked credit card. Link three different credit cards, get 300 Bilt points.
Important reminder: You must use your card to make 5 purchases (of any amount) each statement period to earn points.
Full review:
The updated Bilt Mastercard is a unique credit card that earns rewards on rent payments to any landlord. Bilt is a rent payment platform and they will send your landlord a check or ACH bank transfer so that your landlord will not have to do anything. The credit card itself is issued by Wells Fargo. Bilt has bonus categories and a variety of points redemption options like many other rewards credit cards. Here are the highlights:
- Up to 1X points spent on rent payments without the transaction fee, up to 50,000 points each calendar year.
- 3X points on dining.
- 2X points on travel including hotels, rental cars, and cruises when booked directly with airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies.
- 1X points on other purchases.
- Earn points when you make 5 transactions that post each statement period.
- When renting at a Bilt Alliance property, you can choose to have your rent payments automatically reported by Bilt to the three major credit bureaus each month; Experian(TM), TransUnion(TM), and Equifax(TM).
- No annual fee.
- World Elite Mastercard perks like cell phone insurance and purchase protection.
That means your rent can be up to $50,000 per year ($4,166 per month) and you would still be able to take full advantage of the 1X points per dollar spent on rent payments. They do require you to make at least 5 transactions per month (rent can be one), otherwise too many people might just put their rent on the card and not use the card otherwise.
Bilt has partnered with the owners of over 2,000,000 apartment units to create the Bilt Rewards Alliance. The easiest way is find out if you live in a qualifying property is to simply type in your address into the Bilt app.
Bilt also offers Double Points on “Rent Day”, aka the 1st of every month. This means that on the 1st day of every month, you can get 6X on dining, 4X on travel, and 2X on other purchases(except rent). They also offer other promos on this day. For example on 12/1/2022, you can transfer 1 Bilt point into 2 IHG points (1:2 instead of 1:1).
Bilt Rewards Points redemption options
Travel partners. Bilt Rewards points transfer on a 1:1 basis to the following hotel and airline partners. You can also get 100 bonus points for every loyalty program you link to Bilt.
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (NEW)
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- United Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- FlyingBlue (Air France/KLM)
- Miles & Smiles (Turkish Airlines)
- Emirates Skywards
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Aer Lingus Aer Club
- Turkish Miles & Smiles
- Iberia Plus
- World of Hyatt
- IHG One
Hyatt hotel points, Alaska, United, and Hawaiian miles are likely the most useful points for the average US traveler. I am conservative when valuing points and miles due to their redemption hassles and steady threat of devaluation, so I would place the value here a 1 cent a point even though I definitely plan to exceed that. You may wish to use a different value.
Home Downpayment? Bilt says that your points can be redeemed at 1.5 cents per point when used towards a home downpayment. This seems like it might be rather complicated to actually redeem, so I would keep it mind but wouldn’t count on it. If you racked up 100,000 points over time, it would be nice to have $1,500 via this method.
Shop with Points at Amazon. You can link your Bilt Rewards points to Amazon and pay for your purchases at rate of 0.70 cents per point.
Rent. Bilt will let you convert points towards your next rent payment at 0.55 cents per point. This is not a good redemption rate when compared to the miles/Hyatt option. It’s too bad there is no easy, decent cash-out option.
Statement credit. Bilt will also let you convert points towards a statement credit on your credit card statement at 0.55 cents per point.
Other options include fitness classes or physical items like “limited-edition” home decor or art in the “Bilt Collection” catalog. Personally, I like being able to add to my Hyatt and Canada Aeroplan stash.
Possibly help your credit score? When renting at a Bilt Alliance property, your on-time payment activity can be automatically reported to the three major credit bureaus. In addition, with the optional “BiltProtect” feature, your rent payments will be immediately withdrawn from a linked bank account so your credit limit is not decreased (and ideally your rent won’t contribute to your credit card debt).
How do I pay my landlord or property manager? They don’t take credit cards due to the transaction fees. Bilt will provide you with a bank ACH routing number and account number that you can use to perform an ACH transfer, or they will simply send a paper check on your behalf. You don’t actually pay with the credit card, nor do you or your landlord have to pay any credit card transaction fees.
Free cell phone protection. Pay your monthly cell phone bill with your Bilt Mastercard and get up to $800 of protection (subject to $25 deductible) against covered damage or theft. For complete coverage details, visit wellsfargo.com/biltbenefits. To file a claim, call 1-800-316-8051 or visit mycardbenefits.assurant.com.
Bottom line. The Bilt Mastercard offers a unique rewards structure targeted specifically at all renters with any landlord. At $2,000 a month in rent, the 1X rewards would add up to 24,000 points per year in rewards = 24,000 Alaska/United/Hawaiian miles or 24,000 Hyatt points with no additional transaction fees and no credit card annual fee. You may even do better if you wait for a “Rent Day” promo on the first of the month. Something to consider if you already have to pay rent anyway.