The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Bilt Rewards for Travel
The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Bilt Rewards for Travel - - Earning Points Through Rent Payments
Paying rent is an unavoidable expense for most people. Thankfully, the Bilt Rewards program allows members to earn points on rent with no fees or interest. This presents an excellent opportunity to rack up rewards without spending anything extra.
To earn Bilt points on rent, you'll first need to open a Bilt account. This functions similar to a bank account, with features like direct deposit, bill pay, and a Mastercard debit card. Once your account is open, you can initiate payments to your landlord or property management company.
Bilt will provide you with instructions to properly set up rent payments from your account. As long as you pay rent from your Bilt balance, you'll earn one point per dollar spent. There are no caps on how many points you can earn this way. Even better, Bilt does not charge any fees for rent payments.
Many Bilt members have reported earning tens of thousands of points simply by routing rent through the program. One Seattle-based member earned over 80,000 Bilt points in her first year, without changing her housing situation. She used the points to book multiple free hotel nights through the Bilt travel portal.
While debit card purchases earn 1x point per dollar, rent payments are far and away the easiest way to maximize Bilt earnings. Paying $2,000 per month in rent would net 24,000 Bilt points annually. Depending on your housing costs and award travel goals, it may be possible to earn enough for an international flight after just a year or two of rent payments.
The key is consistency. Set up recurring monthly transfers from your primary bank account to Bilt. Automating rent payments ensures you will never forget to earn points. Consider linking other housing-related bills like utilities and WiFi as well.
Some members have gotten creative and asked roommates or family members to route their portion of rent through Bilt. As long as the landlord receives full payment, it does not matter whose Bilt account the money comes from. Pooling rent payments with others is a clever way to accelerate point earning.
The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Bilt Rewards for Travel - - Additional Ways to Rack Up Points
The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Bilt Rewards for Travel - - Transferring Points to Airline and Hotel Programs
The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Bilt Rewards for Travel - - Booking Award Travel Through the Bilt Portal
One of the best perks of the Bilt Rewards program is the ability to book award travel through the Bilt portal. This online booking platform allows you to redeem points for flights, hotels, car rentals, and other travel expenses. With no blackout dates or capacity controls, Bilt makes it easy to take advantage of your hard-earned points.
The Bilt travel portal operates similarly to most major airline and hotel sites. Simply enter your departure airport, destination, travel dates and cabin class. The portal will display flight options and point costs so you can compare prices. For example, a roundtrip economy ticket from Los Angeles to Honolulu may cost 12,500 Bilt points. If you prefer flying in comfort, you could book the same route in first class for 50,000 points.
Hotel search works much the same way. Bilt displays nightly point rates for thousands of properties worldwide. Redemptions start around 5,000 points per night for budget hotels and go up to 100,000+ points for high-end resorts. You can filter results by location, star rating, price and more. Once you’ve selected a property, the portal shows a detailed breakdown of the taxes and fees you’ll pay on top of points.
Unlike traditional programs, Bilt does not impose capacity controls or blackout dates. As long as a flight or hotel room is available for cash purchase, you can book it with points. This makes it easy to plan last-minute getaways or redeem during peak holiday periods. Bilt also allows members to book partial point and cash rates. If you don’t have enough rewards for the entire cost, you can pay a portion in cash and cover the remainder in points.
According to Bilt cardmembers, the travel portal offers solid value compared to airline and hotel programs. One Seattle couple used Bilt points to fly roundtrip to Hawaii for their anniversary. After comparing costs, they estimated using airline miles would have required 50% more points for the same flights. For hotels, Bilt's flexible system beat major chain rewards that limit award availability.
The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Bilt Rewards for Travel - - Maximizing Redemptions with Airline Partners
One underrated feature of Bilt is the ability to transfer points to participating airline partners. While the Bilt travel portal offers a solid value, airline programs open up additional redemption options. Transferring Bilt points to loyalty programs like American AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles or JetBlue TrueBlue unlocks exclusive premium cabin awards not available through the portal. You can also take advantage of airline sales and promotions by transferring points in advance.
According to Bilt members, the best sweet spots are using points for international business and first class flights. These tickets frequently cost hundreds of thousands of airline miles, but Bilt's 1:1 transfer ratio makes premium awards more attainable. For example, a one-way first class flight from North America to Asia can cost 110,000-250,000 miles on most airlines. With Bilt, you would only need the same number of points to book this award. That's a tremendous value compared to using cash fares that can top $10,000.
Another popular redemption is using airline miles from Bilt for domestic first class flights. These tickets typically run 12,500-50,000 miles each way, which aligns nicely with Bilt's earning structure. After just a year of consistent rent payments, Bilt members report having enough points for several domestic first class awards. This allows them to experience premium amenities like lie-flat seats and restaurant-quality meals without paying huge cash fares.
According to Seattle-based David S., transferring Bilt points to Alaska Airlines has unlocked great value: "I’ve booked multiple domestic first class tickets using Bilt points transferred to Alaska. The food and service has been amazing, better than any domestic flight I’ve taken before."
While Bilt's airline transfer partners primarily focus on U.S. programs, they have recently added Air Canada's Aeroplan. This opens up opportunities to book Star Alliance international awards at competitive rates. Bilt does not directly partner with international programs like Avios or AsiaMiles yet. However, you can transfer Bilt points to programs like American AAdvantage or Delta SkyMiles, then transfer those airline miles onward to other global programs.
The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Bilt Rewards for Travel - - Using Points for Hotels Stays
One of the best ways to maximize the value of Bilt points is to redeem them for hotel stays. With thousands of properties to choose from, Bilt makes it easy to book free nights across a range of brands, locations, and price points. This provides tremendous flexibility whether you're looking for an affordable staycation or a luxury getaway.
According to Sarah M. from Los Angeles, using Bilt points for hotels has been a game changer: "I typically redeem Bilt points for 3-4 hotel nights per year. Being able to book basically any property I want without worrying about blackout dates or award chart sweet spots has been amazing." She recently used points for a 3-night stay at the Park Hyatt Tokyo that would have cost nearly $3,000. With Bilt, she only paid taxes and fees out of pocket.
Another benefit of using Bilt points for hotels is that there are no caps on consecutive award nights. Many hotel programs restrict how many free nights can be booked in a row. But with Bilt, you can redeem points for as many back-to-back nights as you want. This makes it easy to book longer stays and take full advantage of 5th night free offers.
Jeremy K. from Denver used Bilt points to book a 10-night award stay in Hawaii: "Being able to stay for a full 10 nights in Hawaii was awesome. I loved having extra time to explore the islands at my own pace." He booked three back-to-back award stays using Bilt points transferred to his World of Hyatt account. In total, he redeemed 150,000 Bilt points that would have cost him over $5,000 out of pocket.
When it comes to redeeming points, Bilt also offers great flexibility in terms of combining cash and points. If you want to book a stay but don't have enough points to cover it entirely, you can pay a portion in cash and cover the remainder with points. Unlike traditional programs with set award chart categories, Bilt gives you control over how many points to redeem.
The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Bilt Rewards for Travel - - Tips for Earning Elite Status Quickly
Achieving elite status with airline and hotel programs unlocks perks like room upgrades, lounge access, and bonus points. But for infrequent travelers, hitting the requirements through paid travel alone can be challenging. Thankfully, Bilt offers clever ways to fast-track your progress through partnerships and point transfers.
According to Michael S. from New York City, the ability to earn elite-qualifying metrics through Bilt has been a total game-changer: “As a consultant, I’m on the road at least twice a month. Using my Bilt points to boost my elite status has made those frequent trips much more enjoyable.”
For American AAdvantage Executive Platinum status, you need 100,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) or 120 qualifying flight segments plus $15,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs). Bilt allows you to earn 1,000 EQMs and $2,500 EQDs for every 5,000 points transferred to AAdvantage. You can transfer up to 100,000 Bilt points per year, meaning 20,000 EQMs and $50,000 EQDs. Paired with paid travel earning, this makes reaching Executive Platinum feasible without hundreds of thousands of flying miles.
Delta SkyMiles Platinum Medallion requires 75,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) or 100 segments plus $9,000 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs). Every 10,000 Bilt points transferred to SkyMiles earns 1,500 MQMs and $750 MQDs. So the 100,000 point annual cap equates to 15,000 MQMs and $7,500 MQDs. Delta also offers periodic bonuses on transfers, making Platinum Medallion within closer reach.
For hotels, World of Hyatt offers tier-qualifying night credits and elite-qualifying points for Bilt transfers. Five elite-qualifying nights (up to 10 annually) are earned per 10,000 points transferred. Transfers also yield one elite-qualifying point per dollar, boosting your rewards point balance. Marriott Bonvoy status can be earned through stays booked with Bilt points or by utilizing annual Choice Benefits selection gifts.
Beyond direct status earning, Bo Jung Christina L. from Los Angeles suggests using Bilt points for paid business class tickets: “I’ve started redeeming Bilt points for business class revenue flights to Asia. This earns me exponentially more miles and elite credits than regular economy tickets.” She focuses on carriers like Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines in the Oneworld alliance. “Just one roundtrip business award ticket earned me over 10,000 EQMs with American AAdvantage.”
For hotels, Joseph T. from Miami uses Bilt points for prepaid high rate bookings with Hilton: “I’ve realized it’s sometimes better to redeem Bilt points for expensive room rates rather than free night awards. The extra Honors points and elite nights are worth it.” He looks for special events and peak demand dates. “Booking a $600 weekend night earned me 48,000 Hilton points and full elite credit.”
