Bilt Rewards program information | Fortune Recommends

Feeling the sting of rising lease? Bilt is right here to use the cortisone. This rewards program is the brand new child on the block in comparison with established packages similar to Chase Final Rewards, nevertheless it has shortly made a reputation for itself by giving members methods to earn versatile factors in helpful spending classes like lease and eating. 

Based in 2021, Bilt Rewards is the primary loyalty program that awards you factors particularly for paying lease and allows you to keep away from the transaction charge for paying lease by bank card. Signing up is free, and the Bilt Factors you’ll earn are price greater than you may suppose (probably as much as 2 cents every or thereabouts, in case you observe our ideas). There’s additionally a companion bank card, the Bilt Mastercard®, that supercharges your earnings charge and unlocks different helpful advantages for no annual charge. 

When all’s stated and completed, Bilt Rewards can simply convert a 12 months of ~$2,000 month-to-month lease funds into $300 or extra price of journey redemption. However how does all of it work? 

We’ll discover every little thing it’s worthwhile to know in regards to the Bilt Rewards program. You’ll discover ways to earn factors, methods to attain elite standing, and the precise day of the month you may wish to save your factors for to earn most worth (Bilt Lease Day). Let’s dive into Bilt Rewards in Bilt Rewards: All the pieces it’s worthwhile to know in 2024.

What’s Bilt Rewards? 

At its most simple, Bilt Rewards is a loyalty rewards program that awards you factors for paying lease. 

Bilt Rewards is just not owned by a financial institution, bank card or journey rewards firm. Consider it or not, it’s the brainchild of ‘90s child and former Tinder exec Ankur Jain, who wished to provide renters a sooner path to homeownership. 

Right here’s the way it works, in a nutshell: 

1. Register for Bilt Rewards (free).
2. Hyperlink your checking account to the Bilt Rewards app.
3. Pay lease by means of Bilt. 
4. Earn rewards.
5. Spend rewards on journey booked by means of Bilt’s portal, on 1:1 transfers to airline and resort loyalty packages, and even apply them towards a down cost on a mortgage.

Jain and his group have constructed an enormous community of personal and business landlords referred to as the Bilt Alliance that each one settle for funds by means of the Bilt app. However even when your landlord hasn’t boarded the prepare but, there are nonetheless methods to pay them and earn rewards by means of Bilt (see the bullet level for “paying lease” within the part beneath on methods to earn Bilt Rewards factors). 

The very last thing to know upfront is that vanilla Bilt Rewards actually solely supplies a tiny trickle of factors and advantages. In the event you join this system however don’t have the companion bank card, you’ll earn a mere 250 factors per lease cost. 

To unlock the total potential of this system, you’ll want the Bilt Mastercard in your pockets. The Wells Fargo-issued card fees a , however you’ll probably want a 670+ FICO Rating to use as it is a rewards bank card. It ranks as finest total on our listing of finest no-annual-fee journey bank cards, and seems on our straight-up lists of finest journey bank cards and finest bank cards, too.

So let’s dive deeper, beginning with the professionals and cons. 

To view charges and costs of the Bilt Mastercard®, see this web page.

Bilt Rewards factors defined

Bilt Rewards calls its factors, fairly merely, “Bilt Factors.” 

You’ll earn Bilt Factors primarily by paying lease and utilizing the Bilt Mastercard, as properly by means of extra pathways to inject some occasional further factors into your account (detailed beneath). You’ll be able to then redeem your factors for journey, assertion credit, and even to place a dent in your down cost on a house. 

Bilt Level values may be in every single place, starting from 0.55 cents to doubtlessly 2 cents or extra relying on the way you redeem them. The three finest choices, value-wise, are to avoid wasting them for 1:1 transfers, a down cost on a home, or journey booked by means of the Bilt Journey Portal. 

However earlier than we get forward of ourselves, let’s look at your points-earning choices a bit extra carefully.

Find out how to earn Bilt Rewards factors

In relation to incomes Bilt Factors, there’s excellent news, unhealthy information after which extra excellent news. 

The excellent news is that sure, Bilt will reward you for paying lease. The unhealthy information is that it’s solely 250 factors per thirty days price round $3. 

However the good information is that with the Bilt Mastercard, your earnings on lease skyrocket. Cardholders earn 3X Bilt Factors on eating, 2X Bilt Factors on flights, motels, rental automobiles, and cruises when booked straight with airways, motels, and automotive rental companies, 1X Bilt Factors on purchases (as much as 100,000 factors per calendar 12 months), and 1X Bilt Factors on purchases. 

So, for instance, in case you pay $2,000 in lease, you’ll earn 24,000 factors per 12 months—price round $300 in the direction of journey (or much more with choose switch companions once you’re savvy about discovering good award journey offers). 

Be aware that it’s essential to use the cardboard 5 occasions per assertion interval to earn factors. 

Along with utilizing the Bilt Mastercard, right here’s a full breakdown of how to earn Bilt Factors:

• Paying lease. The primary and most elementary method to rack up Bilt Factors is just by paying lease. So long as your landlord is a part of the Bilt Alliance, you may pay lease by means of the Bilt Rewards app by utilizing a linked checking account. Then, with every profitable lease cost, you’ll earn a flat 250 factors. Bilt claims that over 4 million leases are a part of the Bilt Alliance, however doesn’t publish an inventory. In the event you’re unsure whether or not your property is a part of the Bilt Alliance, Bilt says that one of the best ways to seek out out is to easily ask your landlord or property supervisor. In the event you dwell in a property owned by a big administration firm, your likelihood is larger than in case you lease from a household or a person. You’ll be able to definitely nonetheless ask within the latter case, however be warned that asking a daily individual in the event that they’re “a part of the Bilt Alliance” could also be met with a confused, vacant stare. 
• Utilizing the Bilt Mastercard. In the event you actually wish to rack up the Bilt Factors shortly, you’ll wish to begin utilizing the Bilt Mastercard. As hinted, this $0-annual-fee rewards card basically unlocks the “full” Bilt expertise with higher options, factors and rewards. For starters, you’ll begin incomes 1X Bilt Factors on lease paid by means of the Bilt App along with your card account as much as a most of 100,000 factors every calendar 12 months—so assuming you pay greater than $250 per thirty days in lease, your earnings will virtually immediately skyrocket. The cardboard additionally unlocks the power to pay out-of-network landlords through ACH with routing and account numbers or with paper test (despatched through the app), so that you by no means need to quietly ask them to affix the Alliance like a Star Wars character. 
• Bilt Eating. Bilt presently has restaurant companions in additional than two dozen main U.S. cities the place Bilt Rewards members can earn between 2X and 10X on their invoice. Better of all, you don’t want the Bilt Mastercard—any Visa, Amex or Mastercard linked to your Bilt Rewards account will do. You’ll be able to seek for collaborating eating places within the Bilt app within the “Neighborhood” tab.
• Lyft rides. You can even earn as much as 5X on Lyft rides once you hyperlink your Lyft and Bilt accounts, though you’ll want to make use of a Bilt Mastercard to get this charge. 
• Linking your loyalty accounts. The ultimate method to generate Bilt Factors is by linking your airline and resort companion loyalty accounts (e.g. United MileagePlus, IHG One Rewards) to your Bilt account. You’ll earn 100 factors for every account you hyperlink.See beneath for a whole listing of Bilt’s switch companions. 

For probably the most half, you’ll most likely be incomes most of your factors by paying lease along with your Bilt Mastercard. Be aware, in case you don’t wish to take up a giant chunk of your credit score restrict along with your lease cost, there’s a function referred to as BiltProtect Debit—this allows you to pay lease with the bank card and earn factors accordingly, however the cash will get pulled straight out of your linked checking account.

You’ll additionally earn double factors for all non-rent spending, as much as 10,000 bonus factors per thirty days, on the primary day of each month. Bilt calls this “Lease Day,” and we’ll go into extra particulars about Lease Day promotions later. However for now, know that it boosts your incomes charges to 6X on eating, 4X on journey, and 2X on different purchases. And, in case you occur to eat at a Bilt Eating restaurant, you earn 6X per greenback for Lease Day plus regardless of the Bilt Eating bonus for that institution is. 

When you’ve amassed a pleasant pile of factors from month-to-month lease, what’s going to your fortune be price? Let’s check out methods to profit from your Bilt Factors. 

How a lot are Bilt Factors price?

These factors can vary in worth from simply over half a cent every to round 2 cents (when you know the way to switch them and redeem by means of companion packages) or doubtlessly extra, relying on the way you redeem them. You will discover your full choices and redemption values beneath, however the primary factor it’s worthwhile to know is that this—look ahead to Lease Day. 

Bilt calls the primary of every month “Lease Day” as we talked about above and “celebrates” with its members by providing particular bonuses. Again in February 2024, it was as much as 150% further factors on transfers to Aeroplan. In March, the corporate held a March Insanity-style “Bilt Bracket” to permit customers to vote on the bonus they wished (which ended up being 1,000 bonus factors for linking a bank card in your Bilt Pockets within the cell app plus 5X rewards at grocery shops). 

So at any time when doable, strive ready till Lease Day because it’ll probably current a short lived method to enhance your level values by 50% to 150%.

Fortunately, even outdoors of Lease Day you continue to have a strong array of redemption choices, as we’ll element subsequent.

Find out how to redeem Bilt Rewards factors

Bilt affords a pleasant number of methods to redeem your Bilt Factors. Right here’s a whole listing so as of best-to-worst worth (not together with Lease Day bonuses): 

• 1:1 transfers (sometimes price 0.5 to 2 cents or extra). As of April 2024, Bilt has 17 journey companions that settle for 1:1 level transfers. Some, like World of Hyatt, have factors that may be price over 2 cents every in some circumstances, so in case you’re trying to maximize the worth of your Bilt Factors, a switch often is the ticket. 
• Contribution towards a mortgage down cost (1.5 cents). You can even save up your factors to make a dent in your down cost. 
• Journey booked within the portal (1.25 cents). Your factors are all the time price 1.25 cents when redeemed by means of the Bilt Journey Portal.
• Amazon Pay with Factors (0.7 cents). When you hyperlink your Bilt Mastercard along with your Amazon account you’ll unlock the Pay with Factors choice at checkout. However because the conversion ratio is simply 0.7 cents a pop, it’s not your finest use of Bilt Factors. 
• Lease (0.55 cents). You can even apply your factors towards subsequent month’s lease cost by toggling the “pay with factors” choice on the Bilt app. However at 0.55 cents per level, this selection supplies subpar redemption worth.
• Assertion credit score (0.55 cents). Just like lease, you too can apply your Bilt Factors to your Bilt Mastercard month-to-month assertion. However once more, this supplies a lackluster worth of 0.55 cents per level, so we don’t suggest doing this except you completely won’t be touring within the foreseeable future. And actually, since Bilt factors don’t expire so long as your account is open, why not simply save them till you may leverage them for a flight or resort keep?
• Health, buying and way of life (<1 cent). Lastly, Bilt means that you can apply factors in the direction of health lessons and artwork/attire from the Bilt Assortment (similar to this candy Sensible Bounce Rope). Nonetheless, your factors are typically price lower than a penny a pop with these choices. 

Evidently, you’ll most likely wish to save your Bilt Factors for Lease Day transfers, award journey and even towards serving to with a down cost in your mortgage so you may get probably the most worth out of them.

Bilt Rewards switch companions

Earlier than we discuss standing, right here’s that listing we promised of all of Bilt’s switch companions as of this writing. Remember that every of those loyalty packages accepts Bilt Factors at a 1:1 ratio, so that you might be able to stretch your level values to 2 cents every (or extra) in case you select the fitting program and guide the fitting award journey itinerary. 

That’s doubly true in case you can rating a Lease Day switch bonus, which we’ll clarify within the standing part beneath. 

• Airline companions:
  • Aer Lingus AerClub
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • AirFrance – KLM Flying Blue
  • Alaska Airways Mileage Plan
  • American Airways AAdvantage (till June 2025)
  • Avianca LifeMiles
  • British Airways Government Membership
  • Cathay Pacific Cathay
  • Emirates Skywards
  • Hawaiian Airways HawaiianMiles
  • Iberia Plus
  • Turkish Airways Miles&Smiles
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership
• Lodge companions:

Bilt Rewards Standing Defined

As you rack up Bilt factors, you’ll even be inching your means towards elevated standing with Bilt Rewards.

Bilt Rewards

Bilt calls it “elite standing” and there are 4 tiers in whole. You’ll be able to earn standing by means of accruing sufficient factors or spending sufficient in your Bilt Mastercard (lease is excluded) and playing cards linked in your Bilt Pockets (although spending on the latter will solely depend towards eligible bills similar to Bilt Eating eating places). 

Listed below are the factors you’ll must unlock every tier in addition to the perfect advantages that include.

• Blue (get this only for signing up)
  • Lease day switch bonus affords
• Silver (50,000+ Bilt Factors earned or $10,000 in eligible spending) 
  • Precedence entry to Lease Day experiences (eating, sport suites and so forth.)
  • Larger Lease Day switch bonuses
  • Earn curiosity on factors
  • Rewards and reductions on BLADE bookings (this firm means that you can “commute by helicopter or seaplane inside and round cities and jet to widespread locations”)
• Gold (125,000+ Bilt Factors earned or $25,000 in eligible spending) 
  • Gold Precedence entry to Lease Day experiences
  • Gold-level Lease Day switch bonuses
  • Homeownership concierge (who can assist stroll you thru the shopping for course of)
  • Complimentary entry to BLADE lounges
• Platinum (200,000+ Bilt Factors earned or $50,000 in eligible spending)
  • Flying Blue Gold standing (together with SkyTeam Elite Plus)
  • Platinum Precedence entry to Lease Day experiences
  • Platinum-level Lease Day switch bonuses
  • One complimentary BLADE flight per 12 months between Manhattan and JFK or Newark airports

Placing apart the nonessential way of life stuff, probably the most helpful standing perks listed here are positively the Lease Day bonus multipliers. 

To preface, not each Lease Day may have a bonus multiplier primarily based in your present elite standing. However after they do, they make an enormous distinction.

For example, January 1st, 2024, Bilt supplied a tier-based switch bonus for IHG One Rewards, Air France/KLM and Virgin Atlantic: 

• Blue – 75%
• Silver – 100%
• Gold – 125%
• Platinum – 150%

So even on the Blue degree, the two,000 Bilt Factors you’d earn from paying $2,000 in lease may very well be price 3,500 IHG One Rewards factors with a switch bonus like this. At Platinum, they’d be price 5,000 IHG One Rewards factors. That’s doubtlessly sufficient for a free night time at an IHG property, all because of that hefty Lease Day bonus.

Is Bilt standing well worth the effort it takes to earn it? 

Given how highly effective these Lease Day multipliers may be, you is perhaps questioning: is it price altering your spending habits to achieve a better Bilt Rewards elite standing tier? 

Properly, for starters, you have already got to finish 5 transactions per thirty days utilizing your Bilt Mastercard to be able to earn 1X Bilt Factors on every month’s lease cost. In order that alone may allow you to attain Silver sooner than anticipated.

Bilt Rewards

Exterior of that, we’re unsure it’s price pushing your self or altering your spending habits to achieve larger elite standing. Remember that there are playing cards available on the market now that provide 2% money again on just about each buy (e.g. the Wells Fargo Energetic Money® Card), and that you simply’ll most likely be higher off utilizing a kind of as an alternative of your Bilt Mastercard for on a regular basis purchases that the Bilt Card doesn’t earn an elevated charge on. 

So simply you’ll want to pay your lease on time, knock out these 5 purchases and luxuriate in your Silver standing (or larger) at any time when it comes.

How Bilt Rewards compares to different packages

That is the half the place we’d usually evaluate Bilt Rewards to different, related rewards packages—however the fact is, Bilt Rewards just about lives in a league of its personal. There aren’t actually another loyalty packages that award you for paying lease, so Bilt Rewards roughly wins by default. Some owners could even discover the Bilt Card worthwhile for its eating and journey rewards, and conditions like when you have a toddler in school who you want to assist pay lease.

Fortunately, regardless of the shortage of aggressive strain Bilt Rewards is already an extremely beneficiant and well-crafted rewards program. “Lease Day” is a enjoyable method to gamify rewards, and the general idea basically—permitting renters to transform lease funds into free journey—is extra welcome in 2024 than ever earlier than, making use of cortisone to the sting of rising lease.

The closest rivals within the versatile journey rewards area are packages like Chase Final Rewards, American Categorical Membership Rewards, and Capital One Miles. Bilt supplies a pleasant method to break into the journey rewards sport by providing a no-annual-fee bank card with highly effective incomes potential.  

For renters in America, each the Bilt Rewards program itself and the related Bilt Mastercard are basically no-brainers.

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