What is Bilt?
Free Travel By Paying Your Rent, What is Bilt is a credit card that allows you to earn points when you pay your rent (as well as on everyday purchases). You then use those points like you would any other rewards program: you can use them to book travel directly, you can transfer them to travel partners, or you can use some of the other redemption options.
Using the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® or renting a Bilt Alliance property are the two methods to accrue Bilt points.
A two million unit network of Bilt Alliance properties exists across the US. But I won’t pay attention to that. The majority of individuals will use its credit card, therefore I’ll focus on that.
What Is the Bilt Card’s Mechanism?
To set up your regular monthly rental payments after opening a Bilt Mastercard® (which is issued by Wells Fargo and has no annual charge), go to the Bilt app or website.
This bank account was essentially set up as a “dummy” account to avoid paying credit card processing costs. You don’t use it for anything else and don’t take money out of it or put money in it.
Setting everything up takes around five minutes. When you’re finished, your rent will earn you points.
Rewards from Bilt
Once your account is set up, you may begin earning one point for every dollar you spend on rent payments with the Bilt credit card, up to 50,000 points annually. However, if you play your cards properly, you might be able to use that many points to score a free round-trip travel from New York to London. The mileage requirements for free flights vary greatly based on a variety of circumstances.
On all other purchases, you will receive one point every $1 spent. Overall, Bilt makes it simple to accrue points (which is another reason this card is one of my favorites).
This card stands out (apart from the rent thing) because you can transfer Bilt points to American Airlines and Hyatt. For my most recent first-class journey to Japan, I transferred points to AA.
Additionally, accumulating Hyatt points gives you a means to bypass the Chase system. You may transfer your Bilt points to the required travel partner within the app once you’ve made a decision.
However, the value of a redemption for fitness courses is just about 1%; trip purchases offer a higher value.
Additionally, depending on the total points gained yearly, purchases assist you in achieving status in the Bilt Rewards program.
The Bilt Rewards are divided into the following tiers, which also contain everything in the preceding tiers:
- Blue: Earn points on rent and the ability to transfer them 1:1 to travel partners
- Silver (25,000 points per year): 10% bonus points when you sign a new lease or renew your lease, and interest on your points balance (at the FDIC published national savings interest rate)
- Gold (50,000 points per year): 25% bonus points for new leases/renewals and access to a home ownership concierge (who will walk you through the home-buying process)
- Platinum (100,000 points per year): 50% bonus points for new leases/renewals and a free gift from the Bilt Collection of home décor items
However, you may still benefit from Bilt’s core draw at the entry level: earning points on rent.
In addition to earning points, the card also gives you:
- Trip cancellation protection and interruption coverage
- Trip delay reimbursement (for delays of six hours or more)
- Car rental collision coverage
- Cell phone protection (up to $800 USD)
- No foreign transaction fees
- DashPass credits for a free three-months and $5 USD off your first DoorDash order each month
- $5 USD in Lyft credits each month after taking three rides that month
This Card Is For Whom?
Anyone who wishes to earn points on their monthly rent should use this card. It’s mainly a “set it and forget it” sort of card once you set up the online payments (you can also set up auto-pay) and use your card five times each month. You have nothing to lose and only points to earn as there is no yearly charge.
This Card Is Not For Whom?
You shouldn’t apply for the Bilt card if you currently have a balance on another credit card for Free Travel or intend to acquire one in the future. The Bilt card has the typical high interest rates associated with travel credit cards. If you are making monthly interest payments, the points just aren’t worth it.
Additionally, since you require strong or great credit to qualify, this card is inappropriate for someone with bad credit. There is truly nothing to lose because it is absolutely free and simple to set up.
Bilt is a welcome new participant in the free travel industry since it is the only rewards card that gives away all of the points earned on rent for free. It’s really a no-brainer in my opinion if you pay rent so you can begin saving for some complimentary Free Travel and lodging. This card, in my opinion, is essential for visitors to the US. I can’t say enough good things about this card—it’s presently my go-to one.