Bilt Mastercard Review
Tl;dr: With top-tier features, no annual fee, and the ability to earn points on rent, the Bilt card is an essential addition to any renter’s wallet.
The sales pitch for the Bilt card is simple: if you’re paying thousands of dollars each year in rent or HOA fees, would you like to keep getting nothing for that, or would you like hundreds of dollars in travel rewards instead? Yeah. It’s a good pitch. That alone would make the card almost mandatory for renters. But Bilt has assembled such an absurd collection of perks on its no-fee card that almost anyone could benefit from having it in their wallet.
The earning rates are excellent
With the Bilt card, you can earn 1 point for every dollar you spend on rent–with no transaction fees. The catch, such as it is? You have to make at least five transactions with the card each month. But that won’t be hard; use it to pay your cell phone bill and receive up to $800 in insurance on your device. Use it when eating out for 3x points, or earn 2x when booking hotels or airfare–returns competitive with the best cards on the market.
The protections are too
The Bilt card is comparable to many premium ($95+ annual fee) travel cards, offering no foreign translation fees, insurance for trip delays or cancellations, cell phone protection, theft/damage purchase protection, and primary rental car collision/damage protection.
As are the perks
Likewise, the Bilt card offers outstanding travel perks. It comes with access to the World Mastercard Elite concierge, a service not available even on premium cards like the Amex Gold or Chase Sapphire Preferred. Another unique benefit is that Bilt points start earning interest once you earn 25,000 points in a year (and then it carries on into the next year). Bilt users also enjoy the ability to search for flight and hotel award stays in the app using the Point.me and Awayz search engines. Although the Bilt versions of these searches are limited to Bilt partners, this is a handy tool that normally costs over $10 per month.
And the redemptions
Once you have them in hand, Bilt points are very easy to redeem. They are worth 1.25¢ each when used to book travel through the Bilt Travel Portal (basically Expedia wearing a Bilt mask). So every $500 you pay in rent each month will equal $75 in annual travel rewards that way.
Or you can take your points and transfer them on a 1:1 basis to partners such as United, American Airlines, and Hyatt for even more value. For example, with United or American you can book round trip flights to Japan for 70k miles or less (plus <$100 in taxes and fees), whereas the cash prices for those flights are typically well over $1,000 (~1.4¢/pt). For a Hyatt example, the Hyatt Centric Brickell Miami would cost you $307 for a Saturday night in September, but can be had for only 17,000 Hyatt/Bilt points (~1.8¢/pt). And if you don’t have any imminent travel plans, Bilt points will start earning interest once you collect 25,000 in a year and continue to do so through the end of the next calendar year. If you eventually decide to buy a house, they can be redeemed at 1.5¢/point toward a down payment.
There are tons of opportunities for bonus points
While many credit cards offer points, miles, or cash back when using the card to make purchases, none pile on the opportunities for extra points quite like Bilt. The list of options is long enough to require its own post, and includes points for playing trivia, double points on the first of each month, points for linking your frequent flyer programs to Bilt, and more. In addition to those longstanding options, there is also the occasional targeted bonus opportunity.
Conclusion
While the lack of a sign-up bonus is a minor drawback, the ability to earn points on rent is a bonus unto itself and, unlike a one-off introductory offer, one that can keep paying off year after year. The earning rates and benefits are nearly up to par with travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Citi Premier that charge an annual fee. Bilt also offers a ton of ways to earn bonus points, like double points and free points for answering trivia questions on the first of the month.
We both have the card and highly recommend it. If you want to give it a try, using our referral link would be much appreciated.
Key Card Details
Welcome bonus
None. New cardholders may be offered 5x points for 5 days.
Annual fee
$0
Credits/offsets
N/a
Laziness Rating
4/5. There’s no annual fee to worry about offsetting. However, you will want to pay attention to Rent Day benefits and other perks to get the full value of this card, paying your rent with the card will require a few minutes of setup, and, with just one point per dollar spent on base purchases, you would be better off using a different card for most day-to-day spending.
Earning rates
Note: these only apply if 5+ transactions/billing cycle
3x: Dining
2x: Travel, defined as “airlines, hotels, motels, resorts, cruise lines, and car rental agencies.”
1x: Other purchases
1x: Rent or HOA fees, up to 100k points per year
3x: Lyft (3x for using card, 2x for choosing Bilt as Lyft loyalty partner)
Points doubled on “Rent Day” (first of the month)
Protections
No foreign currency conversion fee. Trip cancellation insurance
Trip interruption insurance. Trip delay insurance (delay >6 hours, up to $200/covered traveler/day, max $1800). Cell phone protection (up to $800; $25 deductible).
Perks
Bilt Status Tiers. Silver (once 25,000 points earned in a calendar year): earn interest on bonus point balance; 10% bonus multiplier for new lease or lease renewal with participating properties. Gold (50,000): home ownership concierge; 25% bonus multiplier for new lease or lease renewal with participating properties. Platinum (100,000): complimentary gift from the Bilt Collection; 50% bonus multiplier for new lease or lease renewal with participating properties
Concierge service
Special version of Point.me to search award flight availability and pricing with Bilt transfer partners
Bonus for signing or renewing leases at participating Bilt properties
Access to Bilt Dining
Rent day: double points on purchases (not rent); trivia game for bonus points; Bilt Challenge games for a chance to win free rent and other prizes; rotating perks (e.g. temporary hotel or airline status, enhanced transfer bonuses to partners).
Key Redemptions
Travel portal redemption rate: 1.25¢/pt (25% bonus)
Best statement credit redemption: n/a (rent: .55¢/pt)
Other: Points worth 1.5¢/pt when applied toward a down payment on a home.
Partners
Airline: American AAdvantage, United MileagePlus, Hawaiian HawaiianMiles, Aer Lingus Aer Club, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM FlyingBlue, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Emirates Skyward, Iberia Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles, Virgin Flying Club
Hotel: IHG One Rewards, World of Hyatt, Marriott Bonvoy