Bilt’s August Rent Day: Worth It?

Written By Michael

Story of the week: Bilt Rent Day

You know the deal by now — the first of the month means:

  • Double points (up to 1,000) on non-rent Bilt spending

  • A shot at free rent in-app

  • Free coffee at Bilt HQ (New Yorkers get everything)

  • Rotating one-off events (dining, comedy, fitness, etc.)

The headline is a transfer bonus to Avianca Lifemiles:

  • Blue (base) members: 20%

  • Silver members: 40%

  • Gold members: 60%

  • Platinum members: 100%

This is pretty similar to February’s bonus. LifeMiles have some use cases, but are tricky to use, so I would only recommend this bonus if you have a redemption in mind (with Rent Day still a few days away, you have plenty of time to look!). I’ve got my next few trips booked, and I’m way too lazy to deal with the LifeMiles website, so I’ll be sitting this one out.

Quick Points of the Week ⚡

Major news 🚨

The integration of Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines is getting closer, with the combined loyalty program to be unveiled in August.

New products 🆕

Transfer bonus alerts. PointsPath is offering a free new alert service to tip you off to transfer bonuses.

Rakuten credit card. TPG reports that the new card will offer bonus points on Rakuten purchases as its main selling point, which is a pretty narrow niche.

More value 📈

Free internet access abroad? Daily Drop pointed out you can get some free E-Sim data abroad thanks to offers for Visa Signature and World Elite Mastercard cardholders. This is why it can be great to hold multiple cards.

Extra points 🪙

Earn more dining out. Marriott’s dining program is offering an elevated bonus, up to 6,000 points total after dining out (and paying $30+) and writing a review three times in the first 60 days after signing up.

Chance to win 🎟️

Choice is giving away 1 million points. That’s enough for up to 125 free nights in Japan. AwardWallet has the details.

Sign-up bonus of the week 🎯

I hate to call this the “bonus of the week,” but we have to talk about the refreshed and relaunched Southwest Airlines credit cards.

Southwest’s co-branded credit cards have long functioned differently than most other airline cards, because SWA’s model was so different. The cards couldn’t offer free checked bags—the airline had free bags for all. But Southwest’s makeunder has necessitated some changes, and now Southwest’s credit cards are getting a refresh and the results… well, they’re pretty typical recent-Southwest. The fees are big, they aren’t offset by credits or miles, and they earn Southwest’s low-value miles at a very slow clip. Meh. (For a review from someone who is much more invested in actually flying SWA, read Nick from the Frequent Miler blog.)

I may not love SWA points, but 100,000 is a lot of them, easily $1,000+ in value. And that is close to a record offer on these cards. If you’re sticking with Southwest, it may be a good time to check them out.

Other great current bonuses

100k + $500 on the Chase Sapphire Reserve (our take)

80k on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select (our take)

175k points on the Hilton Aspire (our review)

75k miles on the Chase Sapphire Preferred (our hot take 🔥)

100k miles + 3k PQP’s on the United Quest (our take)

Up to 100k on the Amex Gold (including via referral link) (our take)

Up to 175k points on the Amex Platinum

Enjoy the weekend! 🦥

If you do win the million Choice points, buy me a coffee. ☕

Michael
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Chase Sapphire Reserve Review