Who would have thought that something as simple as paying rent could secure you a trip to Europe every year? Now that the Bilt Mastercard® has arrived, something as simple as paying your rent at the beginning of the month can earn you enough points to enjoy a European vacation every year.
Bilt Mastercard®
A special feature
Bilt Mastercard offers a unique opportunity to earn points on rentals.
The biggest single advantage of the Bilt Mastercard® card is the ability to generate points from paying rent. In June 2023, the average rent in a major US city was $2,029, and if the average renter paid with their Bilt Mastercard instead of bank transfer, they would earn more than $300 in travel rewards each year. The Bilt Mastercard is a great choice if you want to generate travel rewards or points that can go towards a down payment through rent payments. However, if you want to maximize short-term cash back, consider a card with a $200 to $600 welcome cash bonus, like the Citi Double Cash Card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Reward rates
- Make at least 5 transactions in a statement period to earn points on rent and qualifying net purchases (purchases minus returns/credits) for that statement period.
- 3X3X Bilt points for dining
- 2X2X Bilt Points on flights, hotels, rental cars and cruises when booked directly with airlines, hotels and car rental agencies
- 1X1X Bilt points for rent paid through the Bilt app with your card account up to a maximum of 100,000 points each calendar year
- 1X1X Bilt points for purchase
- Conditions of rewards and benefits.
- Travel Benefits: Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection, Trip Delay Compensation, Car Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- See this page for details.
- Foreign transaction fee: None
that Bilt
What is the Bilt Rewards Mastercard?
While many apartments or landlords are not set up to charge rent via credit card, the Bilt Rewards Mastercard will allow you to pay rent with your credit card and earn 1X Bilt Points on rent paid through the Bilt app with your card account up to a maximum of 100,000 points each calendar year. You’ll also earn 1X Bilt Points on purchases, 2X Bilt Points on flights, hotels, rental cars and cruises when you book directly with airlines, hotels and car rental agencies, and 3X Bilt Points on restaurants. Just keep in mind that you need to use your card five times a month to earn rewards.
If you make these purchases on the first day of the month, also known as Rent Day, you’ll earn double the points. That means 6X points on dining, 4X points on travel and 2X points everywhere else up to 10,000 bonus points per month. You won’t earn double points on that day’s rental, but you will on everything else.
How do you pay rent with a credit card?
You can easily pay rent and earn rewards in two ways. Depending on your property, you can pay your rent online via an app or website.
If you live in a Bilt Alliance facility, you can pay your rent directly on the website or through the app. If you don’t live in an alliance apartment, but pay online, you can add Bilt’s reference number for direct payment processing.
If your landlord only accepts checks, this is not a problem. You can still pay with your Bilt Mastercard and earn rewards. Go to the Bilt mobile app, tap the Pay Rent tab and select Pay by check.
You will fill in information for your landlord and where the payment should be sent, and you may also need to provide some information such as a tenancy agreement to prove that this is where you actually live. They will charge your card and send a check on your behalf.
How many points can I earn in a year?
Rent rewards are capped at 100,000 points per year, but that won’t be a problem unless you’re paying more than $8,000 a month in rent.
If your rent is in the normal range, say around $1,500 a month, paying your rent with a Mastercard will earn you 18,000 points just from paying rent each month. If you live in a big city like New York and pay more than $3,000 in rent, those numbers double to 36,000 points each year.
Note that this card also offers a strong earning structure for your spending, so by simply shifting some of your spending to bonus categories, such as dining or travel, you can also add thousands of points to your balance each year.
How do you transfer points to airlines?
Linking your travel accounts and your Bilt account is a seamless process. After logging into the app, select the travel icon at the bottom of the app. By scrolling to the bottom you will see Bilt Loyalty partners.
Each partner transfers 1:1, but you’ll need to transfer in 1,000 mile increments. If you are a blue base member, you will need to transfer at least 2000 points, otherwise your minimum is 1000 points. Click on the loyalty partner of your choice, enter your frequent flyer number and you should receive confirmation that the accounts are linked.
Most transfers happen instantly, but some may take a while.
Which Bilt partners fly to Europe?
Bilt offers more than a dozen airline and hotel partners, and luckily most of them fly to Europe. With almost all partners flying to Europe, transferring points to get you there is a breeze.
Some of the most popular partners are:
- Alaska Airlines
- An Air Canada plane
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- British Airways
- Virgin red
Any of these partners can get you to Europe and back, but let’s look at two examples with Virgin Red and Flying Blue.
How many points do I need to fly to Europe?
The number of miles you will need depends on the airline and class of service you wish to fly. Virgin Atlantic offers many connections to and from Europe, most routes via London. Check out this example from New York to London on Virgin Atlantic.
A flight from New York to London on American Airlines with a connection to Paris, with their partner British Airways, can cost as little as 10,000 miles and $153.00 in taxes and fees in economy class.
Air France and KLM participate in the Flying Blue rewards program and are partners with the Bilt Mastercard card. Flights can be incredibly cheap per points, with promotional award flights for as much as 15,000 miles one way in economy class.
Squeeze more value with Rent Day promotions
Every 1st of the month, Bilt offers amazing promotions for its card members to use their points and earn even more. Several times each year, Bilt will offer increased transfer bonuses to select partners such as Air Canada, Air France and others.
In May 2023 and January 2024, Bilt offered up to a 150% transfer bonus for points transferred to Flying Blue. The bonus amount you received depended on your status level in Bilt Rewards, but ranged between 75% and 150%.
In the Air France example above, a 30,000 mile return ticket can be obtained for much less points during a transfer promotion. 30,000 miles can be earned for just:
- 17,142 points with a 75% bonus.
- 15,000 points with a 100% bonus
- 13,333 points with a 125% bonus.
- 12,000 points with a 150% bonus.
If you don’t have an immediate need, consider keeping your Bilt Rewards in your back pocket for one of these amazing deals when they come around.
To take away
The Bilt Mastercard® gives renters the opportunity to earn points that can be converted into an amazing vacation. Points earned from rent payments can be transferred to more than a dozen airlines, and by using Bilt Rent Day’s frequent transfer bonuses, you can multiply your points even more to get bigger and better trips.
Consider using the Bilt Mastercard for dining and travel with your rent, as you’ll earn multiplier points to help you build your points balance even faster.
Frequently asked questions
Is it hard to get a Bilt Mastercard?
As with any other credit card, your chances of approval will be higher if you already have an established credit history. You’ll need good credit to get the card, along with a US address, income, and other information you’ll be asked during the application process.
What if my landlord doesn’t take a credit card?
If your landlord won’t take a credit card or charges a credit card fee, Bilt can take that stress away. Bilt can mail your landlord a check and charge your credit card. If your landlord prefers to pay by ACH, you can also get the ACH information from Bilt and it will be charged to your credit card.
Is transferring points a good deal?
The answer is usually “it depends,” but generally speaking transferring your points to an airline or hotel partner can provide outsourcing value. Don’t just look at the cash price of the ticket, but also how much you’re paying in taxes and fees for using miles. Taxes and fees will vary by airline, destination and carrier partners.
Please note that card information is correct as of the date of publication, but is subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Contact your card issuer to check rates, fees and benefits before applying.
