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For points and miles enthusiasts, paying rent can be a great way to earn rewards each month. Over the years, putting monthly rent payments on credit cards helped me meet multiple credit card sign-up bonuses. Paying rent via credit cards may also allow cardholders to meet high spending thresholds that unlock additional perks or rewards by harnessing their biggest monthly expense: housing.
The one downside to doing this? Many property managers charge a sizable fee for paying by credit card.
Now, there is a solution: Bilt. The Bilt Rewards system lets renters bypass all payment fees and even earn Bilt points along the way. But should Bilt replace your existing strategy to earn rewards by paying rent? Let's take a look.
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Earning Bilt Rewards
At the simplest level, Bilt offers renters a way to earn rewards for paying rent while also eliminating any transaction fees associated with paying rent. There are three key factors to this:
- Your property management company is part of the Bilt Rewards Alliance.
- You pay through the Bilt App.
- Your spend on The Bilt Mastercard®.
Without the Bilt Mastercard, factors one and two are obligatory for earning points. But, using a Bilt Mastercard to pay your rent makes the first requirement a non-factor — even if your landlord does not accept credit card payments.
However, the Bilt Mastercard is all but required to build up a serious points balance. Members who do not hold the Bilt Mastercard earn a base of just 250 Bilt points per rent payment. By using the Bilt Mastercard, you can earn much more (details on that below).
Beyond just rent payments and credit card spending, Bilt members can earn points through the following avenues:
- Booking SoulCycle classes through the Bilt app
- Paying at Bilt Dining restaurants with a card linked to your Bilt wallet
- Riding with Lyft
- Booking travel through the Bilt Travel portal
Starting in 2024, Bilt members also earn milestone rewards at each 25,000-point increment of points earned. Details regarding these milestone rewards are forthcoming.
Boost points earnings potential with the Bilt Mastercard
Without the Bilt Mastercard, renters only earn 250 points per rent payment. To earn points beyond that, Bilt Rewards members must hold and use the Bilt Mastercard. This World Elite Mastercard has no annual fee (Rates & Fees) and a simple earnings structure for cardholders, but you need to make at least five transactions each billing cycle to earn rewards from your card.
If you do that, you'll earn as follows:
- 1x points on rent payments, with an annual 100,000-point cap
- 2x points on travel
- 3x points on dining
- 1x points per dollar on other purchases
Not to be understated are the Mastercard World Elite benefits that come as part of the card. The perks — as explained on the Bilt website — can be quite valuable:
- Cell phone insurance: Pay your monthly cell phone bill with the card and you'll get up to $800 over coverage per claim if your cell is stolen or damaged. Limited to two claims per year, with a $25 deductible on each claim.
- Purchase protection: New purchases can be covered from theft or damage within 90 days of the date of purchase, up to $10,000 per claim.
- Trip cancellation and interruption protection: You're protected against forfeited, non-refundable, unused payments and deposits if a trip is canceled or interrupted — up to $5,000 per incident.
- Rental car insurance: You'll be covered for physical damage and theft of most rental cars when you pay for the rental transaction with the Bilt Mastercard.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Monthly Lyft credit: Pay for three rides in a month with your card and get a $5 Lyft credit.
- See here for full rewards and benefits.
- Rates & Fees
Related: Bilt Mastercard in-depth review
ACH payments to landlords who don't accept cards
In January of 2022, Bilt added a new feature to address landlords who don't accept credit card payments. Those with the Bilt Mastercard can generate ACH / e-check payments that will still run via the credit card and earn points just like they would when paying with the card directly.
If the landlord accepts bank payments, Bilt shows users how to set this up.
Users can simply copy/paste the routing and account numbers generated by Bilt that are tied to their Bilt Mastercard.
Thus, the transaction will still generate the same points earnings as if you had paid with the Bilt Mastercard itself.
Bilt Rewards tiers
There are two ways to earn Bilt status: either through the number of Bilt points earned annually or through spend on the Bilt Mastercard.
| Bilt Status | Earn this many points annually to qualify for status: | Or spend this much on non-rent purchases on The Bilt Mastercard® or another credit card linked to your Bilt wallet: |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | 50,000 | $10,000 |
| Gold | 125,000 | $25,000 |
| Platinum | 200,000 | $50,000 |
Any status reached in the first half of a given calendar year expires on January 31 of the following calendar year. Meanwhile, status earned in the second half of a given calendar year lasts until the end of the following calendar year. Savvy Bilt Rewards members will plan ahead to take advantage of this structure.
Each rewards tier comes with a progressively more rewarding set of benefits:
Even those without a particular interest in many or any of the listed perks should be interested in higher Bilt status levels. Bilt's monthly Rent Day promotions often reward those with higher status more than other members, sometimes to the tune of double what Blue-tier members receive.
Redeeming Bilt Rewards
Bilt’s website mentions a number of different redemption options, though the FAQ offers little information. Exploring the app — as the FAQ instructs — reveals the following 21 transfer partners of the Bilt Rewards program:
Some of these transfer partners are quite familiar. Air France–KLM FlyingBlue, Emirates Skywards, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club all partner with Amex, Chase, and Citi. However, the other available transfer partners (with the exception of Hawaiian Airlines) stand out as fantastic, sought-after options.
Air Canada Aeroplan and Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles have notable sweet spots. And World of Hyatt is the most valuable of all major hotel programs.
The Bilt Rewards app even offers an award search function for a few airlines and some hotel programs.
How Does the Bilt Rewards Program Compare to Others?
Bilt's fantastic collection of transfer partners looks great on paper, but is the program rewarding enough to make it worthwhile? Each individual will need to evaluate this question independently. From an everyday, non-bonus-spending perspective, better options exist. Amex, Chase, and Citi offer credit cards with annual fee cards that earn either 1.5 or 2 points per dollar spent. Meanwhile, the Bilt Mastercard only offers 1 point per dollar spent on everyday purchases.
Of the alternatives, however, only The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express permits cardholders to transfer points to partners without needing other cards or levying an annual fee (Rates & Fees). However, many award travelers already hold Chase or Citi cards that allow transfers to partners within each respective points program.
Note that the Blue Business Plus only earns 2x points on the first $50,000 of purchases per year (then 1x). If you're a high spender, the number of points earned will halve at some point during the year.
Should I earn Bilt Rewards points instead of other points?
The value of the Bilt Rewards program — which hinges upon the Bilt Mastercard — boils down to two questions:
- Does the Bilt Mastercard provide additional financial value over paying rent via an alternative like Plastiq?
- Does the Bilt Rewards program have a collection of transfer partners that provides more attractive redemption options than the alternatives?
If your landlord does not accept credit card payments (or levies large fees on these), the answer to question #1 should be a resounding “yes.” Otherwise, there are several variables at play: values of Bilt points and any alternatives, potential rental fees, etc.
The answer to the second question will depend on your personal situation. Some renters might find Bilt Rewards transfer partners to align perfectly with their travel plans. Others might prefer a different set of transfer partners — or to simply earn cash back. Do the math on what rewards you can earn when you pay rent, the value of those, and any fees that diminish the return. Additionally, be sure to factor in the opportunity cost of missing Bilt's Rent Day promotions, which have offered 100% or higher transfer bonuses in prior months. More details on Bilt milestone rewards may tip the scales once more details are revealed, too.
Our Take
Even if the Bilt Mastercard doesn't appeal to you, the prospect of paying rent with a credit card and not incurring transaction fees should be appealing. For that reason alone, all renters should take a look at the Bilt Rewards program.
However, when it comes to earning transferable points, Bilt Rewards may fall short in comparison to other options that provide better earning rates for your daily spending. Even better, monthly rent payments using these cards can help cardholders meet high minimum spending requirements to earn credit card sign-up bonuses from cards they are more interested in. The lack of a welcome bonus on the Bilt Mastercard is another drawback.
Still, the convenience factor of having many of the unique and sought-after transfer partners available on one card with no annual fee may be enough to tip the scales for some. This may be its niche for those who want to earn rewards while paying rent and don't want to pay an extra fee for doing so.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees)
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