Bilt Rewards Announces Three New Airline Transfer Partners

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Today, Bilt Rewards added its 10th airline transfer partner — with airline partners #11 and #12 coming soon. Starting today, you can transfer Bilt Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club at a 1:1 transfer rate. Plus, you will be able to transfer Bilt Rewards to Iberia Plus and Aer Lingus AerClub starting sometime in September 2022.

These new transfer partners make Bilt Rewards even more appealing for renters looking for ways to be rewarded for making rent payments. Let's show you what these new transfer partners mean for Bilt Rewards.

Bilt Rewards Transfer Partners

With the addition of these three Avios programs, Bilt Rewards will partner with 12 airlines spanning every major airline alliance. Plus, you can use Bilt Rewards points to book award flights on non-alliance airlines JetBlue and Hawaiian:

Bilt Rewards members can also transfer points to two hotel loyalty programs: IHG One Rewards and World of Hyatt.

Points transfer to all partners at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points. Even better, Bilt currently offers rewards members 100 bonus points the first time you link your Bilt Rewards account to a new airline partner.

Bilt Rewards (More Than) Doubles Down on Oneworld Transfer Partners

Entering 2022, Bilt Rewards was a bit light on Oneworld airline transfer partners — only partnering with one Oneworld partner. Granted, it was a big one: American Airlines AAdvantage.

It seems that adding more Oneworld partners was on the to-do list for 2022. Bilt doubled its Oneworld airline partners with the addition of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles in spring 2022. Now, with the addition of British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus, Bilt Rewards will offer five different Oneworld airline options.

So, what do these new programs add to the mix?

Sweet Spots of the New Bilt Rewards Airline Partners

British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus all use a similar distance-based award chart. In each case, you'll want to book short, nonstop flights to get the best award rates. Although there are some quirks, you'll generally pay the following award rates on partner airlines — such as American Airlines or Alaska:

American or Alaska Short-Haul Flights From 7,500 Avios

Remember how I said there were quirks to the award chart? Although some partner award flights start at 6,000 Avios each way, both British Airways and Iberia charge 7,500 Avios for award flights within North America. To get this rate, you'll need to book a nonstop flight under 650 miles.

Nonstop award flights up to 1,150 miles each way cost 9,000 Avios each way. That opens up many more opportunities — including cheap award flights to the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

Read more: How to Search and Book British Airways Avios Award Flights

Just make sure to check American Airlines AAdvantage awards before transferring Bilt Rewards to British, Iberia, or Aer Lingus. Domestic Web Special awards currently start at 6,000 AAdvantage miles each way. So, it might be better to transfer Bilt points to AAdvantage to book a domestic award — particularly when you need to make a connection.

American or Alaska Flights to Hawaii From 13,000 Avios

Another great sweet spot unlocked by these new Bilt transfer partners is award flights from the U.S. West Coast to Hawaii for just 13k points each way. This sweet spot is valid on American Airlines or Alaska Airways award flights up to 3,000 miles in distance. That's far enough to cover dozens of routes from Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, and even Anchorage to the 5oth state.

Read more: The Best Points and Miles for Free Flights to Hawaii

Iberia Business Class to Europe From 34,000 Avios

Perhaps the best sweet spot in the bunch goes to Iberia's off-peak 34,000-Avios business class rate from the U.S. East Coast (or Chicago) to Spain. That's the cheapest business class award rate across the pond. And you can now use Bilt Rewards points to take advantage of it!

You used to need to book through Iberia to get the cheapest price. However, British Airways recently decreased fuel surcharges on Iberia awards. Now you can book this award using 34k British Airways Avios plus around $125 out-of-pocket.

How to Earn Bilt Rewards Points

Bilt Rewards offers two major ways of earning Bilt points: paying rent and spending on The Bilt Mastercard^®.

Renters can earn Bilt Rewards points without the Bilt Mastercard. However, you'll be limited to earning just 250 Bilt points per payment. Ditto if you have the Bilt Mastercard but don't use it to make at least five purchases per statement period.

As long as you meet the five-transaction minimum, you'll earn Bilt Rewards points at the following rates:

• 1x points on rent payments made through the Bilt App — up to an annual cap of 50,000 points.
• 2x points on travel
• 3x points on dining
• 1x on all other purchases with no cap on earnings

Best of all, the card charges a $0 annual fee. And you won't pay fees for paying your rent through the Bilt App — even if your landlord isn't part of the Bilt Rewards Alliance network.

Bottom Line

Since its launch in June 2021, Bilt Rewards has quickly made itself a big player in the points and miles world. Although Bilt launched with a small — but powerful — group of core transfer partners, it has now expanded to 12 partners today — with two more coming in September 2022.

Transfers to Iberia Plus and Aer Lingus AerClub aren't live yet. But, you're not out of luck if you want to use these partners. In the meantime, you can transfer Bilt Rewards to British Airways and then transfer Avios from British Airways to Aer Lingus and Iberia for free.