When Bilt rolled out its new lineup of cards in January, it didn’t just bring new perks to the table … it brought an entirely new currency, too: Bilt Cash.
All three of the new Bilt cards – the no-annual-fee *Bilt Blue* (See Rates and Fees), the mid-tier *Bilt Obsidian* (See Rates and Fees), and the top-of-the-line *Bilt Palladium* (See Rates and Fees) – earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spending, on top of the Bilt points you already know and love. But Bilt Cash isn’t real cash: It’s a credit you can only redeem within the Bilt ecosystem – for things like points on your rent or mortgage, monthly credits with Lyft and Grubhub, bigger transfer bonuses, and more.
If that sounds complicated … well, it kind of is. Bilt Cash is a big reason the Bilt 2.0 launch was met with so much confusion and blowback to begin with. But once you wrap your head around it, it’s genuinely rewarding – and a real differentiator for Bilt.
There’s just one problem: Bilt Cash expires at the end of each calendar year, and you can only carry over $100 of it into the next one. That’s left plenty of Bilt cardholders in a bind as the year winds down, trying to figure out how much Bilt Cash they can realistically burn – and what to burn it on – before the clock runs out.
Here are some of the easiest ways to use up your Bilt Cash before the ball drops, without spending too much time (or money) thinking about it.
Related reading: What Is Bilt Cash, How Does It Work … & Is It Actually Useful?
Best Ways to Redeem Bilt Cash Before It Expires
The firm expiration date on Bilt Cash is honestly a bit of a head-scratcher. The year-end cap effectively discourages putting spending on your Bilt card in November and December – right when holiday shopping and winter travel push most people’s spending higher than any other time of year.
That makes it even more important for cardholders to understand the rules ahead of time, so they don’t get caught “holding the bag” … as the kids say.
For most people, the best use of Bilt Cash is still unlocking points on your rent or mortgage. Every $30 of Bilt Cash earns you 1,000 Bilt points on your housing payment – up to 1x on your monthly payment, with no transaction fees.
For example, if your monthly rent or mortgage payment is $2,500, you could use $45 in Bilt Cash to earn 2,500 points on the full amount – relatively simple.
If you’ve still got a November or December housing payment that isn’t fully covered, start there. But that straightforward(ish) redemption is hamstrung by your monthly payment amount. If you’re sitting on more Bilt Cash than your remaining housing payments can absorb, here’s where to send the rest.
One quick note on timing: Most of these are monthly credits that reset at 12 a.m. PT on the first of each month – and unused months don’t roll over. As of early October, you’ve got three months left to put your Bilt Cash to use. Every month you skip is money left on the table.
Point Accelerator
If you hold the *Bilt Obsidian* (See Rates and Fees) or *Bilt Palladium* (See Rates and Fees), you can spend $200 of Bilt Cash to activate a Point Accelerator. That gives you an extra 1x point per dollar on your next $5,000 in everyday spending – up to 5,000 bonus points.
With it turned on, the Palladium earns 3x points everywhere, while the Obsidian jumps to 4x on dining or groceries, 3x on travel, and 2x on everything else.
It’s (typically) the single biggest chunk of Bilt Cash you can burn in one shot. But here’s the catch … and it’s a big one: The accelerator expires at the end of the calendar year, whether you’ve hit $5,000 in spending or not.
Activate it in mid-December and only put $1,500 on your card before New Year’s, and you’ve traded $200 of Bilt Cash for 1,500 bonus points. Only pull this lever if you know you’ve got enough spending coming down the pipeline to actually use it.
Bigger Rent Day Transfer Bonuses
Bilt’s monthly Rent Day transfer bonuses are some of the best in the business – and these bonuses scale up based on your Bilt status. With Bilt Cash, you can upgrade your Rent Day transfer bonus to the next status tier.
For example, a Bilt Gold member could boost a hypothetical 75% transfer bonus up to 100% by redeeming Bilt Cash. Platinum members get an additional boost on top of that.
Exactly how much Bilt Cash you need to use for these bigger bonuses varies from month to month, and there’s no telling which travel partners Bilt will lean on for the last two Rent Days of the year.
But if you see something you like, this is an easy way to use your Bilt Cash and squeeze more out of your points. If nothing catches your eye, it’s probably not worth transferring points speculatively just to use up your Bilt Cash, though – these transfers are a one-way street.
Hotel Stays Through Bilt Travel
If you’re in need of a hotel, Bilt Cash can help cover at least part of the cost. You can redeem it toward hotels booked through the Bilt Travel Portal, with monthly limits based on your status:
- Blue & Silver: up to $50 per month
- Gold & Platinum: up to $100 per month
That’s up to $300 between now and the end of the year for Gold and Platinum members. And you can combine Bilt Cash with Bilt points, cash, and other hotel credits at checkout.
That last part is key for Bilt Palladium cardholders, whose card already comes with two semi-annual $200 Bilt Travel hotel credits. Stack an extra $100 in Bilt Cash on top, and a nicer (or longer) stay gets a lot easier to justify.
The catch? There’s a two-night minimum, and you’ll need to book through Bilt rather than directly with the hotel – meaning you’ll likely give up elite night credits and perks with programs like Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton.
BLADE Helicopter Transfers
If you’re flying in or out of New York City this winter, here’s a fun way to burn a big chunk of Bilt Cash in one shot. You can now book BLADE helicopter transfers between Manhattan and New York (JFK) or Newark (EWR) directly in the Bilt Travel Portal, and pay with Bilt Cash at checkout.
You can apply up to $350 of Bilt Cash per seat, on up to two seats per year, for a maximum of $700 annually. The two-seat allotment resets on Jan. 1, whether you’ve used it or not, and you can use both on the same booking if you’re traveling with someone.
One word of warning: Bilt also lets you pay for BLADE with points, at a lousy 0.7 cents per point. Don’t do that – stick to using Bilt Cash instead.
Walgreens Credit
You can redeem $10 of Bilt Cash per month toward Walgreens purchases – up to $30 between now and the end of the year.
It’s about as frictionless as it gets: Head to the Rewards tab in the Bilt app, find your Walgreens gift card under Everyday Rewards, and show the barcode at checkout.
Between toothpaste, cold medicine, and wrapping paper, many people will make a Walgreens run at some point this winter anyway.
Grubhub Credit
You can redeem $10 of Bilt Cash per month for a Grubhub promo code, good on restaurant delivery orders through Grubhub or Seamless.
Just know: It’s delivery-only (no pickup or catering), it can’t be used on orders with alcohol, and the code expires at the end of the calendar month in which you redeem it. So only use this option when you’re actually planning to order something.
Lyft Credit
You can redeem $10 of Bilt Cash per month toward Lyft rides. Holiday parties, a ride to the airport, a night out downtown – it’s an easy $30 to burn through the end of the year.
Blacklane Credit
If you’d rather ride in style, you can put Bilt Cash toward a Blacklane car service ride instead. This one’s an annual credit, and how much you can redeem depends on your Bilt status:
- Blue & Silver: up to $50 per year
- Gold: up to $100 per year
- Platinum: up to $150 per year
It’s a one-time use, though – so if your ride costs less than your credit, you’ll forfeit the difference. But given Blacklane’s pricier service, it shouldn’t be hard for most people to use it up in one go.
Priority Pass Guest Passes
This one is exclusive to Bilt Palladium cardholders, which includes a Priority Pass membership that covers you and two guests.
But if you’re traveling with a larger group, you can redeem $35 in Bilt Cash per extra guest – up to two per month, or $70 per month – to bring in up to four people total.
If you’re traveling with family over the holidays, this is one of the most practical (and valuable) ways to put a chunk of Bilt Cash to work. It’s issued as a statement credit to cover the guest fees.
Fitness Classes
You can redeem up to $40 of Bilt Cash per month – up to $120 between now and Dec. 31 – toward a group fitness class booked in the Bilt app. You’ll find big-name fitness studios like SoulCycle and Barry’s in the Bilt app, along with plenty of other local gyms.
Best of all, an extra fitness class will help offset at least some of those inevitable holiday baked goods you’re going to be eating, too.
Is It Worth It?
Honestly? Maybe not.
If you’ve got a healthy stash of Bilt Cash and there’s no realistic way you’ll use it all, it’s probably not worth going out of your way to burn it – and it’s definitely not worth spending more money than you otherwise would just to avoid losing it.
Spending $40 on a Walgreens run you didn’t plan to make just to use a $10 credit isn’t saving money. Neither is booking a $45 spin class you didn’t plan to go to – all health benefits aside.
Bilt Cash is a nice bonus – not a reason to buy things.
And if you hold the Bilt Palladium, the stakes are even lower: The card comes with a fresh $200 of Bilt Cash every year just for holding it. Add that to the $100 you can carry over, and you’ll start the new year with $300 in Bilt Cash – before you’ve swiped your card once.
At $30 per 1,000 points, a $4,000 mortgage payment takes $120 of Bilt Cash to unlock the full 4,000 points. So $300 covers about two and a half months of points on your mortgage while you build your balance back up.
In other words, losing a few dollars of Bilt Cash on Dec. 31 stings a little …, but it’s far from the end of the world.
Bottom Line
Bilt Cash is one of the most confusing – and most rewarding – parts of the new Bilt cards. But with only $100 rolling over into 2027, many cardholders are staring down a balance they can’t fully use before Dec. 31.
Start by earning points on your rent or mortgage, then move on to a few of the easy monthly credits like Walgreens, Grubhub, and Lyft. If you’ve got a lot of spending coming up, consider activating a Point Accelerator … but only if you’re confident you’ll hit $5,000 in spending before it, too, expires at the end of the year.
And if you can’t use it all? Don’t sweat it – your balance will be back before you know it.
Featured image courtesy of Bilt
