Today Only: Get Up to a 100% Bonus on Bilt Transfers to Southwest Airlines!

Bilt is back with another Rent Day promotion, and this time they're leaning on their newest transfer partner for a little help.

Today, May 1 – and only May 1 – Bilt Rewards is offering members a transfer bonus of up to 100% when moving points to Southwest Airlines. If you've got a good use for Rapid Rewards or have your sights set on traveling domestically this summer, this is a deal worth your attention. 

Exactly how big of a bonus you get is based on your level of Bilt status and ranges between 25% and 100%. Here's how things shake out. 

Unfortunately, Southwest has made a handful of big, customer-unfriendly changes over the past couple of months, including a shift to dynamic award pricing – charging more or less depending on demand. With this change, it seems you can generally get between 1.1 and 1.5 cents per Rapid Rewards point. While that might mean you're getting less value from your points on some days and routes, your points may go further on others.

And no matter how you slice it, this big transfer bonus will help you stretch your points even further. Using transfer partners is one of the best ways to use your Bilt points for even more value. This transfer bonus makes it even better – think of it as a way to get some free airline miles. 

Just keep in mind: These transfers are a one-way street – once you send points to Southwest, you can't get them back to your Bilt account. That's why we typically urge travelers to ensure the flights they want are bookable before transferring any points.

Read on for more details about this transfer bonus and to see what else Bilt has in store for this month's Rent Day.

How to Use Rapid Rewards

There's no single best way to use Southwest Rapid Rewards, but there are a lot decent options … especially for travelers looking to stick closer to home.

Unlike most of Bilt's other airline partners, Southwest doesn't fly long-haul to Europe or Asia, so you'll need to be content using Rapid Rewards for travel throughout the U.S. or down to Mexico and the Caribbean. It's worth noting that Southwest recently partnered up with Icelandair, but it's not yet possible to redeem Rapid Rewards for those flights. Maybe some day your Southwest points will get you to Europe, but not yet. 

Having said all that, let's take a look at a few different options to see what is possible with this Rent Day transfer bonus. Let's use this flight example: Phoenix (PHX) to Denver (DEN) nonstop in June. 

These Wanna Get Away fares (soon to be Basic Economy, RIP) will cost you $90 when paying cash. But when you toggle over to “Points” instead of “$” on the top right of your screen on Southwest.com, you'll see the same fares for 6,000 points. With this transfer bonus, you could book that one-way flight for as few as 3,000 Bilt points. Not bad! 

This is just one flight, though. Here's another example: To fly from Baltimore (BWI) to San Diego (SAN) this June, you'll need about $271 on these specific days. But if you toggle over to “Points,” it's 21,500 Rapid Rewards, or as few as 11,000 Bilt points. Even low-level Bilt Blue members could book this flight for just over 17,000 Bilt points – that's not bad at all, considering the cash price. 

Finally, let's look at a much more popular route, like Honolulu (HNL), to see what kind of value can be had on some of Southwest's priciest flights. The weekend of Memorial Day, a nonstop flight to Hawaii will cost you $332 for Southwest's cheapest Wanna Get Away fares. 

If you instead use Rapid Rewards to book this flight, you'll need a minimum of 29,000 points to book. With this transfer bonus, you'd need less than 24,000 Bilt points on the high end and as few as 15,000 Bilt points if you've got top-tier Platinum status!

These are just a handful of examples of what's possible with Rapid Rewards and this big Rent Day transfer bonus.

One nice thing about booking a flight with Southwest points is that unlike other airline programs, there's no struggle to find award availability. If you can book with cash, Southwest will also give you the option to redeem Rapid Rewards – just how many you need will vary, but at least it's a surefire redemption option. 

Other Rent Day Promotions

The new transfer bonus is the biggest highlight for this month's Rent Day, but it's not the only thing Bilt has in store.

Other Rent Day staples like Bilt's “Rent Free” game show are making a comeback as well. Each month, Bilt brings on a well-known individual to play its Family Feud-esque game show and determine how much free rent will be paid. This month's guest is comedian and actress Chloe Fineman.

Finally, Bilt's Neighborhood Fitness program is returning for another month. Bilt members can reserve a complimentary fitness class at SoulCycle and Barry's locations around the country. Bilt members will also receive exclusive add-ons with each fitness partner.

Earn Double Points on Rent Day

There's another thing to keep in mind on Rent Day: You'll earn double the points (up to 1,000 bonus points) for every non-rent dollar spent on your *bilt rewards card* on the first of the month. 

So long as you make at least five purchases each statement cycle, you'll earn points at the following rates on Rent Day:

• 6x Bilt points on dining (usually 3x)
• 4x Bilt points on travel (usually 2x)
• 2x Bilt points on other spend (usually 1x)

This is all in addition to the 1x Bilt points you earn on rent payments with the Bilt Mastercard.

Read more: Paying Rent? You Need to Have This Card in Your Wallet

Learn more about the *bilt rewards card*.

How to Use Bilt Rewards Points

Just because the points can be fairly difficult to earn doesn't mean they aren't useful – just the opposite. There are many ways to use Bilt points. And once you've got them, they're some of the most valuable points in the world of travel.

The easiest way to use them is to book through the Bilt Rewards travel portal, where each point will be worth 1.25 cents apiece. That means 10,000 Bilt points are worth $125 toward travel.

But you'll get the best value for your Bilt points by transferring points to one of its travel partners, including World of Hyatt, Alaska Airlines, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles, United Mileage Plus, and British Airways Avios, among many others.

Just keep in mind that unless you've earned Bilt status, you'll need to transfer a minimum of 2,000 points to get started.

Here's the full list:
 

If you prefer to use your points for something other than travel, Bilt recently introduced the ability to “cash out” Bilt Rewards points  (at a rate of .55 cents per point) by applying them as a statement credit to the outstanding balance on your Bilt Rewards Card. At approximately a half-cent per point, redeeming them this way represents poor value and should really only be done as a last resort.

Prior Rent Day Promotions

Over the years, Bilt has done a good job leveraging its partners to come up with some really creative (and often incredibly lucrative) promotions. While not every month's promo is a home run for travelers, the majority of Bilt's Rent Day promos do a good job of engaging members on a day that's otherwise un-celebrated.

Here's a look back at some of the other Rent Day promotions from the past year:

Most of Bilt's Rent Day promotions are centered on travel, and even the ones that aren't are still valuable for most Bilt Rewards members. Looking at prior Rent Day promos, you have to wonder how Bilt can continue to raise the bar month after month.

Bottom Line

Bilt Rewards' Rent Day promo for May is a good one for travelers.

Today, May 1 – and only May 1 – you can get up to a 100% bonus when transferring Bilt points to Southwest Rapid Rewards. This transfer bonus is based on status and ranges between 25% and 100%. 

If you've got a *Bilt Mastercard* in your wallet, you'll earn even more when you spend on the first of the month.