Bilt changed the game a few years back when it emerged as the first rewards program to give renters ultra-valuable (and transferable) points for their monthly payments. But unless you also made that payment with a *Bilt Mastercard*, it was difficult to earn more than a few thousand Bilt points per year.
That's changing. Effective immediately, members who pay their rent via Bilt on Mastercard, Discover, and Visa credit cards will now earn 1x Bilt points per dollar spent on rent (up to 100,00 points per calendar year) … plus however many credit card points they'd earn for the transaction! American Express cards, meanwhile, will earn 1 Bilt point for every $2 spent on rent via Bilt.
Either way, this is a massive improvement. All those cards previously earned just 250 Bilt points per month by charging rent to their card, regardless of the dollar amount. Bilt cardholders will still earn 1x points per $1 without paying a dime in transaction fees – while travelers paying rent with an Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Card instead can earn 3x points per $1, thanks to a close partnership between the airline and rental rewards program.
The one downside is that non-Bilt cards will still get charged a 3% transaction fee when paying rent through Bilt. That's not exactly nothing – on a $2,500 rent payment, that's an extra $75 each and every month. But it could be well worth paying – especially if you're trying to earn a big welcome bonus on a new card.
Let's do some math with the perfect example. The *chase sapphire preferred* recently rolled out the best welcome bonus we've seen in years: Earn 100,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first three months of card membership.
Sticking with that $2,500 rent payment, you could knock out the minimum spending requirement to earn that bonus without lifting so much as a finger. And sure, that'd cost you $150 in extra fees. But you'd also get:
- 5,000 Bilt Rewards points and
- 105,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points
Before this change, those same two monthly rent payments on a Chase card would have earned you just 500 Bilt points. Bilt and Chase share a handful of transfer partners, so you could turn all those points into 110,000 miles with Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Air Canada Aeroplan, World of Hyatt, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, or others – maybe even more, if you time it right with one of the frequent transfer bonuses both companies regularly roll out.
Keep using one of your go-to cards for rent throughout the year – whether it's that same Sapphire Preferred or a different card in pursuit of another welcome bonus – and you'd wind up with 30,000 Bilt Rewards points after 12 months … in addition to the points you earn on your card.
No matter what card you're using or where you live, you'll need to get signed up for Bilt first.
If you live in a Bilt Rewards Alliance property, your payment will be sent electronically through the Bilt Rewards app or website – and you can even set up autopay so that you don't forget to make a payment. If your landlord has an online portal where you're required to make your rent payments, Bilt will generate a unique routing and account number for you to use that automatically charges your Bilt Card each month. You can also earn rewards by paying rent via Venmo or Paypal.
If your landlord only takes checks, you can still pay rent through the Bilt Rewards app and they'll mail your landlord a check — all for no additional cost.
Bottom Line
Earning Bilt points on rent just got much easier, no matter which credit card you're using.
Instead of earning a flat 250 points per month on rent payments, most credit cards will now earn 1x Bilt points per dollar on rent – while Amex cards will earn half that amount. It's a massive improvement that should make it easier for travelers to rack up Bilt points without giving up on other earning credit card points, too.
