Introduction
Rent is, without a doubt, the biggest monthly expense for millions of Americans and it has been rising swiftly in the past few years. The vast majority of rents are still paid with a check and those who wants to pay with credit cards are discouraged by the hefty processing fees that can range around 2-3% or inconvenient processes. As the biggest monthly expense for an individual, it is only natural that we want to get some rewards for paying the rents. That is where Bilt Rewards comes in.
Bilt Rewards
“BILT REWARDS IS A LOYALTY PROGRAM THAT LETS YOU EARN POINTS ON RENT.”
Bilt Rewards was launched last year and offers the possibility to earn rewards while paying rent, without any additional fees. Bilt Rewards is free to join and if your renter is part of Bilt Rewards Alliance (that includes 2 million plus rental homes across the country), you can pay your rent directly through the Bilt app and get rewarded for paying your rent. Alternatively, if your renter is not part of the Bilt Alliance, you can use the Bilt MasterCard to pay the rent and Bilt will mail a paper check to your renter while rewarding you for the rent payment. In short, as long as you use Bilt MasterCard, you get rewarded for paying rent, regardless of your renter.
Bilt MasterCard Review
Bilt MasterCard is the best credit card for paying rent as it is currently the only credit card that allows you to pay rent hassle free and without any additional fees, and offers rewards on your rent payments. It also does not have an annual fee. Besides the rent, Bilt MasterCard offers competitive earnings on other purchases as well. You need to make 5 transactions that post each statement period to earn points.
Overview of Earnings
- 1X points on Rent payments with no costs, up to 50,000 points each calendar year
- 2X points on Travel
- 3X points on Dining
- 1X points on all other purchases
Besides earning points on spending, Bilt Rewards also provides bonus points on new leases and lease renewals. The bonus can vary with between various status (Silver – 10%, Gold – 25% & Platinum – 50%). If you are wondering how the status work, read below.
Update 09/24/2022 – Bilt Rewards has announced “Bilt Rent Day” where you can earn double rewards on the first day of every month. So basically, you will be earning 6X points on dinning, 4X on travel and 2X on all other purchases. There is a maximum of 10,000 points that can be earned per Bilt Rent Day.
Overview of Bilt Rewards Tiers
Silver – 25,000 points
Gold – 50,000 points
Platinum – 100,000 points
Besides the earnings, it also offers World Elite MasterCard benefits. It offers various benefits across travel, shopping, dining and other categories.
Overview of Benefits
Travel
- Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection
Offers up to $5,000 reimbursement for a non-refundable passenger fare if your trip is interrupted or canceled for a covered reason when your passenger fare is booked with your Bilt MasterCard.
- Trip delay reimbursement
Get reimbursed for expenses incurred, including meals, when your trip is delayed more than six hours due to reasons like inclement weather, mechanical breakdown of the common carrier or air traffic control delays.
- Auto rental collision damage waiver
Receive auto coverage for covered damages due to collision or theft for most rental cars when you pay for the rental transaction with the Bilt MasterCard.
- No foreign currency conversion fees
When you use your card for travel, you won’t pay a foreign currency conversion fee for purchases converted to U.S. dollars.
- Lyft Credits
Take 3 rides in one calendar month, get a $5 Lyft credit with your Bilt MasterCard.
Shopping
- Purchase security (Theft and damage protection)
Purchases made on the Bilt MasterCard can be covered for theft or damage within 90 days of the date of purchase, up to $10,000 per claim
Dining
- World Elite MasterCard Concierge
Whether you need hard-to-find dinner reservations, the perfect last-minute gift or insider hotel recommendations, the World Elite MasterCard Concierge will work behind the scenes on your behalf – anywhere in the world.
- DoorDash credits
Get a 3-month DashPass membership for free as a new member with your Bilt MasterCard. Plus, both new and existing members get $5 off their first 2 orders each month.
Others
- Cell Phone Protection
Pay your monthly cell phone bill with your Bilt Mastercard® you’ll get up to $800 of protection (subject to $25 deductible) against covered damage or theft.
More information regarding Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card Benefits can be found here – https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit-cards/bilt/guide-to-benefits
Bilt Rewards can be redeemed in a variety of ways and the value of points depends on how you redeem. Points are worth 1.5 cents if you redeem for down payment towards your future home but only 0.55 cents if you redeem towards your next rent (redemption value vary based on renter). However, Bilt Rewards can also be transferred 1:1 to 7 airlines and 2 hotels loyalty program.
Overview of Redemption
Bilt MasterCard offers various redemption options.
- Homeownership and Rent
Save your Bilt Points and let Bilt Rewards be your path to ownership. Use points to cover all or part of your next month’s rent or save them up over time and use them towards a down payment on a future home purchase.
- Travel
Our transfer partners let you book flights on over 100 partner airlines and hotels on six continents. Transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to any of our seven airline or hotel partners.
Airlines
American AAdvantage
Emirates Skywards
HawaiianMiles
Aeroplan
Flying Blue
Turkish Miles & Smiles
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotels
World of Hyatt
IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Art & Décor
The Bilt Collection is designed to enhance your home without breaking the bank. Shop a seasonal collection of artwork, home decor and lifestyle products that are influenced by the world of design. Each season, our creative team selects an artist to create exclusive pieces of art that are available only to Bilt Members through the collection.
- Fitness Classes
Use your Bilt Points to cover the cost of your favorite fitness classes — like Rumble, SoulCycle, Soldicore and Y7.
Sign Up Bonus
Unfortunately, Bilt Mastercard does not offer a sign up bonus.
Referral Bonus
Bilt Rewards offers a referral bonus where you get 25,000 points when you refer 5 friends and they use the card within 30 days of referral.
The good point is that you do not need to have Bilt Mastercard to refer. If you have joined Bilt Rewards, you can refer friends and earn bonus. The bad point is that you need to refer at least 5 friends to get any bonus. We wish they would simplify the referral bonus.
Final Thoughts
For a credit card with no annual fees, Bilt Mastercard offers generous earning potential and its benefits are also top notch. It is the only credit card so far that offers rewards for rent payments. Besides, it also offers excellent earnings for dining and travel. Despite not having a sign up bonus as well as a complicated referral bonus, if you are a tenant, like millions of American, we recommend you to get Bilt MasterCard or at least enroll in Bilt Rewards program and start earning points for your rent payments.
