by Daniel | Last Updated December 23rd, 2022
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If you like the idea of being rewarded for paying your rent, then the Bilt Mastercard is potentially the card you have been looking for.
Not only does it have no annual fee, but it also allows you to spend up to $50,000 each year on your rent, and for this, you will earn 50,000 points which can then be redeemed for things such as your rent or even travel.
And best of all, if you redeem these points through the Bilt travel portal for travel-related expenses, the points are worth 1.25 cents, which is really good.
So in this article, I’m going to talk you through everything this card has to offer and how you can most effectively use it to earn a ton of points each year.
Then at the end of the article, I’ll give you my honest opinion on if this card is actually worth it.
Who is this card good for?
The Bilt Mastercard is specifically designed for anyone that is currently paying rent on a monthly basis and is looking to take advantage of this expense by earning points that can then be used in a variety of different ways.
Now rent is usually quite a large expenditure each month for most people, so it makes sense to try and capitalize on this expense and actually earn some value back.
And whilst it is currently possible to pay for your rent with other credit cards and receive points or cash back, it is not uncommon for card issuers to charge anywhere up to 3% per transaction for rental payments.
This can add up to quite a lot over time.
If you did happen to spend $20,000 on rent over the course of a year, a 2% processing fee would end up costing $400!
One thing that does differentiate the Bilt Mastercard from these other credit cards is the fact that it doesn’t charge any processing fee for rental payments.
And on top of this Bilt Points are actually quite valuable.
Sign-up Bonus
Now unfortunately the Bilt Mastercard doesn’t currently offer any sign-up bonus, which is a little unusual in this day and age seeing as a large portion no annual fee credit cards do.
For example, both the Chase Freedom Unlimited card and Freedom Flex card offer a $200 bonus
And then the Amex cash Magnet card also offers $200 cash back.
So it is a little weird that Bilt decided not to offer a sign-up bonus.
But to be fair, the card really does offer some fantastic value from its points-earning potential and ability to transfer points to different travel partners.
Points Value
Now Bilt points are valued at different rates depending on what you actually redeem them for, so being aware of how to redeem your points can result in you earning a lot more value.
First of all, there is the Bilt Travel Portal which allows you to redeem points at a rate of 1.25 cents per point on travel, so 5,000 Bilt points are worth $62.50.
And interestingly enough, this is more than what American Express offers you when redeeming Personal credit card membership reward points through American Express Travel, which is currently just 1 cent per point.
So as an example, if your rent was $2,000 a month you would earn 2,000 points each month for a total of 24,000 points over the year.
And at a 1.25-cent redemption rate, this equals $300, which is pretty decent!
Now the most valuable way to use Bilt points is to transfer them to one of their travel partners, which currently offers a 1:1 transfer rate.
This will allow you to potentially earn quite a bit more than 1.25 cents per point.
And below is a list of their travel partners:
- American Airlines
- Air Canada
- United
- Cathay Pacific
- Turkish Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Air France
- KLM
- Virgin Atlantic
- World Of Hyatt
- IHG Rewards
Now the most valuable way to use Bilt points is to transfer them to one of their travel partners, which currently offers a 1:1 transfer rate.
This will allow you to potentially earn quite a bit more than 1.25 cents per point.
So as an example, if you were to transfer your Bilt points to American Airlines it is possible to book a return flight from LAX to JFK flying Business to JFK and then flying First Class back to LAX for 54,000 points plus an additional $11.20.
Now if you were to pay cash for the flight, it is currently $1,698.00.
This works out to be a points value of approximately 3.125 cents per point, which is 2.5 more value than what you would receive if you used the points through the Bilt Travel Portal.
So similar to a few other travel reward credit cards, it is possible to receive a ton of value just by spending a bit of time finding a great deal through one of their travel partners.
Points earning Potential
Now there are a few different ways to earn points with the Bilt Master card, but in order to actually receive the points you must make at least 5 purchases on the card within the month.
If you fail to use the card 5 times in a given month, any points you have earned during this time will actually be removed from your account at the end of the statement period.
So if you do have this card or are interested in getting it, just make sure you make at least 5 purchases each month to avoid losing your points at the end of the month.
Also, the points-earning potential is unlimited for all purchases except rent payments.
So the highest points-earning option that this card offers is 3x points on dining, and according to Bilt this will only be effective at retailers that use a Merchant Code for Mastercard that is classified as the following:
- Restaurants or fast food locations
- Grocery stores
Then it is possible to receive 2x points on travel which includes:
- Airlines
- Hotels, Motels, Resorts
- Cruise Lines
- Car Rental Agencies
Then all other purchases will earn 1 point per dollar spent.
Now included with this is the ability to earn 1 point per dollar spent on your primary rental property up to a total of 50,000 points each calendar year, and best of all there are no transaction fees for rental payments.
And this is a really nice benefit to have, as it’s not uncommon for other card issuers to charge anywhere up to 3% per transaction for rental payments.
Also, this benefit is available on a wide variety of properties, and if for any reason your property manager only accepts credit card payments, Bilt will actually submit a check on your behalf so you can still earn the points.
Now there is also the option to double your points earnings on the 1st day of each month with Belts‘ ‘Rent Day’ promotion.
So this provides to option to earn 6x points on dining, 4x points on travel, and then 2x points on every other purchase excluding rental payments.
And this is limited to a maximum of 10,000 points each month.
Supercharge your points earnings
Now there are a few ways you can supercharge your points earnings with the Bilt Mastercard.
For example, if you are living with roommates, you could use the Bilt Mastercard to pay for the entire rent and then have your roommates reimburse you.
This would substantially increase how many points you earn over the year.
And as I mentioned just before, it is possible to earn double points on the first day of each month on everything except rent payments.
So if you plan out some of your purchases to be made on the first day of each month you will benefit greatly by earning a ton of extra points.
And this could be anything such as going out for a nice dinner or even just doing a large grocery shop to earn 6x points, or you could book a flight or hotel to earn 4x points.
Or it could be just about any other purchase such as paying your phone bill to receive 2x points.
Benefits and User Perks
So besides the points-earning potential, this card offers there isn’t a huge amount of extra benefits that come with this card.
But to be fair it has no annual fee, so it won’t cost you anything to actually have the card.
One benefit that can be useful is the Lyft credits that are available each month.
Basically, if you use the Bilt card to pay for 3 Lyft rides in a given month, Lyft will credit you $5 toward your next trip, but just know that this credit only lasts for 30 days.
Along with this, there is a free 3-month Dash Pass membership that provides you with $5 off your first delivery order each month.
But just note that after the free 3-month trial is up, you will then automatically be charged $9.99 per month.
Finally, there is access to World Elite Mastercard Concierge,
This is a service provided by Mastercard that can help you with more time-consuming things such as securing dinner reservations, buying gifts, or booking hotels.
If you do decide to use this service they can create a personal profile of you so they can keep tabs on things such as upcoming birthdays of friends and family members or even any food allergies you might have, which can come in handy when booking a restaurant you might not have been to before.
Insurance Coverage
Now in terms of insurance coverage, the Bilt Mastercard does actually offer a fair bit of protection.
Probably the most useful coverage is Cell phone protection which gives you the ability to make a maximum of 2 claims per 12-month period with each claim covering up to $800.
The only thing you will need to pay for is a $25 deductible fee each time you make a claim.
And like most other card issuers for the coverage to be valid you must pay your cell phone bill with an eligible Bilt World Elite Mastercard.
Then with Trip cancellation & interruption, you will receive up to $5,000 in coverage.
So If you do have to cancel or interrupt your trip due to a covered event, trip cancellation and interruption insurance can help reimburse you for non-refundable trip costs.
This can include things such as an airfare, hotel reservations, or tour packages.
Then along with this, there is Trip delay reimbursement of up to $200 per day and a maximum of $1,800.
This provides coverage for you and your immediate family that is traveling on the same trip.
And for this to be effective your trip must be delayed for more than 6 hours.
If you ever rent a car there is an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver that provides primary coverage and can cover up to $50,000 in the event of an accident.
For this to be valid, you must pay for the entire car rental with your Bilt Mastercard and then decline the car rental agency’s collision loss/damage insurance.
And finally, there is Purchase security that provides you with 90 days of coverage in case of damage or theft of a new purchase.
This covers up to $10,000 per item and a total of $50,000 per 12-month period.
APR
Now for the last section of this review, I’ll just go over what the current APR is for the Bilt Mastercard.
And this is always something worth being aware of as if you do for any reason miss payment or do a balance transfer it can start to add up quite quickly.
So the APR for purchases and balance transfers is currently between 19.99% and 27.99%.
And a balance transfer will include a fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each balance transfer, basically whichever amount is more.
Then the APR for a cash advance is 29.74% and will also incur a fee of $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance again whichever amount ends up being more,
And finally, any late payments that are made on the card will incur a fee of up to $40.
So if you can, try to avoid ever getting a cash advance or making late payments, as it will negatively affect your credit score and end up costing you a fair bit of money.
Final Thoughts
So that pretty much covers everything there is to know about the Bilt Mastercard and in my opinion, I think it holds a lot of potential value especially if you are a renter.
Seeing that rent quite often takes up a large portion of your monthly expenses, it really does make sense to take advantage of this card and potentially earn a ton of points.
And best of all, as long as you don’t make any late payments or do a balance transfer, it won’t cost you a thing to use the card.
Just make sure that if you do decide to get this card, use the card at least 5 times each month so you receive the points.
As I mentioned earlier in the article, if you make less than 5 purchases on the card in a given month you won’t receive the points you have earned.
Now if you want to learn the quickest way to increase your credit score check out this article here.