Bilt Rewards stormed onto the scene last year, giving renters an unmatched way to earn points on monthly rent payments without hefty fees – and some great ways to transfer those points to airlines and hotel chains, to boot. That list of transfer partners just keeps growing and growing.
Bilt on Thursday announced it was adding British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus as its latest transfer partners, allowing renters and travelers to kick their Bilt Rewards over to each airline on a 1:1 basis. Transfers to British Airways are available immediately, while Aer Lingus and Iberia are expected to go live sometime next month.
But in practice, all three are already in the fold as the airlines all use essentially the same Avios currency. That allows you to link accounts and share miles between each carrier. Best of all, it actually opens up one more airline: Qatar Airways, which adopted Avios earlier this year and has quickly become one of the best ways to book Qatar Qsuites.
But on paper, these three new additions give Bilt a total of 12 airline partners with two hotel options: World of Hyatt and IHG. Here's the full list:
| Program | Type | Transfer Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | Airline | 1:1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | Airline | 1:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Airline | 1:1 |
| British Airways Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | Airline | 1:1 |
| Emirates Skywards | Airline | 1:1 |
| Iberia Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | Airline | 1:1 |
| Turkish Miles & Smiles | Airline | 1:1 |
| United MileagePlus | Airline | 1:1 |
| Virgin Red | Airline | 1:1 |
| Accor | Hotel | 3:2 |
| World of Hyatt | Hotel | 1:1 |
| IHG Hotels | Hotel | 1:1 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Hotel | 1:1 |
| Hilton Honors | Hotel | 1:1 |
*Iberia and Aer Lingus are expected to launch sometime in September 2022.
There's a lot to love about these newest options in the fold as it just makes them even easier to earn. All three sister airlines are already American Express transfer partners and Chase transfer partners, plus you can top off all three accounts transferring Marriott Bonvoy points. Oh, and British Airways is a Capital One transfer partner, too.
But it's not just the ease of earning – there are killer ways to redeem these miles as well.
- British Airways Avios are one of the best ways to get to Hawaii: You can book American Airlines or Alaska Airlines flights from the west coast to the Hawaiian islands and back for just 32,000 miles!
- It's also a great way to get from the East Coast to Caribbean, with nonstop routes like Miami (MIA) to Aruba (AUA) available for just 18,000 Avios roundtrip.
- Whether you use Avios from Iberia or British Airways, you can book roundtrip Iberia flights to Madrid (MAD) as low as 34,000 miles roundtrip in economy
- Or if you want to take advantage of one of the best ways to book business class, you can use the same miles to fly to Madrid (MAD) in Iberia business class from just 34,000 Avios each way!
- Between British Airways and the ability to kick Avios over to Qatar Airways, you've got two surefire ways to book Qatar Qsuites, the world's best business class. Nonstops from the U.S. to Doha (DOH) start at just 70,000 Avios in either program. Connecting onward to the Middle East, Maldives, or South Africa, you'll want to turn to Qatar Avios for the best rates.
You'll need at least 2,000 points to transfer to any of these partners unless if you've built your way to Silver Status, in which case 1,000 points will do. Bilt gives you an easy 100 bonus points for linking any loyalty account among the 14 now in its repertoire.
Bilt also recently launched its own travel portal powered by Expedia, giving renters and cardholders yet another way to redeem their points. It works much like the Chase travel portal – one of our favorite ways to book flights using points. And much like Chase, all points redeemed through the Bilt portal will be worth 1.25 cents apiece – meaning 10,000 Bilt points are worth $125 toward travel.
How Does Bilt Rewards Work?
Bilt Rewards is a fairly new rewards program that allows qualified U.S. renters the ability to earn rewards by paying their rent through the Bilt Rewards app. Eventually, you’ll be able to earn points on your rent payment no matter where you live.
Despite the fanfare surrounding this new program, Bilt isn't available to everyone just yet. You can join the waitlist for the service on the Bilt website, though there are promo codes floating around the internet to skip the waitlist and get early access to Bilt.
The easiest way to make it work is by renting from a property management group in the Bilt Rewards Alliance. If your landlord is a member of the Bilt Rewards Alliance, you will be able to pay your rent electronically through the Bilt Rewards app by securely linking your bank account.
- The Blackstone Group
- The Related Companies
- Equity Residential
- GID
- AvalonBay Communities, Inc.
- Camden Property Trust
- Cushman & Wakefield
- Trammell Crow Residential
- Highmark Residential
- AMLI Residential
- Morgan Properties
- SL Green Realty Corp.
- Starwood Capital Group
- LivCor
- The Moinian Group
- Veritas Investments
- Artemis Real Estate Partners
- …and more
Renting someplace that doesn’t make this list? By paying your rent through Bilt, the company can send your landlord a paper check via USPS First Class mail for your rental amount, similar to Plastiq. Bilt says it will take five to seven days to process.
No matter where you live, these rental payments via Bilt are completely fee-free.
Read More: Bilt Rewards: Earn Transferable Points for Paying Rent (+ No Fees)
Earning points on these payments is quite simple. Program members will earn a minimum of 250 Bilt Points per month by paying their rent through the Bilt Rewards app, no matter how much your monthly rent costs. Simply pay through the Bilt app and you’ll receive 250 points each and every month.
While it’s not necessary in order to earn these transferrable points, renters can drastically accelerate their earning by paying their rent with a new co-branded Bilt Rewards Mastercard and climbing the tiers of Bilt status. Bilt overhauled both their Mastercard and status levels last fall to make them even better.
This $0 annual fee card is the key to earning more valuable points. So long as you make at least five transactions per statement period, you'll earn:
- 1x point per dollar spent on rent on up to $50,000 in rent annually
- 2x points per dollar spent on travel when you book directly with the airline, hotel, rental car agency, etc.
- 3x points per dollar spent on dining
- 1x points per dollar on other purchases
Learn more about the *Bilt Mastercard*.
Bottom Line
More transfer partners are always a good thing.
It's exciting to see Bilt Rewards continue to build out its portfolio of travel options, just as more and more renters turn to Bilt as a novel way to earn points on rent – or just earn Bilt Rewards points through its co-branded credit card.
You have not said whether you can earn loyalty rewards with the airline or hotel when you book and pay with Bilt Points.
If you book through the Bilt travel portal, yes you should. If you are transferring points into a specific program, no you won’t. This is the same across all points programs.