Bilt Points

How to earn Bilt points

Every current Bilt card can pay eligible rent, mortgage, and HOA charges through Bilt without a card transaction fee. Under housing-only rewards, the card can earn up to 1.25x based on everyday card spend relative to the housing payment. Under Flexible Bilt Cash, everyday purchases earn 4% Bilt Cash and each $30 redeemed unlocks 1,000 housing points, up to 1x.

Bilt Blue earns 1x on ordinary purchases and adds portal and partner categories. Obsidian adds a selectable 3x dining or grocery category, 3x Bilt Travel flights, 4x Bilt Travel hotels, and 2x other travel. Palladium earns 2x on everyday purchases, 4x Bilt Travel hotels, 3x Bilt Travel flights, and additional Bilt Dining and Lyft rates.

The current cards have no five-transaction minimum and no annual cap on eligible housing rewards. Bilt Cash expires each December 31, with up to $100 rolling into the next year, so unused balances require attention.

• ▸Eligible rent, mortgage, and HOA payments: no card transaction fee through Bilt
• ▸Housing-only rewards: up to 1.25x based on everyday-spend ratio
• ▸Flexible Bilt Cash: 4% Bilt Cash on everyday spend; $30 unlocks 1,000 housing points
• ▸No five-transaction minimum and no annual housing-rewards cap
• ▸Bilt Cash expires at year-end; up to $100 rolls over

How to redeem: transfer first, everything else second

Bilt points can fund travel, housing, fitness, and other redemptions. The 2.0 cent valuation comes primarily from carefully chosen airline and hotel transfers rather than cash-like uses.

Using points toward rent feels poetic and pays poorly. The portal is fine for cheap domestic flights. But a currency that reaches Hyatt, American, Alaska, and United at 1:1 should almost always exit through a transfer partner.

Same discipline as every program: price the award in partner points, compare against the portal, take the bigger number, and never transfer before the award space is confirmed.

Transfer partners and ratios

Bilt's current card page says points transfer 1:1 to 28 airline and hotel partners. The roster changes, and older guides often retain departed partners, so use Bilt's live rewards page as the authority immediately before moving points.

• ▸Current count disclosed by Bilt: 28 airline and hotel partners
• ▸Published ratio: 1:1 for Bilt travel partners
• ▸Transfer only after confirming award space and the live partner roster
• ▸Transfers are irreversible

Best transfer partners explained

Hyatt does the same work here it does for Chase: chart-priced rooms where 2.5 to 3 cents per point is routine. For a renter earning points on rent and transferring to Hyatt, the effective rebate on housing is real money.

Alaska Mileage Plan is the partner the big banks mostly cannot give you. Alaska's oneworld partner awards, especially Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific premium cabins, are some of the best published values flying. Bilt is one of the only transferable currencies that feeds it.

Partner rosters and award pricing change independently. Treat any specific sweet spot as an example to verify, not a permanent promise from Bilt.

Program quirks: housing choices and expiring Bilt Cash

The key decision is not a swipe count anymore. It is whether to use housing-only rewards or Flexible Bilt Cash. Housing-only earning rises with the ratio of everyday spend to the housing payment; Flexible Bilt Cash lets you redeem $30 to unlock 1,000 points, up to 1x on housing.

Bilt Cash is not Bilt Points and should not be translated into points in the offer chart. It can fund partner benefits and housing-point unlocks, expires December 31, and permits only $100 to roll into the next calendar year.

Promotions and loyalty-tier benefits can still rotate. Verify the app and official terms before timing a large purchase around a temporary promotion.

Our strategy: choose the housing method before the card tier

Start with the housing payment and realistic everyday spend. If you want no fee, Blue preserves access to the system. Obsidian works when its chosen 3x food category and hotel credit exceed $95. Palladium requires enough everyday spend and genuine use of its Bilt Cash, hotel credits, and lounge benefit to justify $495.

Then choose housing-only rewards or Flexible Bilt Cash based on the disclosed monthly ratio and how much Bilt Cash you can actually use before year-end. Do not count a headline up-to rate as automatic.

Save points for a redemption you can verify in real time. Check the live partner list and award availability before transferring because the move cannot be reversed.