Posted: 8/31/23 | August 31st, 2023

Bilt is one of my favorite travel credit cards. While I have a handful of others in my wallet, Bilt is my go-to for most of my day-to-day spending.

Plus, it’s still the only credit vellum that allows you to earn points on rent entirely for self-ruling — no fees, tricks, or gimmicks. You just pay your rent each month and earn points you can use for self-ruling travel.

I’ve once written an in-depth review of the Bilt card and highlighted the essential things to know well-nigh it, yet there are still a lot of misconceptions. I get emails well-nigh it every week.

So today I wanted to take the opportunity to wordplay some commonly asked questions well-nigh Bilt. Hopefully, this will well-spoken up any ravages you might have — and convince you sign up and start earning your own points today!

Why is Bilt my current favorite travel credit card?

Bilt is the only credit vellum that allows you to earn points on rent — up to 100,000 per year. This is entirely self-ruling too; there is no yearly fee. If you live in the US and rent (especially in plush cities like NYC or SF), it is a no-brainer.

Another reason I love Bilt is considering it’s the only non–American Airlines vellum that transfers to American Airlines. This is unconfined news for frequent AA fliers, or travelers with specific upcoming trips for which they want to use AA points.

For example, this year, for my birthday, I flew to Japan on JAL in first matriculation (one of my favorite first-class experiences) by optimizing my spending to penny-pinch a lot of Bilt points. AA is a partner with Japan Airlines, so I could transfer my Bilt points to AA, and then use those for a seat on a flight operated by JAL.

Finally, Bilt makes it easy to earn points, with 3x on dining, 2x on travel, and 5x on Lyft — and double those figures on all categories (except rent and Lyft) on the first of the month (aka Rent Day). Plus, you’ll get the points on a rolling basis, so you don’t have to wait until your statement closes to use them.

Just note that you must make five purchases per month (with no minimum spending requirement) to earn points.

In summary, Bilt has lots of solid bonuses. But the main yank is earning points on rent. If you aren’t doing that, you’re literally leaving money on the table.

How do you earn points paying rent with Bilt?

Once you unshut a Bilt Mastercard, you simply go to the Bilt app or website to set up your recurring monthly rental payments.

First, you’ll set up a Bilt Rent Worth with Wells Fargo (the wall overdue Bilt). This is basically a legal “dummy” worth created as a workaround for credit vellum processing fees. You do not use it for anything else (you do not withdraw money from it or petrifaction into it).

Whenever these unique routing and worth numbers are used to pay rent (whether you use an online portal, Venmo, or PayPal), your Bilt Mastercard is charged for the same amount. You then pay off the wastefulness each month (in full!) by connecting it to your usual wall account, as you would any other credit card.

If your landlord only accepts checks, you can still pay with your Bilt vellum through the Bilt Rewards app, and Bilt will send a trammels on your behalf.

My rental payment portal charges a processing fee for paying by credit card. Will I get charged a fee for using Bilt to pay my rent?

Nope! With a Bilt Rent Worth (see above), you’re technically paying your rent with a wall account, not a credit card. So you won’t incur any fees!

What’s the yearly fee for Bilt?

There is NO yearly fee, which is part of what makes Bilt so awesome!

What are the weightier transfer partners for Bilt?

My favorite transfer partner is American Airlines, because, besides AA credit cards, this is the only way to earn AA points.

You can moreover transfer points 1:1 to 13 other travel partners:

• American Airlines
• AerClub (Aer Lingus)
• Aeroplan (Air Canada)
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Emirates
• Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Iberia
• IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group)
• Turkish Airlines
• United
• Virgin Atlantic
• World of Hyatt

It’s easy to find the weightier use of your Bilt points when booking flights, as it integrates directly with Point.me, the points-booking search engine (learn increasingly well-nigh Point.me in my review). Just put your desired destination into the app’s travel portal, and the search function will exhibit all the flights that you could typesetting with Bilt points.

Once you’ve decided, you can transfer your Bilt points to the necessary travel partner right within the app.

What is Rent Day?

Rent Day is the first day of the month (when rent is usually due). On this day, Bilt offers double points for the main spending categories, meaning that you’ll earn 6x (not 3x) on dining, 4x (not 2x) on travel, and 2x on other purchases (except rent) made on the first of the month. (Lyft points are moreover not doubled.) This is my favorite way to hands rack up Bilt points.

There are plane increasingly bonuses on Rent Day in the Bilt app, where you can play various games in order to earn points. For example, in Point Quest, a mainstay of the Rent Day extravaganza, you can earn points for correct answers to (pretty easy) trivia questions.

There’s moreover a Rent Day Rencontre that changes every month, in which you well-constructed a rencontre for a endangerment that Bilt will pay your rent for one month. Past challenges have included a fill-in-the-blank one and an image search (find Bilt blocks within an image).

Does Bilt work if I pay a mortgage instead of renting?

No. You currently can’t get points on your mortgage, only rent payments.

However, plane homeowners might want to consider getting the Bilt vellum for the plethora of other benefits. It’s without a doubt the best no-fee travel credit card out there, regardless of whether you’re using the points-for-rent full-length or not. The ease of earning points that are transferable to a wide range of travel partners, Rent Day benefits (available to all cardholders), self-ruling Point.me wangle (a tool for finding ribbon flights), and solid travel insurance make it nonflexible to beat.

What credit score is needed for Bilt?

The recommended credit score to wield for Bilt is in the good-to-excellent range (670–850), though this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. Other factors in your credit history may come into play when your using is evaluated.

How do you wield for a Bilt credit card?

Simply click this link to apply! For most applicants, it takes just a couple of minutes to receive a response. Keep in mind that this is a nonflexible inquiry on your credit, meaning that it might rationalization a temporary dip in your score.

Can I use Bilt without the credit card?

If you live in a Bilt Alliance property (properties with an official partnership with Bilt), you won’t need the Bilt Mastercard to earn points on your rent. However, plane if you live in one of these properties, I still think it’s well worth it for all the other ways to earn plane more!

Is Bilt worth it?

Yes! Considering there’s no fee and only points to gain, Bilt is veritably worth having in your wallet.

***

Bilt is a must-have for anyone who rents in the US — but expressly travelers. I really can’t recommend it enough. As the only vellum that lets you earn points from paying rent, and as the only non–American Airlines vellum that lets you earn AA points, it’s my favorite for a reason.

Don’t leave money on the table — get your Bilt vellum today!

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