Key facts
The Bilt Mastercard® is best known as the only credit card that rewards you for paying your rent, without a transaction fee.
With no annual fee, points for paying rent, and bonus points for travel and dining as well, this is a must-have card for renters.
Reward multipliers
You’ll earn 1 Bilt Rewards point per dollar on up to $100,000 of residential rent each calendar year without the transaction fees. (Use the card five times each statement period to earn points.)
You’ll also earn 3X Bilt Rewards points on dining, 2X on select travel, and 1X points on other purchases (excluding rent).
But the ability to earn points by paying rent (there’s not even an annual fee!) is obviously the killer feature of the Bilt credit card.
And Bilt Rewards is an incredibly strong program, as you’ll see in the review below.
Bilt Rewards Mastercard Earn Rate
- Earn up to 1x points on rent payments without the transaction fee (up to 100,000 points each calendar year)
- 3X points on dining
- 2X points on travel
- 1X points on other purchases
- Use the card 5 times each statement period to earn points
- When renting at a Bilt Alliance property, you can choose to have your rent payments automatically reported by Bilt to the three major credit bureaus each month; Experian(TM), TransUnion(TM), and Equifax(TM).
Earns bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Key features
Unique Card Benefits
Earn Bilt Points for Paying Rent
Earn points for rent with no transaction fees when you use the card five times each statement period.
You’ll earn 1 point per dollar paying with your Bilt Rewards credit card, with a maximum of 100,000 points per year.
Rent Day
On the 1st of every month, Bilt Rewards has “Rent Day” – where you’ll earn double points on dining, travel and other purchases made in that one day (up to 1,000 bonus points each Rent Day), excluding rent and tax payments.
On Rent Day, they also have other bonuses and giveaways, which may include status trials on an airline, a points transfer bonus, or pretty much anything else.
Bilt Rewards App
I’ll let you check this out for yourself, but it’s one of the slickest apps you’ll find for a rewards program.
Purchase Security
If an item is damaged or stolen within the first 90 days from the date of purchase with a Bilt Mastercard, you may be reimbursed the cost to repair or replace the item.
To be eligible for coverage, you have to pay the entire cost of the item with Bilt Mastercard and/or Bilt Rewards program associated with Bilt Mastercard.
Coverage is limited to the lesser of the following:
- The cost to repair item.
- The cost to replace the item with an item of like kind and quality.
- The amount charged to the Covered Card and/or Bilt Rewards program associated with Your covered Account (excluding shipping and handling).
- $10,000 per item.
$50,000 maximum per 12 months. Terms apply.
Earns Transferable Points
The Bilt Mastercard earns valuable Bilt credit card rewards points which can be transferred to the following partners:
| Bilt Transfer Partners | All transfer at a 1:1 ratio except ALL. Transfer times below: |
|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines MileagePlan | TBD |
| Aer Lingus Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Within 10 minutes |
| Air France Flying Blue | Within 10 minutes |
| Avianca Lifemiles | Within 10 minutes |
| British Airways Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | Within 10 minutes |
| Emirates Skywards | Within 10 minutes |
| Iberia Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| IHG Rewards | Within 10 minutes |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Up to 48 hours; generally within minutes. (5,000 point bonus when you transfer 20,000). |
| United Airlines MileagePlus | Within 10 minutes |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | Within 10 minutes |
| TAP Miles&Go | TBD |
| Virgin Points | Within 10 minutes |
| World of Hyatt | Within 10 minutes |
| Accor Live Limitless (ALL) | TBD - Note, transfer is 3:2 |
You can also redeem points for things like curated art or spend your points at Amazon.com.
I like the Bilt Rewards program at least as much as the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, given that they both transfer to my favorite redemption partner – World of Hyatt. They also both transfer to United, but Bilt kicks it up a notch by being the only US transferable bank point that transfers to Alaska Airlines®.
Trip Protections
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection
If your trip is cancelled or interrupted for a covered reason coverage provides for you to be reimbursed the cost of nonrefundable Common Carrier tickets (air/train, etc).
Coverage maximum is the lesser of:
- $5,000 maximum per Covered Traveler per Trip.
- The actual amount charged to Your Covered Card and/or Bilt Rewards program associated with Your covered Account
Note that the limit is what you paid via Bilt. This is in contrast to Chase which will cover up to the limit even if you just paid $5.60 in taxes and fees on an award ticket. In that scenario, Wells Fargo would cover only $5.60.
To be eligible for coverage under this benefit, Your Covered Card and/or rewards program associated with Your covered Account must be used to purchase the entire cost of the Covered Traveler’s Trip less redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons. The maximum is $20,000 per 12 months.
Terms apply.
Trip Delay Reimbursement
For a delay of at least 6 hours on common carrier transportation paid with your Bilt card, you are eligible for the reimbursement for expenses incurred during the delay.
The Maximum Coverage per trip is:
$200 per day per Covered Traveler for up to three days during which the Common Carrier is delayed. Wells Fargo will reimburse the daily benefit amount after the initial delay of six hours and for each additional 24-hour period beyond the initial delay until travel by the Covered Traveler becomes possible.
The maximum is $1,800 in total for all Covered Travelers per Trip.
Note: For New York residents, the Covered Card must be used to pay for the expenses incurred during the delay.
Other terms apply.
Primary Car Rental CDW Waiver
Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
You’ll be reimbursed if a covered accident or theft happens to the rental car. To be eligible for coverage, you have to pay the cost to rent the card with Bilt Mastercard and/or rewards and decline the rental company’s collision loss/damage insurance. Maximum coverage is $50,000. Coverage may not apply depending on country and type of vehicle. Check terms before renting. Coverage is primary everywhere, except NY. Terms apply.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
You won’t pay any Foreign Transaction Fees when traveling abroad.
Cell Phone Protection
Cellular Telephone Protection
Coverage starts on the first day of the calendar month following the posting of the wireless bill charge to the covered card account. There is a $25 deductible per claim; maximum coverage for cell phone is $800 per claim; maximum coverage per card is 2 paid claims per 12-month period and $1,600 per 12 month period.
Earn more rewards by combining credit cards
Pros & cons
- Earn valuable transferrable points for paying your rent with the Bilt card
- Comes with a range of trip protections, no Foreign Transaction Fees and cellular telephone protection
- No annual fee
- Somewhat limited bonus categories beyond rent
- Earning points requires you to use the card 5 times each statement period
- Lost American Airlines AAdvantage as a transfer partner
Our review
What is Bilt?
The Bilt Mastercard® is the only credit card that lets you pay your rent with no transaction fees and earn one point per dollar in the process.
This works with any landlord, up to $100,000 in rent per year as long as you make 5 other purchases each statement period.
Alaska Airlines – a Bilt Rewards Transfer Partner (Image Courtesy: Alaska Airlines)
Bilt Transfer Partners
| Bilt Transfer Partners | All transfer at a 1:1 ratio except ALL. Transfer times below: |
|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines MileagePlan | TBD |
| Aer Lingus Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Within 10 minutes |
| Air France Flying Blue | Within 10 minutes |
| Avianca Lifemiles | Within 10 minutes |
| British Airways Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | Within 10 minutes |
| Emirates Skywards | Within 10 minutes |
| Iberia Avios | Within 10 minutes |
| IHG Rewards | Within 10 minutes |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Up to 48 hours; generally within minutes. (5,000 point bonus when you transfer 20,000). |
| United Airlines MileagePlus | Within 10 minutes |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | Within 10 minutes |
| TAP Miles&Go | TBD |
| Virgin Points | Within 10 minutes |
| World of Hyatt | Within 10 minutes |
| Accor Live Limitless (ALL) | TBD - Note, transfer is 3:2 |
💳 This card earns Bilt Rewards points. Bilt often runs transfer bonuses where you can get even more points when you transfer to airline or hotel partners at designated times. Transfer bonuses are awesome. Get 20%, 50%, 100% or more bonus miles when you transfer points at the right times. But they are easy to miss!
You can see all past Transfer Bonuses from Bilt Rewards points.
Even better? Get notified when a new transfer bonus comes out and again before it ends (either or both, your choice). Sign up for free alerts right here. 🔔
Rent Day
On the 1st of every month, Bilt Rewards has “Rent Day” – where you’ll earn double points on dining, travel and other purchases excluding rent and tax payments (up to 1,000 bonus points each Rent Day) on that one day.
On Rent Day, they also have other bonuses and giveaways, which may include status trials on an airline or hotel partner or a points transfer bonus.
Summary
Overall, this card is pretty much a “must have” for renters, since there is no other way to earn points – with no transaction fees – when paying your rent.
There is also no annual fee to hold the card and no Foreign Transaction Fees.
I have one myself and don’t see any reason for any renter not to have it.
Disclaimers
Frequently asked questions
Is there a credit card that earns points for paying rent without a transaction fee?
Yes! The Bilt Rewards credit card really allows you to pay your rent – to any residential landlord – with no transaction fee. The best part is that you earn points (1 Bilt Rewards point per dollar) while doing it, up to 100,000 points per year. There’s no annual fee for the credit card and there is no transaction fee to pay your rent.
The only “catch” is that you are limited to $100,000 per year in rent payments that earn points and you must use the card 5 times each statement period to earn points.
What kind of points do you earn when you pay rent with Bilt?
You earn Bilt Rewards points, of course 😉
When used with their valuable transfer partners, we value these points at 1.8 cents.
Partners include World of Hyatt, American Airlines AAdvantage, United MileagePlus and so many more.
There are also other ways to spend Bilt points, like towards future rent payments or on Amazon, but those will net you considerably less than our 1.8 cent valuation. Still, your choice!
What is the fee to pay rent with the Bilt card?
To be crystal clear, there are no transaction fees to pay your rent 🙂
Who issues the Bilt Rewards Mastercard?
The Bilt Rewards Mastercard is issued by Wells Fargo.
What kind of credit score do you need for a Bilt card?
At least a Good credit score (let’s say 670+ as a rough guide).