Bilt’s April 1 Rent Day feature is a points transfer bonus up to 100% to British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus. Since Iberia business class between the U.S. and Europe starts at 34,000 Avios one-way, that means business class across the Pond from 17,000 Bilt points.
This bonus is available on April 1 transfers only, and is tiered to members based on their Bilt status:
- Blue: 50% transfer bonus
- Silver: 60% transfer bonus
- Gold: 75% transfer bonus
- Platinum: 100% transfer bonus
I continue to value my Bilt Platinum status, and not just for the helicopter ride benefit.
BA remains an option for redeeming American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines flights. Bear in mind that – destination depending – they add fuel surcharges onto awards. And award pricing gets rather high for ultra long haul travel in premium cabins.
Iberia is good for redemptions on its own flights without significant surcharges and at reasonable rates. The use cases for Aer Lingus transfers are exceptionally limited. Of course, points transfer between BA, Iberia and Aer Lingus accounts.
Another opportunity is to treat this as a 100% bonus on transfers to Qatar Airways Privilege Club, since that’s also an Avios currency and BA (and other Avios currencies) move back-and-forth at 1:1.
Bilt has the biggest transfer bonuses, but you have to think strategically.
- There always seems to be another one around the corner, jump on this or save your points?
- Other programs offer lesser bonuses, but for a few weeks or a month or longer at a time – there’s a chance there’s a bonus available when you discover you need it. Here you must think ahead!
- And the biggest bonuses are often reserved for Bilt elite members. Stay active in the program! I’ve benefited from Virgin, Air France KLM and Alaska offers.. and held off the temptation with the others.
There’s also a 50% or 100% bonus for April 1st on redeeming Bilt points for Lyft rides, but.. meh. And there’s the usual litany of dining deals, offers at Bilt’s headquarters cafe, fitness classes, and comedy shows – plus the usual double points on co-brand card spend capped at 1,000 bonus points.
I’m a BILT Gold at the moment. Not planning to take part in this bonus. Would rather simply transfer to Hyatt even without a bonus because the relative value proposition is just better (Hyatt redemptions often are worth 2-3 cents per point; whereas, Avois and many other currencies are 1 cent per point or less). And, I totally agree with Gary that you do need to ‘watch-out’ for those fuel surcharges—whether Avois, AA, AS on BA, etc., via the UK, it’s often $600+ for a business class ticket in addition to the points. The only worse situation is Emirates which will do like 250K + $2,500 in fees for its points redemptions. Sometimes it’s better than paying cash, but many times it’s worse or break-even.
April Fools?
Hmm…this is a tough one. Considering a speculative transfer for 2026. I don’t really need to do it, but man, it is such a great deal. Avios get used in my household.
For people looking to travel in summer 2025: the real value here is the B6 Mint inventory that you can find to Europe through QR. You are talking about 39-52k Bilt points per ticket with low fees.
@Brent — So, pay rent, save up points, then BILT + transfer bonus > QR > B6 Mint to Europe. And I presume if anything goes wrong, you can ‘take it up’ with the folks in Doha. Shukran!