Bilt Cash Details Just Dropped — Here Is What 4% Actually Buys On The New Cards: Value Is Better Than Expected

Bilt just released the missing details behind its new cards: what the promised 4% “Bilt Cash” actually buys on top of points. The redemption menu is much bigger than expected—ranging from monthly Grubhub and Lyft credits to Blacklane rides, hotel portal credits, and even Blade flights—and there’s a points-accelerator option that can effectively raise your ongoing earn rate if you play it right.

Last week, Bilt Rewards introduced its 3 new credit cards. There’s a $0 annual fee card, $95 annual fee card, and $495 card.

Each one has different earning and benefits. But they all promised 4% Bilt Cash earned in addition to points. I jumped on the premium Bilt Palladium Card (See rates and fees) because I thought it was really valuable even without the Bilt card. Most of my unbonused spend goes on a Venture X card today, Bilt’s transfer partners are better, and Palladium earns 2 points per dollar on all spend (like Venture X) but more because it earns on rent and mortgage, too (effective, 3.3 points per dollar up to the amount of your housing payment each month).

Still, probably the most frustrating thing – aside from my receiving a lower credit limit than with my Wells Fargo Bilt card – was that the details weren’t available on Bilt Cash. They’re finally out, and it’s better than I was expecting.

We’ve known about Bilt Cash since it was announced in the fall. It’s a currency to spend with Bilt partners, through the Bilt travel portal, and on Bilt opportunities like Rent Day experiences and transfer bonuses (a Bilt member might take advantage of an elite-only higher transfer bonus by redeeming Bilt Cash).

• My mental model was that this would be Bilt’s version of merchant-funded offers like Amex Offers.
  
• That it replaces the coupon book-style credits that American Express and Chase have for their premium cards.
  
• But they’re available to all members, you earn them through spending on the cards and by earning points in your Bilt account ($50 for every 25,000 points earned aside from card spend).
  
• And you choose the offers that you’re most interested in.

That’s pretty much right, but there are more offers than I was expecting and some of them have bigger value than early coverage suggested – though most are capped with how much value you can get each use, or each month. Redemptions will be available starting February 1.

Bilt Cash Redemption Options

As expected, there are redemption options with existing known Bilt partners like GoPuff, Bilt partner restaurants, and through Bilt’s travel portal. Some of those are for just $5 or $10 a month. But there are partnerships we didn’t know about (like car service Blacklane and GrubHub) and you can redeem for the full cost of some things as well, like Blade helicopter transfers.

• $120 / year towards grocery or restaurant delivery GrubHub $10 credit available each month, starting March 1, 2026.

• $60 / year of credits 15-minute home delivery GoPuff $5 credit available each month.

• $100 / year Gopuff Fam (Free delivery and discounted groceries) Gopuff Fam membership monthly or annual membership, available 3/1/26.

• $300 / year of restaurant credit at select Bilt Dining partners One visit per month up to $25, “rollout expanding to thousands of restaurants nationwide”

• $600 / year toward dining experience bookings Redeem Bilt Cash towards Bilt dining experiences up to $50 per month (I have often seen these offered for $75, so covering part of the cost), available starting March 1, 2026.

• Bilt card accelerated points-earning when choosing to earn Bilt Cash on your card, Obsidian and Palladium cardmembers can earn an additional 1 point per dollar on card spend for the next $5,000 after redemption. This costs $200 in Bilt cash (earned from $5,000 spend). So $5,000 spend on the card earns 5,000 bonus points on your next $5,000 spend. You can keep doing this up to 5 times a year. (It expires at year-end if you haven’t maxed it out.) Because Bilt Cash is earned on top of points, you’re effectively using the cash rebate to buy an extra 1x on the next $5,000.

  This means a Bilt Obsidian Card (See rates and fees) cardmember can earn 4x on dining and grocery with this accelerator (in whichever of those categories they chose, and if they haven’t maxed out the annual $25,000 cap in the category). The option makes it, effectively, a 4x dining and grocery card for heavy spenders in those categories. Obsidian cardmembers would earn 3x on travel and 2x on otherhwise-unbonused spend.

  Bilt Palladium Card cardmembers earn 3x on their regular spending with this option. And that doesn’t include mortgage or rent points with the card. (All cardmembers can earn points on monthly rent or mortgage payments where every $30 Bilt Cash redeemed earns 1,000 points, up to the amount of your housing payments.)

  

  Put another way, I can earn as much as 4.3 points per dollar up to the amount of my mortgage each month redeeming Bilt Cash this way using the Palladium card.

• Up to $1,200 hotel credit / year for the Bilt Travel Portal two-night minimum stay per booking, up to $50/month for Blue & Silver members and up to $100/month for Gold & Platinum members (Palladium cardmembers get Gold the first year with the card.)

• Bigger points transfer bonuses. Upgrade Rent Day transfer bonuses to the next status tier. The example they give is a Gold member can upgrade from a 75% bonus to a 100% transfer bonus for $75 in Bilt cash, while Platinum members can redeem for an even bigger transfer bonus (“pricing and availability subject to change”).

• $120 Lyft rideshare credits / year up to $10 per month.

• Up to $150 toward a Blacklane ride / year Blue and silver members can redeem up to $50 per year, Golds can redeem up to $100 per year, and Platinums up to $150 per year. I’ve been using my Citi Strate Elite Blacklane credit, and I’ve found them convenient, so this is another service I’ve found a use for and it’s not just a $10 one-off, either, but real money.

• Up to $700 of BLADE credit / year up to $350 per seat, up to 2 seats per year, available starting March 1, 2026. This should cover a full Blade flight (and often then some, towards any excess baggage charges).

• Unlock Home Away From Home hotel benefits “Blue & Silver members can unlock luxury hotel booking benefits usually reserved only for Gold and Platinum members for $95 Bilt Cash” this is Bilt’s answer to Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts and Chase’s The Edit, with travel advisor services added in. Hotel bookings can come with room upgrades, $100 stay credits, etc. This is available starting March 1, 2026.

  

• Up to $768 of Priority Pass extra guest credits / year Bilt Palladium Card cardmembers are eligible for a Priority Pass, that covers the member and up to 2 guests. You can redeem Bilt Cash against additional guest fees, up to two guest fees per month (which is $32 per guest, up to $64 statement credit per month) available starting March 1, 2026.

  

• $60 toward parking / year Redeem $5 per month at participating parking locations, available starting March 1, 2026.

• $480 fitness class credit / year Redeem toward one group fitness class per month in the Bilt app (e.g. SoulCycle, Barry’s) up to $40 per month.

• $120 Walgreens credit / year Redeem $10 per month toward a Walgreens credit

• $600 toward comedy experience bookings per year Bilt regularly offers these are part of Rent Day, and you can redeem up to $50 per month for these events, available starting March 1, 2026.

• $120 Bilt Design Collection credit per year Redeem up to $10 per month toward the merchandise they make available.

How I’ll Spend Bilt Cash

First and foremost I’m all-in on points-earning. I value Bilt points more than any other currency. You can spend them at a value of 1.25 cents apiece through Bilt’s travel portal (which is actually good) and they have more and better transfer partners than anyone else.

• Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Miles & Smiles, United Airlines MileagePlus, Avianca LifeMiles, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
  
• oneworld: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Iberia Plus, British Airways Club, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Qatar Airways Privilege Club
  
• SkyTeam: Air France KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  
• Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Southwest Airlines, Aer Lingus Aer Club, Etihad Guest, Spirit Airlines Free Spirit
  
• Hotels: World Of Hyatt, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, Accor ALL – Accor Live Limitless

So my plan is to earn Bilt cash with my Bilt Palladium Card, and max out ‘spend $5,000, earn 5,000 bonus points on your next $5,000 spend’ option five times per year, on top of earning points against my mortgage. (In fact, you don’t necessarily have to spend on the card before starting this accelerator, since the Palladium card comes with Bilt cash each year.)

On top of that, though, I use Lyft regularly already. I use GrubHub, too, because my favorite restaurant to order in from only has its full menu on that platform. So those are as good as cash to me.

And I’ll be able to take a couple of additional Blade trips per year, in addition to the annual free one I’ve been getting as a Bilt Platinum member that I just redeemed last week.

I’ll also make good use redeeming $150 for Blacklane, I expect.

How This All Works

Each month you’ll be able to select how to use available Bilt Cash in the app or on their website. Once a monthly credit is used, you’ll be able to redeem for it again at the start of the next month.

One thing to know is that where a benefit is ‘up to’ a certain amount, like up to $350 for a Blade flight, you don’t get to bank any overage. If you only spend $300 then the $50 isn’t held over for instance.

Bilt Cash expires December 31 each year, and you can only roll over $100 to the next year. That’s disappointing, because heavy spend in November and December could earn a lot of Bilt Cash! But I’m happier than expected with the number of opportunities I have to use the Bilt Cash.

If only all of this information had been available at card launch last week, I think the messaging would have gone over better to cardmembers – not to cardmembers who were only using Bilt to earn points paying for their rent, and doing nothing else at all in the program or on the card. Their earning was heavily subsidized, and all good things eventually end.

Perhaps it’s just one more layer of ‘confusing’ but that’s also where the best benefits often lie. The average consumer might not spend time to understand all the details and get the most value, but that’s where we pick it apart and come out ahead of everyone else. I’m excited to get and use my new card, honestly, I just hope I can boost my credit limit.