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Bilt is bringing the heat for their March Rent Day promotion, with up to a 125% points transfer bonus to Japan Airlines, and a collaboration with three Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller, on top of their usual staple of dining, comedy and fitness opportunities.
Up To 125% Transfer Bonus To Japan Airlines
On March 1, Bilt will offer a transfer bonus of up to 125% to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank. This is a super rich program. JAL has better premium cabin award availability using their own miles than when you’re trying to redeem partner points (like American AAdvantage or Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards).
Normally, Bilt offers 1:1 transfers to Japan Airlines. Capital One transfers to JAL, but at a lesser rate (and when they run a transfer bonus, it gets you to almost 1:1). On March 1 you can do a lot better than 1:1 based on your Bilt Rewards status.
- Blue: 25% bonus
- Silver: 50% bonus
- Gold: 75% bonus
- Platinum: 100% bonus
You can also spend $135 in Bilt Cash to add another 25% bonus on top (‘temporarily upgrade [your] status’ for this promotion). So a base member can get a 50% bonus, a Silver can get 75%, Gold can get 100%, and Platinum can actually get a 125% bonus.
Depending on the number of points you transfer, this can be an amazing value (a better value the more points you transfer). If a Bilt Platinum transfers 100,000 points, they’d get 200,000 Japan Airlines Mileage Bank miles – and can spend $135 in Bilt Cash for an additional 25,000 miles. That’s buying miles incredibly cheap even if you valued Bilt Cash at face value (I value it around 35 cents on the dollar).
- You can book awards on JAL 360 days prior to departure, giving you a head start versus programs that only give access to inventory 330 days out.
- Not only do they have better availability with their own miles, they have mid-priced award redemptions where availability can be outstanding (e.g. U.S. – Tokyo for 80,000 in business class and you’ll often find space for the whole family versus 55,000).
- You can book Emirates business class awards for far fewer miles than Emirates charges its own members (and Qantas charges).
They do add surcharges to awards, and like many Asian programs there are limits on redeeming miles for others (generaly, it must be family).
For those with new JAL accounts, less than 60 days old, you won’t be able to redeem transferred points for up to 7 days. The downside to JAL transfers without specific redemption plans is that Mileage Bank miles expire 3 years after they’re earned. This is not like programs where additional activity in an account extends their validity.
Note to complainers in the comments, try telling me that Bilt Points aren’t super valuable. Not only do they (1) have strong value through Bilt’s portal – where many bookings are ‘direct’ and get customer service from airlines and hotels, and where stays earn hotel points and elite status credit, and (2) have the most and best transfer partners, but (3) run the biggest transfer bonuses – by a lot.
You don’t have to believe that they can or will be this generous with their points forever – my working model for 30 years, and for the 24 I’ve been writing this blog is that the best deals never last – to take advantage of these opportunities while you can.
So right now with housing payments I earn 3.3 Bilt Points per dollar with my Bilt Palladium Card (see rates and fees). The card comes with Gold status (75% transfer bonus) but I’m a Platinum member and can redeem Bilt Cash to turn this into a 125% transfer bonus. That means I can have earned over 7.4 Japan Airlines points per dollar spent on on my Bilt Palladium card – not in a single category of spending, but on all spending. That. Seems. Insane.
Some of you have complained about Bank of America’s pending devaluation of its 2.62% travel rebate card. And that required keeping assets on deposit at BofA! Tell me where else you get this kind of return on your everday spending?
Double Points On March 1
Bilt credit cards earn double points (excluding housing payments) on March 1.
- The $0 annual fee Bilt Blue Card (See rates and fees) will earn 2X points on everyday spending (regularly 1X points), up to 1,000 bonus points
- The Bilt Obsidian Card (See rates and fees) will earn 6X points on their selected category of dining or groceries (regularly 3X), 4X points on travel (regularly 2X), and 2X on other everyday purchases (regularly 1X), up to 1,000 bonus points.
- Bilt Palladium Card will earn 4X on everyday spending (regularly 2X points), up to 1,000 bonus points
Double points runs 12 a.m. Eastern through 11:59 p.m. Pacific on March 1.
Comedy, Dining, And Fitness
Bilt has special comedy shows where you can redeem points across 12 cities in March: New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and Chicago.
- Comedy Club Experiences: $30–$40 (2,000 Bilt Points or 2,500 Bilt Points) – includes 2 drinks
- Bespoke Comedy Experiences: $75 (5,000 Bilt Points) – premium shows at unique venues with drinks and light bites included
- Up to $50 in Bilt Cash can be applied to a comedy experience
- Bookings open February 26 at Noon Eastern with Golds and Platinums getting a 10 minute heaad start
Their special dining experiences for March are in New York, Miami, D.C., Dallas, Bosotn, Fort Lauderdale, Jersey City and Nashville. These are multi-court tasting menus or omakase, priced $30 to $75, and redeemable with points and up to $50 in Bilt Cash can be applied to a dining experience. Bookings open February 26 at Noon Eastern with Golds and Platinums getting a 10 minute heaad start.
They also have free classes at SoulCycle and Barry’s. 875 SoulCycle spots are available for March Rent Day Rides and 520 Barry’s spots are available. Bookings open February 26 at Noon Eastern with Golds and Platinums getting a 10 minute heaad start.
Free Food From Legendary Chef Thomas Keller – And Free Culinary Products, Too
Bilt has a cafe on the ground floor of their current office at 31 Bond Street in Manhattan, and they’re collaborating with Chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry in California and Per Se in New York to give away K+M Milk Coffee and Sea Salt chocolate and drip coffee on March 1 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (‘while supplies last’). They verify your Bilt membership at checkout and will have a live DJ ‘during peak hours’.
For $20 or 1,500 Bilt Points you’ll also be able to order Thomas Keller culinary products in the Bilt Collection section of the Bilt app: Cup4Cup gluten-free baking mixes and K+M Extravirgin Chocolate (Milk Coffee and Sea Salt). These will be available starting February 25 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern until sold out, and those who have joined Bilt’s Close Friends as well as Bilt Platinum Members will receive a credit to use for this.
Rent Free Game With Thomas Keller
Keller is their special guest this month for the Family Feud-style game show they host called ‘Rent Free’ which opens February 25 at Noon Eastern and runs through March 1 at 3 p.m. Eastern, with results posted after 4 p.m on March 1.
Top 10 winners receive a month of free rent up to $2,500 and the ‘Bilt x Thomas Keller: Chef’s Selection’ merchandise. The next 100 receive 1,000 Bilt Points and the merchandise. The next 500 receive 100 points and the merchandise.
Awesome. B$135 can ordinarily unlock 4,500 points from rent. If you have a specific use case for travel to Japan (lots of Americans seem to travel there these days so many will) the ability to unlock significantly more than 4.5k points is great.
Bilt… or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb?
Underreported use of JAL is BA flights with good pricing and lower surcharges. I’m thinking about a speculative transfer for this reason alone. 42k East Coast to London. But 60k to most of Europe (you can do East Coast to Tbilisi for 60k). With that transfer bonus, the opportunities become absolutely insane. Only issue is that IT is so, so bad.
@Gary- was wondering besides booking home away hotels through the Bilt portal, do any other hotels through the Bilt portal book direct? Thanks
@Sam LOTS of other hotels are available through the Bilt Travel Portal. You also will earn 2X Bilt points for booking through them, in addition to any credit card points you get (i.e. Amex MR, Hotel CC’s)
True, the benefits are truly awesome. However, the customer service at Cardless sinks lower than whale poop on the bottom of the ocean. I was double billed by Whoop. I called the number on the back of the card (which is barely visible without the use of a magnifying glass) SEVEN times to get an agent, and when I finally got one,I could barely understand anything she said. After Seven calls, I had to use an option that didn’t apply – not even stolen card is an option on the VRU. I’m not sure how long Bilt will have Cardless. It’s points are earn n’ burn.
Based on what I saw, is the five banana rule actually over? Saw no mention of five transactions in the rules for double points on Rent Day.
One thing to note is that the Ts and Cs say that the double points on the 1st are NOT stackable with points boost. I activated points boost for the first 5k of spending but now that I see the other opportunities I’m missing because of it I’m not going to do it again
Also you note that many hotel bookings are direct and accrue benefits. I’ve been playing around looking at various options and booked a non chain hotel in the end. I contacted support and they told me they are Expedia. So I also tried test bookings for chain hotels and I do not see any field in which to enter the loyalty number. So how exactly do the direct bookings work and are they handled by a different provider?
Yes, great deal, but does anyone actually still have 100000 Bilt points in their accounts?
I’m afraid Bilt will go under at some point. There’s only so much budget for user acquisition (and affiliate marketing payments)…
I’m still not convinced about the new BILT premium card. What makes me skeptical is how the same hype was made about the original card when it came out, only for them to put up earning limits and the rent day deals just got worse over time. And then the switch to another bank!
For most of us, using up a 5/24 slot or adding another new account is a big deal, and I already regret the BILT card I originally got 2 years ago!
Add to all this the number of complaints this new card has had and the rediculous convoluted system they came up with and I don’t have any faith in this company.
What are they paying you’all to hype up BILT?
JAL is excellent, and this is a decent promotion, if it works for you. I’d love to see a Hyatt transfer bonus, but I doubt that’ll ever happen. Maybe, once Hyatt completely devalues its program to the point of becoming another IHG/Hilton/Marriott, then, and only then, will there be such a day.
@ 1990 — Today’s devaluation wasn’t enough for you?
@Gene — Doesn’t it go ‘live’ in May? Either way, it stings.
@ Gary — 100% is tempting, but the 3-year hard expiration, difficulty finding JAL F (even when using JMB miles), and fact that lots of Palladium sign up bonuses will be transferred to JMB makes this a hard pass. I’d honestly rather have the 100% bonus on DL (obviously not happening) or UA or AF/KL.
How is the availability for Partners such as AA, BA, Emirates using JAL Miles? Is it only available if Saver awards are available on the Partners?
@1990 – unless Hyatt reduces what they charge partners for points I wouldn’t expect a Hyatt transfer bonus, Chase has never done one
Interesting…when the [botched] rollout of Bilt 2.0 was announced, and they talked about how Bilt Cash could enable temporary status buy-up (i.e., Silver to Gold, Gold to Platinum), it was initially sold as “this [buy up] will cost you B$75.” Though the FAQ specifically says that “pricing and availability subject to change,” for the very first rent day with Bilt Cash, I didn’t think Bilt would dynamically raise that buy-up fee from B$75 to B$135.
I get that there are real costs to Bilt to pay for these redemptions, and that requiring fluctuating Bilt Cash buy up pricing is a way to make the economics work on an offer-by-offer basis. But for the sake of trying to smooth over relations with members after the convoluted start to 2.0, I would have thought that for the integrity of their brand, they would have kept things at a stable buy up of B$75 at least for the first few months. So much for that.
BILT Cash…Chase Points Boost…these are all internal marketing incentive plays and internal accounting tools that make it challenging for external consumers to know that they are consistently getting a good deal, or what I would argue is even more important, getting a consistent and reliable deal. When consistency and reliability fluctuate, then the Beta (measurement of volitility and risk) increases, and for points nerds, that means the program becomes less valuable. That’s not to say there’s not still outsize value to be captured, but it’s less of a reliable expectation.
Just as the forthcoming Hyatt “5 pricing bands within 8 hotel categories” changes portend, when you can’t bank on something that is consistent and reliable, then you have much less faith in the fiat currency.
@real_jetsetr actually last month was the first buy up with Bilt Cash offer and that was $75 https://viewfromthewing.com/bilts-first-rent-day-with-bilt-cash-is-february-1-up-to-125-transfer-bonus-to-accor/
Thanks for the technical clarification and correction, Gary, regarding the February Accor transfer bonus. I suppose I should have been more specific, since at the time of the Accor transfer bonus, there was not much Bilt Cash that was in existence and in circulation (the only way I know that Bilt Cash would have been earned prior to the 2.0 rollout on 2/7 was if people had legacy 12/31/2025 expiring Milestone Awards that were converted to Bilt Cash in 01/2026. So “since the Bilt 2.0 cc start date of 2/7/2026 – when people would be flush with Bilt Cash from the sign up bonuses (and also from purchases, if one opted into the 4% Bilt Cash earning matrix)” – it surprises me from a brand standpoint of perhaps wanting to “keep things stable for members in the new ecosystem,” that Bilt would move the pricing of the buy up from B$75 to B$135.
And IF Bilt is going to have fluctuating buy up prices, then one of the changes I would like to see to the Bilt Cash program (in addition to changing the disincentivation of heavy spend in November/December since at the moment, only B$100 can be rolled over) is for Bilt to give more than a few days advance notice as to what the next rent day promo will be (ideally a month in advance, but even two weeks’ advance notice is better), and also to give a heads up as to what the corresponding buy up cost in B$ will be. I get this takes accelerating the deal calendar and back-end negotiation for Bilt with its travel partners, but it also then gives consumers an option and incentive to increase their spend if one needs to earn more Bilt cash in the short term.
@real_jetsetr – it’s not like other card issuers give advance notice of when their transfer bonuses happen, although admittedly they are usually for more than 1 day. There’s real outsized value here, but to your point, many may not take advantage of it given how they structure it. So it’s monthly headline news but perhaps with low uptake as many folks like to keep their transferrable points, you know, transferrable (as anyone who has made speculative transfers to Hyatt may not appreciate as of today).
I don’t think it matters whether it’s B$75 or B$135 for the extra 25% bonus and whether there is much consistency there – it’s really good outsized value either way compared with unlocking 2500-4500 Bilt points. It does mean that folks may want to keep some of that B$ available compared with solely using it to unlock the extra 1x points accelerator, though.
It will all end soon enough… earn and burn.
Hyatt deval massive blow to Bilt points
You could actually start earning Bilt Cash on January 1. I know this because I did by doing some significant charging on the 1.0 card before they switched from Wells to Cardless.
There was an opportunity cost to this but I wanted to make Platinum quickly and with this transfer bonus that’s turned out well.
@Peter – To use and paraphase your prior words in other article comment threads, I wholeheartedly concur that the potential outsize Bilt value proposition is “not uncompelling.” But to your last point, “it does mean that folks may want to keep some of that B$ available [vs. solely using to unlock points accelerator],” that feeds exactly into my feelings about why advance notice for Bilt promos (and associated buy up costs with B$) is important to Bilt (for the purposes of engendering sustained trust with members) and to its members (for purposes of strategic planning). When you can only rollover B$100, and when for points nerds, there is little to no value (IMHO) to B$ other than for earning points on mortgage/rent, point accelerator, or rent day promo buy ups, then it’s a bit of a strategic and also blind guessing game as to when and how often and how much to utilize B$. One certainly does not want to have a significant unused stash of B$ in one’s account at the end of the year, but it’s also a gamble to burn too much B$ too early in the year. And it is that level of uncertainty that for me, creates more instability in my personal valuation model of Bilt as a loyalty ecosystem. But if I knew what was in the pipeline in terms of promos and buy up costs, then I could make more informed choices as to the opportunity costs of selectively shifting more spend to / increasing spend on the Bilt 2.0 card to hit a target.
I generally don’t like speculative transfers but I am having a hard time coming up with good reasons not to deplete my 400k BILT point balance by transferring all my BILT points to JL with a 125% bonus. This sort of feels like no brainer territory.
@real_jetsetr – I think they are going to have to address the year end B$ cliff – it makes absolutely no sense. The idea that a credit card company is going to disincentivize purchases in November and December is absurd.
It’s a pay to play beta test that is… not uncompelling. And I think that Mr. Leff would remind us to strike the not uncompelling iron while it is hot.
Just a ridiculous amount of uncertainty otherwise that leads to a conservative personal valuation model (whether yours, mine, or others).
So, yes, more advance notice would help. But I think Bilt thinks that people care more about the Bilt “lifestyle” / Thomas Keller and Mr. Beast free rent video games than the points. They might be right! The top three uses of Amex points last year were gift cards, paying with points at check-out, and statement credits. So I encourage folks to use their B$ in uneconomic ways so that those of us who want the points can continue to reap the benefits of some of the outsized value that Bilt, at least for now, is offering.
@Gary Leff — Not sure if you’ve checked https://www.bilt.com/account/home in a while, but I found that I needed to re-confirm my bank/card/ACH, etc. again in-advance of this upcoming Rent Day. I think a lot of people are not prepared for all the changes and may be delayed this first time around under the new system. Hopefully BILT is reminding everyone to check again…