Bilt Launches World’s First 100% Bonus With A 1:1 Transfer Partner?

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Bilt Rewards is offering the first-even 100% transfer bonus with a partner that normally has a 1:1 ratio, at least the first that I’m aware of in twenty years. Here’s the closest I’ve seen:

  • Every year up until 2004 Diners Club used to offer a 100% bonus on transfers to British Airways, but since their base earning rate was 2 points per dollar, it normally took 2 points to transfer to 1 British Airways mile.

  • Citi had 100% bonuses on transfers to Hilton when Honors was a partner, but that wasn’t a 1:1 transfer ratio to start with. Similarly Capital One ran 100% to Emirates, back before base transfers were 1:1.

  • In 2008 Delta accidentally ran a 150% bonus on partner activity, which included Membership Rewards transfers, but then shut that down quickly (but did honor it).

For December 1, 2022 only – “Rent Day” – Bilt is offering a 100% bonus on transfers to IHG One Rewards, so you get 2 IHG points for each Bilt point transferred. Points must be transferred in a single transaction to take advantage of the bonus.

My advice? Don’t do it. You likely get around a little over a penny apiece in value this way, but Bilt points are too valuable to take that deal. Most of their other transfer partners will get you that much value or more without a bonus.

Each Bilt point can be spent at 1.25 cents apiece towards travel through their portal or transferred 1:1 into:

  • Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Miles & Smiles, United Airlines MileagePlus
  • oneworld: American AAdvantage, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus
  • SkyTeam: Air France KLM Flying Blue
  • Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles, Aer Lingus Aer Club
  • Hotels: Hyatt, IHG One Rewards

The Bilt Mastercard is the no annual fee card that lets you earn points paying rent at no cost (up to $100,000 per year) and earns double points on travel and triple points on dining. You must make at least 5 purchases each month to earn points.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

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  1. Since you can regularly buy IHG points for $0.005 each and points typically can be redeemed for $0.01 cash, there’s always a 100% transfer bonus to IHG in all programs.

  2. YEah. why would you eve waste BILT transfers to IHG. maybe just for a small tipoff but I still dont see it as a good deal.

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