Yawn: Bilt Rewards Adds Hilton Honors as a Transfer Partner
4 min readBilt Rewards, the loyalty program that allows you to earn points by paying rent, has some of the best transfer partners in the game like World of Hyatt, Alaska Airlines, and more. And while that list of transfer partners keeps growing, their latest addition isn’t something to get excited about.
On Wednesday, Bilt officially added Hilton Honors as its newest transfer partner. Bilt Rewards members can now transfer their Bilt points to the hotel program … but only at a (relatively poor) 1:1 ratio: 10,000 Bilt points get you 10,000 Hilton Honors points. Through June 8, Bilt members will get a one-time bonus 1,000 Hilton Honors points when they transfer at least 1,000 Bilt points to the hotel loyalty program for the first time.
With the addition of Hilton, Bilt now boasts 16 transfer partners, including all four of the biggest hotel chains – a first among points programs. But with far higher award rates than the likes of Hyatt and other hotel chains, Hilton should automatically hit the bottom of the list.
Consider this: You can regularly book some of the best Hyatt properties for 35,000 points or less … but with Hilton, top-dollar hotels and resorts frequently cost 120,000 points a night or more. To make matters worse, the transfer ratio from Bilt is poor, too: You’ll only get one Hilton point for every Bilt point you transfer, unlike Amex which transfers to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio.
Unless you constantly use a *Bilt Mastercard* (including for big monthly rent payments), Bilt points are much harder to earn than the likes of Chase or Amex, too. So unless you’re desperate for the last few thousand points to book a pricey Hilton property – or Bilt runs one of its monthly Rent Day promotions with a massive transfer bonus – this new option is one to skip.
You’re much better off sending your hard-to-earn Bilt points to many of the other Bilt transfer partners.
| Program | Type | Transfer Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | Airline | 1:1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | Airline | 1:1 |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | Airline | 1:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Airline | 1:1 |
| British Airways Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | Airline | 1:1 |
| Emirates Skywards | Airline | 1:1 |
| Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles | Airline | 1:1 |
| Iberia Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| Turkish Miles & Smiles | Airline | 1:1 |
| United MileagePlus | Airline | 1:1 |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | Airline | 1:1 |
| World of Hyatt | Hotel | 1:1 |
| IHG Hotels | Hotel | 1:1 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Hotel | 1:1 |
| Hilton Honors | Hotel | 1:1 |
How Does Bilt Rewards Work?
Bilt Rewards is a fairly new rewards program that allows qualified U.S. renters to earn rewards by paying their rent through the Bilt Rewards app.
Earning points on these payments is quite simple. If you live in a property that’s a part of the Bilt Rewards Alliance (more on that shortly), you’ll earn a minimum of 250 Bilt Points per month by paying their rent through the Bilt Rewards app – no matter how much your monthly rent costs. Simply pay through the Bilt app and you’ll receive 250 points each and every month.
But renters (and even non-renters) can drastically increase how many points they rack up by paying their rent with a co-branded Bilt Rewards Mastercard.
This no-annual-fee card is the key to earning more valuable points. So long as you make at least five transactions per statement period, you’ll earn:
- 1x point per dollar spent on rent on up to $100,000 in rent annually
- 2x points per dollar spent on travel when you book directly with the airline, hotel, rental car agency, etc.
- 3x points per dollar spent on dining
- 1x points per dollar on other purchases
On the first of each month, it gets even better for what the company calls Bilt Rent Day. Cardholders earn double the points on all non-rent purchases on June 1, July 1, and so on.
Learn more about the *Bilt Mastercard*.
If your landlord or building is a member of the Bilt Alliance, you can pay your rent electronically through the Bilt Rewards app by securely linking your bank account. According to Bilt, more than 4 million rental units across the country currently participate.
Renting someplace that doesn’t make this list? You can still pay your rent with the Bilt Rewards Mastercar – the company can simply send your landlord a paper check via USPS First Class mail for your rental amount, similar to Plastiq. Bilt says it will take five to seven days to process.
No matter where you live, these rental payments via Bilt are completely fee-free.
Read our guide to earning points for paying rent with Bilt Rewards!
Bottom Line
Bilt has added another transfer partner to its growing portfolio, and it’s another dud: Hilton Honors.
More options are always better. But with a relatively poor transfer ratio to Hilton and how hard it can be to earn Bilt points, you’ll get much more bang for your buck by sending your points to World of Hyatt or one of Bilt’s airline transfer partners.
