Introduction
Rent is the single largest line item in most renters' budgets, and for years it earned nothing. Bilt Rewards, launched in 2021, changed that. It's a free rewards program built around where you live: you earn Bilt Points on rent and mortgage payments made through Bilt, plus bonus points at partner restaurants, on Lyft, at Walgreens and through the Bilt Travel portal, and you can move points to airline and hotel partners.
What makes it worth a full guide in 2026 is how much changed on February 7. The Wells Fargo Bilt Mastercard was retired, and three new cards took its place: the Bilt Blue Card, the Bilt Obsidian Card and the Bilt Palladium Card, issued by Column N.A. and serviced by Cardless. Rent rewards now depend on a rewards option you choose and on how much you spend on the card. If you've read an older Bilt guide, a lot of it no longer applies, including the five-transaction rule.
Let me walk you through how the whole machine works in 2026, and where I'd actually focus my points if I were starting today.
Quick Answer
Bilt Rewards is a free loyalty program built around housing. With a Bilt card, rent and mortgage payments made through Bilt carry no transaction fee and earn up to 1.25x on the Housing-only option, depending on your everyday card spending, or up to 1x unlocked with Bilt Cash on the Flexible Bilt Cash option. Without a Bilt card you can still earn on rent through BillPay and at partner merchants. Points transfer to airline, hotel and rail partners, most at 1:1, and Bilt status runs from Blue to Platinum.
What Bilt Actually Is in 2026
Bilt has two lanes: the free membership and the cards.
The Bilt membership is free and works without a Bilt card. If your building is in Bilt's property network, you pay rent in the Bilt app. If it isn't, BillPay gives you a way to pay through your landlord's online portal. Bilt says rent paid through BillPay with another credit card earns 1 point per $2, and rent paid from a debit card or linked bank account earns 250 points. Linking any card to your Bilt account also earns bonus points at Bilt Neighborhood partners, and linking Lyft earns 2x on rides.
The Bilt cards are where the rent rewards live. All three earn up to 1.25x on rent and mortgage payments made through Bilt, with no transaction fee, and none of them needs five transactions a month. Bilt's card page says the 5-transaction minimum "does not apply to any Bilt Card 2.0 product."
- Bilt Blue Card ($0 annual fee): 1x on everyday purchases, up to 4x at Bilt partner restaurants, 3x on hotels and 2x on flights booked through Bilt Travel, 3x on Lyft. $100 of Bilt Cash when you're approved.
- Bilt Obsidian Card ($95): 3x on your choice of dining or grocery (grocery up to $25,000 a year), up to 6x at Bilt partner restaurants, 4x on hotels and 3x on flights through Bilt Travel, 3x on Lyft, 2x on other travel, 1x on everything else. A $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit a year and $200 of Bilt Cash when you're approved.
- Bilt Palladium Card ($495): 2x on everyday purchases, up to 5x at Bilt partner restaurants, 4x on hotels and 3x on flights through Bilt Travel, 4x on Lyft. A $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit a year, $200 of Bilt Cash each calendar year and Priority Pass. $300 of Bilt Cash when you're approved, plus 50,000 points and Gold status after $4,000 in purchases (excluding rent or mortgage) in the first 90 days.
Rent and mortgage payments made with a Bilt card are debited from your linked bank account within 24 hours, so they don't use your credit line. You can hold only one Bilt card at a time.
How Rent and Mortgage Rewards Work Now
Every Bilt cardholder picks one of two rewards options, and the choice decides how you earn on housing.
Housing-only. Points on rent or mortgage post automatically after your statement closes. Your multiplier is set each billing cycle by your everyday card spending as a share of your housing payment:
- 25% of the payment: 0.5x
- 50%: 0.75x
- 75%: 1x
- 100% or more: 1.25x
Below 25%, you still get 250 points. You earn no Bilt Cash on everyday spending under this option.
Flexible Bilt Cash. You earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases, on top of your card's points. Every $3 of Bilt Cash you redeem on a housing payment unlocks 100 Bilt Points, up to 1 point per dollar of the payment. Whatever you don't use on housing stays in your balance for partner credits and other uses, and anything above $100 expires at the end of each year.
Bilt's own example uses $2,000 rent. On Housing-only, $1,500 of everyday spending in the billing cycle earns 1x, or 2,000 points. On Flexible, redeeming $60 of Bilt Cash unlocks the same 2,000 points. If you don't choose, your account defaults to Housing-only, and a change takes effect from your next billing cycle. Our Bilt Cash guide goes through the choice in detail.
Rent Day is the 1st of every month. Bilt cardholders earn double points on everyday purchases that day (housing payments excluded), up to 1,000 bonus points a month: 2x on the Blue, 4x on the Palladium, and on the Obsidian 6x on your dining or grocery pick, 4x on travel and 2x on everything else. Bilt also drops limited-time Rent Day benefits each month, such as transfer bonuses, dining experiences and a chance to win free rent. Our Rent Day guide covers the details.
Bilt Elite Status: Blue to Platinum
Bilt status has four tiers, and you reach them one of two ways in a calendar year, whichever gets you higher:
- By points earned: Silver at 50,000, Gold at 125,000 and Platinum at 200,000. Points from rent, everyday spending and points unlocked with Bilt Cash all count.
- By the Fast Track: Silver at $10,000, Gold at $25,000 and Platinum at $50,000 of non-rent spending on a Bilt card and in the Bilt ecosystem.
Status earned during a year lasts through the end of the following year. Every member, card or no card, also earns $50 of Bilt Cash for every 25,000 points earned toward status.
Status changes what you get. Rent Day transfer bonuses are sized by tier, and Bilt Cash can buy a step up to the next tier's bonus. Gold and Platinum members can put up to $100 of Bilt Cash a month toward Bilt Travel hotel stays, against $50 for Blue and Silver. On BLADE, Silver and up get 10% off, Gold and Platinum get lounge access, and Platinum members get one complimentary flight a year from Manhattan to JFK or Newark.
Transfer Partners: Where the Points Get Real
Bilt's transfer partner page lists these programs. Most take Bilt points at 1:1; the exceptions are noted.
Airlines (1:1):
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Atmos Rewards (Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines)
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Airways
- Iberia Plus
- Japan Airlines
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Southwest Airlines
- TAP Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Virgin Red
Hotels:
- Hilton Honors (1:1)
- IHG One Rewards (1:1)
- Marriott Bonvoy (1:1)
- World of Hyatt (1:1)
- Wyndham Rewards (1:1)
- Accor Live Limitless (3:2)
- I Prefer Hotel Rewards (1:2)
Rail: Amtrak Guest Rewards (2:1).
Transfers start at 2,000 points for Blue members and 1,000 for Silver, Gold and Platinum, in 1,000-point steps. Bilt says most transfers are immediate but to allow up to 48 hours (72 for Southwest), and a transfer can't be reversed.
World of Hyatt is the headline hotel partner for me, and the first place I'd check for a hotel stay. On the airline side, the partners I'd transfer to first:
Air France-KLM Flying Blue. Worth pricing first for flights to Europe.
Atmos Rewards. The combined Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines program, at 1:1.
Aeroplan, Turkish Miles&Smiles and Virgin Atlantic are on the list too.
Mortgage Payments: Bilt for Homeowners
Homeowners earn on mortgage payments with a Bilt card the same way renters earn on rent: no transaction fee, and the same Housing-only or Flexible Bilt Cash option. Bilt says almost all personal mortgage servicers are supported. If Bilt supports your servicer directly, you link the mortgage in the Home tab; if not, Bilt gives you a BillPay routing and account number to add in your servicer's portal. Commercial mortgages aren't supported.
A few things to know:
- BillPay for mortgages is for Bilt cardholders only.
- You can pay rent and a mortgage at the same time and earn on both. Bilt says there's no annual cap on housing payment amounts and no limit on the number of properties.
- Allow at least 3 business days for your servicer to receive each payment.
Sweet-Spot Redemptions
Bilt doesn't publish a single value for a point; it says the value depends on how you redeem. Here's how I'd rank the options:
Transfers first. Hyatt for hotels, and Flying Blue, Atmos, Aeroplan, Turkish or Virgin Atlantic for flights, priced against the cash fare before you move a point. Confirm award space with the partner first, since transfers can't be undone.
Bilt Travel portal second. You can pay with points for all or part of a flight or hotel, and bookings earn +2x on hotels and +1x on flights on top of your card's rate. It's the fallback when award space isn't there.
Everything else last. Bilt also lets you redeem for rent credits, a home down payment, Amazon purchases, Lyft rides, gift cards, fitness classes and the Bilt Collection, and cardholders can redeem points as a statement credit. These are convenient, but I'd use them only when a transfer or a portal booking doesn't fit.
Common Pitfalls
Following an old guide. The 5-transaction minimum and the Wells Fargo card are gone. What you earn on housing now depends on your rewards option and your everyday spending.
Picking your rewards option late. For the first seven days after account opening you can switch freely; after that, a change waits for the next billing cycle. Choose before your first housing payment.
Counting rent toward the Palladium's welcome spend. The $4,000 requirement counts only everyday spending. Rent and mortgage payments don't count.
Letting Bilt Cash expire. Bilt Cash earned in a year expires at year end, except $100 that rolls over.
Transferring before you've found the seat. Transfers can't be reversed. Bilt itself recommends confirming availability with the partner, and holding the reservation if you can, before you transfer.
Assuming every partner is 1:1. Accor is 3:2, I Prefer is 1:2 and Amtrak is 2:1.
Who Bilt Is For
The Bilt sweet spot is a renter or homeowner who pays housing through Bilt, puts a meaningful share of that amount on the card in everyday spending, and is comfortable transferring points to airline and hotel partners. If your card spending matches or tops your rent or mortgage, Housing-only gets you 1.25x with no work each month.
If your spending is well below your housing payment, the free membership still earns at partner merchants, and the Blue Card's no-fee earning on housing is a low-risk way to test it.
If you're new to points and you've never transferred to an airline partner, start with the free app and watch how points build before you commit to a card.
Getting Started
If you're going free-app only:
- Download the Bilt app and create an account
- Set up rent in the My Home tab: pay in the app if your building is in Bilt's network, or set up BillPay if it isn't
- Link your existing cards to earn at Bilt Neighborhood partners
- Link Lyft for 2x on rides
- Pick a transfer partner you'd actually use and set a points goal
If you're getting a Bilt card:
- Apply on bilt.com/card; Bilt says checking whether you're approved doesn't affect your credit score
- Choose Housing-only or Flexible Bilt Cash in the first seven days, before your first housing payment
- Pay rent or mortgage through Bilt so the payment earns points with no transaction fee
- Put everyday spending on the card, since it sets your housing multiplier
- Use the 1st of the month for Rent Day double points on everyday purchases
Here's where I'd actually start: download the free app today, even if you're not ready to apply for a card. It takes ten minutes, and you'll see right away whether your building is in Bilt's network. Then decide on a card once you've compared your everyday card spending with your rent.
Updated September 30, 2026: Rewritten for Bilt Card 2.0. The Wells Fargo Bilt Mastercard, the 5-transaction rule and the old rent cap no longer apply; this guide now uses Bilt's card page, offer terms, status rules and transfer partner list.
