What Are Bilt Rewards Points Worth in 2022?

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Despite being a newcomer among transferable points programs, Bilt Rewards offers some of the most valuable travel rewards you can earn. These points carry high upside thanks to Bilt’s lucrative roster of transfer partners, including two hotel programs and 12 airline programs, as well as a high floor of value when you redeem for travel directly with Bilt.

As a result, Bilt Rewards points have an average redemption value of 1.65 cents per point in Personal Finance Insider’s most recent valuations. Read on to learn which redemption options you should target and avoid in order to maximize your return.

We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Best ways to use Bilt points

Bilt Rewards points are most valuable when you transfer them to airline and hotel partners like American Airlines AAdvantage or World of Hyatt. These and other programs enable you to redeem rewards for high-end travel experiences, such as first or business class flights and premium hotel rooms. Finding these exceptional redemption opportunities takes skill and patience, but you can crush the average redemption value when you do.

For example, consider a flight from Boston to Hong Kong in May of 2023. You could book one-way, non-stop service in Cathay Pacific business class for 70,000 AAdvantage miles and $5.60 through American Airlines.

American Airlines

 

At the time of writing, that same flight has a cash price of $5,003, yielding an impressive redemption value of over 7.1 cents per point. That’s more than triple our high valuation of 2.1 cents apiece for Bilt Rewards points.

Cathay Pacific

 

As another example, consider a stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai in March 2023 using World of Hyatt points. You can book a Pool Suite for 50,000 points per night.

World of Hyatt

An equivalent paid stay (in a Pool Suite with the same cancellation policy) has a base rate of $2,375, which totals $2,848 per night inclusive of all taxes and fees. That yields a return of just under 5.7 cents per point, which is more than two and a half times our high valuation for Bilt Rewards.

World of Hyatt

Fair redemption options

The examples above showcase what’s possible with Bilt Rewards points. Not all award redemptions will be so lucrative, but you can get a good return even without booking premium travel.

Economy flights and standard hotel rooms provide more consistent and accessible value, like this United Airlines itinerary between Newark and Madrid in February. A one-way economy award costs 30,000 MileagePlus miles plus $5.60 in fees.

United Airlines

The cash cost for the same itinerary is $518. Accounting for the security fee charged on the award yields a redemption value of 1.71 cents per point, which is very close to our average valuation of 1.65 cents per point for Bilt Rewards.

United Airlines

That redemption value is inflated by the fact that one-way transatlantic fares tend to be disproportionately expensive when paying cash — booking a round-trip ticket adds as little as $154 in this case — but such an award itinerary is a bargain if you’re not traveling round-trip.

For another hotel example, consider a two-night stay in October at the Holiday Inn Express in Springdale, Utah (near Zion National Park). The cash price for a two-queen standard room on Sunday and Monday nights totals just under $527.

IHG

You could instead book a Points + Cash award stay for 13,000 points and $304. Those 13,000 points save you $223, providing an above-average redemption value of 1.72 cents per point.

IHG

Low-value ways to use Bilt points

Transfers to travel partners aren’t always worthwhile. Sticking with the hotel example above, an award stay booked exclusively with points and no cash component would cost 63,000 points total, which yields a poor redemption value of 0.84 cents per point.

This illustrates the importance of calculating redemption value, since just because you can book an award doesn’t mean you should.

IHG

When transferring points isn’t a good option, Bilt provides another. You can redeem directly through the Bilt Travel Portal for flights, hotels, and other travel purchases at a rate of 1.25 cents per point, as shown for these flight options between Nashville and Dallas in December.

Bilt Rewards

The ability to redeem points consistently at this rate gives Bilt Rewards a higher floor than most other transferable points programs.

Bilt also lets you apply points toward merchandise, Amazon purchases, rental payments, and more, but those redemptions return less than 1 cent per point. Given how easily you can surpass that value with transfer partners and direct redemptions, these less valuable options should be ignored.

Other factors

Redemption rates aren’t the only variable we use to assess the value of points and miles. Here’s how Bilt Rewards performs across other facets of the program we take into consideration:

• Expiration policy (+) — Bilt Rewards points don’t expire as long as your account remains open and in good standing. That means there’s no pressure to redeem until you’re ready, which is a great feature for any travel rewards.
• Strength of transfer partners (+) — Bilt has fewer transfer options than most other major transferable points programs, but the roster of airline and hotel partners is among the strongest. While some partners are more lucrative than others, Bilt Rewards is void of throwaway options that are unlikely to ever be useful.
• Transfer bonuses (Neutral) — Bilt has not offered any transfer bonuses so far. We don’t view a lack of transfer bonuses as a negative, but adding them would boost the program’s value, especially given the relative difficulty of accumulating Bilt Rewards points overall.
• Transfer times (+) — Transfers to travel partners usually go through right away, and rarely take more than a day. Fast transfers lower the risk of award inventory disappearing while you wait for points to show up.
• Sharing/pooling (-) — Bilt does not allow you to share rewards with other members or transfer points to their loyalty accounts. This is the most restrictive policy among major transferable points programs.
• Ease of accumulation (-) — Bilt deserves a lot of credit for innovating a way to earn rewards on rental payments with no fee, but those earnings are capped at 50,000 points annually. Bilt has a single credit card (the Bilt Mastercard®
  ), which offers only a modest referral bonus and no sign-up bonus (so far) along with unexceptional earning rates for spending.

Bilt gets marked down for its restrictive sharing policy and the relative difficulty of accumulating points. Otherwise, these miscellaneous factors support the overall value of the program.

Bottom line

With a strong roster of transfer partners and a reliable floor of value via direct redemptions, Bilt Rewards has quickly established itself among the top transferable points programs. The lack of opportunities to earn rewards quickly makes saving for high-end awards difficult, but these points are immensely valuable to experienced award travelers and a great place for novices to dip their toes into the points and miles game.

Peter Rothbart

Freelance Writer