Reading Time: 4 minMost folks are happy earning points and miles on everything they buy with their credit card. But did you know there's a way to "double dip" and earn extra points for free?
People know Bilt for its credit card that earns points on rent with no transaction fees. But you don't need a Bilt credit card to join the Bilt Neighborhood Benefits program. In fact, not only is it free to join, but you can stack the points you earn from it with the rewards you earn from your credit card, and take home twice as much.
Sounds amazing, right? Let's go through the details and show you how it works. (Spoiler alert: It's incredibly easy.)
There are three great aspects of the Bilt Neighborhood Benefits program. First, it's 100% free — there's literally no cost to it at all. Second, you don't need any particular card to earn points. In fact, you can link up multiple credit cards — or even debit cards — and earn extra Bilt points with all of them.
And third, Bilt points are incredibly valuable when it comes to travel. More on that in a moment.
To start off, you'll need to go to Bilt's website and create an account by clicking the "Join Now" button. Bilt doesn't ask for much personal information — basically just your name, birthdate, phone, and email. You'll also have the option to apply for a Bilt Mastercard, but you don't have to unless you want to.
You'll then want to link whatever card or cards you usually use to pay when you're out and about. This can be either a credit or debit card — or even both. In fact, you can add as many cards as you want.
So if you typically rotate credit cards based on bonus categories, you can add all your cards to Bilt, and earn Bilt points regardless of which card you pay with.
With the Bilt Neighborhood Benefits program, you can earn extra points on many everyday purchases, such as dining out at participating restaurants, fitness classes at participating gyms, and every time you shop at Walgreens.
The only requirement is that the card you use to pay must be linked to your Bilt account. You'll then earn Bilt points on your purchase in addition to your regular credit card points — at no extra cost.
For example, let's say you link your Chase Sapphire Reserve card to your Bilt account, and eat at a participating restaurant. You'll earn both 3 Chase points for every dollar you spend on dining with your Sapphire Reserve, plus 2 to 3 Bilt points as well, depending on the restaurant.
My own family recently took advantage of this double dipping opportunity without even realizing it. We ate at a sushi restaurant called Bar Dallas, which happened to be a Bilt dining partner.
With tip and tax, our bill was $70.94, which earned 213 Chase points on my Chase Sapphire Reserve, and an extra 141 Bilt points on the same transaction.
The same double dipping happens on purchases at Walgreens, as well as fitness classes at participating gyms.
And you can even connect your Bilt account to Lyft and automatically earn an extra 2 Bilt points for every dollar you spend whenever you ride with Lyft. Again, that's regardless of how you pay for your Lyft ride.
Bilt offers multiple ways to redeem your points, including using them for discounted or free Lyft rides. But you'll typically get the best value by using them for travel.
If you redeem through the Bilt Rewards travel portal, you'll get 1.25 cents per point. You can get pretty much any flight or hotel room that's normally available with cash, and just pay with your Bilt points instead.
But you can also transfer your points to any of Bilt's 18 airline and hotel partners. The list includes airlines such as United, Alaska, and Air Canada, along with hotel chains like Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton.
Before you transfer, you'll need to check each partner for award availability. But you can potentially get even more value from your Bilt points by putting in the extra effort.
While you can go out of your way to shop or dine at participating Bilt restaurants or merchants, it's one of those programs where it's easy to earn points without even realizing it.
So since Bilt Neighborhood Benefits is free and only takes a few minutes to join, there's no reason not to do it. And with Bilt's easy "set it and forget it" program, you can start reaping rewards in no time.
Don't have a credit card? Read more about how to use Bilt Neighborhood Benefits to earn travel rewards without a credit card.
