How to turn your housing payment into a travel points machine

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If there’s one expense nobody can escape, it’s housing. Whether you’re paying rent or a mortgage, it’s likely your biggest monthly bill — and historically, one of the hardest expenses to earn any travel rewards from.

But that all changed with Bilt. With Bilt's credit card options and growing lineup of travel partners, there are now multiple ways to turn your housing payment into serious points — even if you can't typically pay this expense via credit card.

Recently, Bilt also announced a new agreement with Air France/KLM Flying Blue, joining existing partnerships with Alaska Airlines and United, and giving renters even more ways to maximize their rewards.

And while Bilt is still the leader in the space, you don’t need to be a Bilt cardholder to earn rewards. In fact, no matter which credit card you use, there’s now a way to turn your rent and mortgage payments into travel rewards. Here’s a breakdown of the main options and how each one works.

For a few years now, Bilt's credit cards have been the go-to option for earning rewards on rent. And despite a recent overhaul of the program, that hasn’t changed. Plus, you can now earn on your mortgage payments as well.

The number of points you'll earn on your housing payment with the Bilt Blue, Bilt Obsidian, and Bilt Palladium cards ultimately comes down to picking one of two mutually exclusive paths up front.

The first is the housing-only option, where the more you spend on everyday purchases with your Bilt card, the more points you earn on your housing payment. Think of it as four spending thresholds, each based on the percentage of your rent or mortgage you match in non-housing spend during the billing cycle.

Hit 25%, and you'll earn half a point per dollar of housing. Hit 50%, and that rises to 0.75 points per dollar. Reach 75% and you're at a full point per dollar. And if your everyday spend matches or exceeds your housing payment, you'll max out at 1.25 points per dollar.

The second path runs through Bilt Cash, a separate rewards currency you bank as you spend. Every dollar of everyday, non-housing spend on your Bilt card earns 4% back in Bilt Cash — so $1,000 in purchases gives you $40 in Bilt Cash.

When it's time to pay your rent or mortgage, you can trade that Bilt Cash in for points at a rate of $3 for 100 points. The more Bilt Cash you've built up, the more of your housing payment you can convert into points.

Both rent and mortgage payments earn Bilt points with zero fees, which is unmatched in the market. And using one of the three Bilt credit cards remains the most cost-effective way to turn your housing payments into travel points.

If you don't have a Bilt card, you can still earn points on rent (though not on mortgage payments). However, the number of points you'll earn is significantly different, and you'll be charged a 3% transaction fee for paying your rent through Bilt with a third-party card.

With any Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover card, you'll earn 1 Bilt point per $2 spent on your housing payment — or 0.5x points. That's in addition to the rewards you already earn from your card.

This isn’t the cheapest way to earn points and miles, but for large rent payments, it can add up quickly. You'll just want to do the math to make sure that the points you're earning outweigh the fees.

Link your credit or debit card to Bilt Rewards to pay rent

Beyond the generic earning rate you get with a non-Bilt credit card, there are three other credit card programs that offer elevated earning rates through Bilt.

With the Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® and the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit cards, you can earn 3x Atmos Rewards points on rent payments (up to $50,000 per year).

United has a similar partnership when it comes to using its co-branded credit card to pay your rent through Bilt. This includes the United Gateway℠ Card, United℠ Explorer Card, United Quest℠ Card, United Club℠ Card, and United Presidential Plus℠ Card. With these five cards, you'll earn 2x United MileagePlus miles on your rent (also capped at $50,000 per year).

And recently, Bilt added a third partnership to the mix with Flying Blue (the joint frequent flyer and loyalty program for Air France, KLM, and Transavia). Those who hold the Air France KLM Visa Signature will earn 3x Flying Blue miles on rent payments (similarly capped at $50,000 per year).

Even with these elevated offers, you'll still be charged the same 3% transaction fee. And unlike other third-party credit cards, you will not earn Bilt points in addition to the points earned from the respective loyalty program.

For anyone already deep in the Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, or Flying Blue ecosystem, these increased earning rates can be surprisingly valuable. But again, you'll want to make sure the rewards earned are worth the fee.

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While earning points on your housing payments is great, here’s what’s arguably even better. You can earn Bilt points with any card even if you never pay rent through the platform.

With Bilt Neighborhood Benefits, you can link any credit or debit card and earn extra Bilt points just for shopping, dining, or grabbing coffee at participating local businesses. And yes — those points stack with the rewards you’re already earning from your card.

That means if you’re earning 3x points at a restaurant on your Chase Sapphire Preferred and that restaurant happens to be part of the Bilt Neighborhood network, you’ll earn 3 Chase points + Bilt points for the same purchase.

And unlike other dining programs, Bilt includes more than just restaurants. Walgreens is a partner, so you'll earn extra rewards for every purchase you make there. Plus, you’ll find gyms, coffee shops, and all kinds of places where you're already spending money.

You can even link your credit or debit card to Lyft through Bilt Neighborhood Benefits and earn extra points on every Lyft rideshare you take.

Get started with Bilt Neighborhood Benefits

But if you're looking to get top value for your Bilt points, you're still best off redeeming them for travel in one of two ways.

• Book travel directly through the Bilt Travel Portal, powered by Expedia. You'll get 1.25 cents per point when you redeem this way if you have a Bilt card.
• Transfer to one of Bilt's 25 airline and hotel partners, which includes many popular loyalty programs such as Southwest Airlines, United, Hyatt, Air Canada, and others. This is often the most valuable way to use your points. You’ll need to do some homework and check for award availability with the program you’re transferring to, but it’s one of the best ways to unlock incredible premium travel redemptions.

Housing might be the least exciting bill we pay, but Bilt has turned it into one of the most rewarding. And thanks to Bilt Neighborhood Benefits, the earning doesn’t stop once you’ve made your rent or mortgage payment. I have every one of my cards linked, and I’m still pleasantly surprised when I get bonus points for something as routine as dinner, a Walgreens run, or a quick Lyft ride.

So if you really want to get the most out of the program, think beyond your housing payment. Earning Bilt points can happen all month long — every coffee, errand, or neighborhood purchase can help you build your next big redemption.

Earn Bilt points with any credit or debit card

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