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Bilt Reveals More Details on New Bilt Cash Reward Component
As the official launch of Bilt 2.0 is now just around the corner, the company has finally lifted the curtain on what will be a key feature of the new cards: Bilt Cash.
About Bilt Cash:
When Bilt unveiled its line-up of 2.0 cards, Bilt Cash was a cornerstone of each. In fact, each of the three cards (Bilt Blue, Bilt Obsidian, and Bilt Palladium) earn 4% Bilt Cash on everyday purchases in addition to earning various amounts of Bilt Points. Cut to this week and Bilt has now shared a much more in-depth look at how customers will be able to redeem Bilt Cash.
With Bilt Cash, customers can redeem dollar-for-dollar for various credits. Some options include credits for Home Delivery (up to $5 per month), Lyft (up to $10 a month), Bilt Neighborhood Parking (up to $5 per month), Walgreens (up to $10 per month), and more. Additionally, one new partner coming on board in March is Grubhub, which will allow members to redeem up to $10 a month in Bilt Cash toward restaurant or grocery delivery credits.
One feature that was previously teased was the ability to redeem for Bilt Travel hotel bookings. In this case, Bilt Blue and Silver status members can redeem up to $50 in Bilt Cash per month toward bookings, while those with Gold or Platinum status can do up to $100 per month. Regardless, a two-night minimum stay is required.
Elsewhere, Bilt Cash can also be redeemed for special boosts. For $200 in Bilt Cash, Obsidian and Palladium cardholders can enable a 1x bonus point boost on up to $5,000 in spending. This redemption can be done up to five times per year and will expire either when members reach the maximum spending or at the end of the calendar year. Notably, when enabled, this would bring the Palladium’s rewards earnings to 3x.
Another option that was hinted at by Bilt is the ability to earn temporarily upgraded status in order to unlock larger Rent Day bonuses. While Bilt didn’t reveal every specific for this, they did share an example where a Gold Member could upgrade from a 75% tranfer bonus to a 100% bonus for $75 in Bilt Cash. For this option, Bilt warns that availability and price may vary.
Lastly, as previously announced, cardholders can opt to redeem their Bilt Cash to unlock points on their housing payments. For each $30 in Bilt Cash, members can earn 1,000 points (up to the total amount of their housing payment). However, Bilt notes that customers do not need to redeem in $30 increments.
That said, ahead of this news, Bilt announced an alternative option for those looking to earn rewards on their housing payments. Rather than earning 4% Bilt Cash on purchases, cardholders can opt for a different structure that will unlock more housing payment points as customers reach different tiers of “everyday spending.” For example, those who spend at least 25% of their housing payment total can earn 0.5x points, while those who spend 75% of their payment total can earn 1x points. Moreover, with this option, customers can earn up to 1.25x points on housing payments if they spend at least 100% of their payment amount in everyday purchases per month.
My Thoughts:
As has become a theme with Bilt 2.0, there’s some good and bad here. The good is that there are several ways you can use your Bilt Cash — and many of them give you dollar-for-dollar value. At the same time, though, the restrictions and limits put on these redemptions sour them greatly. For example, it would be great if you could stash your Bilt Cash for a hotel booking redemption. Yet, between the $50 (or $100 with higher status) per month cap and two-night minimum, it’s nearly a guarantee that you’ll still need to pay out of pocket for any such booking.
At this point, I’m already signed up for the Bilt Blue card, so I’ll get to try out this whole new, confusing system for myself soon enough. Meanwhile, with Bilt already making changes, I’ll be interested to see what else might evolve once Bilt 2.0 is out in the world.
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