Bilt is a relative newcomer to the world of travel rewards … but in short order, the company that set out to give travelers a way to earn transferable points for paying rent has become a points powerhouse.
Since setting up shop in mid-2021, Bilt has steadily added more and more ways for members to earn and redeem points while subtracting a few others. Just recently, Hawaiian Airlines got cut from the list of transfer partners to which you can send your Bilt points.
Whether you're earning Bilt points on your monthly rent payment or by swiping your *Bilt Mastercard* out shopping, building up your balance of Bilt points is harder than many other big banks – and that's only half the battle. While you can use them to book travel directly through Bilt, redeeming them for maximum value with one of Bilt's airline and hotel partners is where the real fun (and value) is.
Here's everything you need to know about Bilt transfer partners and where you should (and shouldn't) transfer your points.
A Changing List of Bilt Transfer Partners
Before we get into the “how?”, let’s cover the “who” and “where?” As in, who does Bilt partner with? And where can you transfer your points?
With 16 different transfer partners, Bilt allows you to send your points directly to more airlines and hotel chains than even Chase Ultimate Rewards. But it's not just quantity: You could easily make the case that Bilt points are the most valuable of any currency.
You can send points to not one but two domestic U.S. airlines: Alaska and United. American Airlines got cut earlier this year in favor of Alaska, and Hawaiian was just cut this week ahead of its looming merger with Alaska. Yet all four major hotel chains are an option – including our favorite, World of Hyatt.
Here are all the current options for moving your Bilt points to an airline or hotel brand – plus, some pointers on some of our favorite options.
| Program | Type | Transfer Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | Airline | 1:1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | Airline | 1:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Airline | 1:1 |
| British Airways Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | Airline | 1:1 |
| Emirates Skywards | Airline | 1:1 |
| Iberia Avios | Airline | 1:1 |
| Turkish Miles & Smiles | Airline | 1:1 |
| United MileagePlus | Airline | 1:1 |
| Virgin Red | Airline | 1:1 |
| World of Hyatt | Hotel | 1:1 |
| IHG Hotels | Hotel | 1:1 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Hotel | 1:1 |
| Hilton Honors | Hotel | 1:1 |
Let's go over some important details before we highlight the strongest Bilt airline partners.
Unlike American Express and Capital One, all of Bilt's airline partners (and hotel partners, for that matter) convert points at a 1:1 ratio.. That means you can easily turn 10,000 Bilt points into 10,000 Alaska Airlines miles, 10,000 British Airways Avios, 10,000 Virgin Atlantic points, and so on.
But exactly how many points you'll need to transfer depends on if you've earned status with Bilt:
- Everyday Blue members have to transfer a minimum of 2,000 points
- Those with Bilt Silver status or higher can transfer 1,000 points
Want something simpler? Bilt also has its own travel booking platform, where you can redeem points at a rate of 1.25 cents each towards flights, hotels, rental cars, and activities. So why should you even bother with these transfer partners?
Because if you want to get maximum value out of your points, leveraging transfer partners is the key. Getting 1.25 cents per point redeemed through the portal is nice … but you can save a ton of Bilt points by transferring them to an airline partner and booking flights that way instead.
Here's a quick example.
Let's say you want to go to Europe and this roundtrip flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Amsterdam (AMS) is the one that works best for you. Rather than pay nearly $1,100, you could use nearly 86,000 of your your precious Bilt points and book it through the Bilt Travel Portal.
That's not terrible … but you can do much better.
Since Bilt partners with Virgin Atlantic, you could instead transfer 30,000 Bilt points to Virgin and book the exact same roundtrip flight for a fraction of that amount: As low as just 30,000 points and $92 in taxes and fees. At that rate, you could book for yourself and two others for nearly the same amount of points as it would have cost to book just one flight through the portal!
That's just one example, but it showcases the power of turning to transfer partners with your Bilt points.
Just keep in mind: These transfers are a one-way street. Once you send your Bilt points to one of these partners, you can't get them back to your Bilt account. That means you'll want to scope out award availability to ensure the flights you're eyeing are actually bookable with miles before initiating any transfers.
The Best Bilt Transfer Partners
Let's run through some of the best, most worthwhile Bilt transfer partners – and areas where they shine.
Air Canada
Air Canada's Aeroplan program is great for finding awards to every corner of the globe, especially if flying business class is your thing.
- With a hybrid pricing formula that charges more points the farther you fly, business class flights from the U.S. to Europe on any fellow Star Alliance carrier start at 60,000 points – or you can fly the incomparable Lufthansa First Class for 90,000 to 100,000 points each way.
- You can get to Asia in business class starting at 75,000 points – or just 55,000 between Seattle (SEA) and Tokyo-Narita (NRT) flying ANA business class
- Or stay closer to home and redeem points for domestic flights on United, with transcontinental jaunts up front at 25,000 points each way or roundtrip flights to Hawaii starting at 25,000 points.
One amazing feature of Aeroplan is that you can add a stopover to any award ticket for just 5,000 additional points. That's a better perk than you'll find with almost any airline program, and it makes Aeroplan one of our go-to Bilt transfer partners.
In addition to the bevy of two-dozen-plus Star Alliance airlines, the airline has also partnered up with some other airlines including Etihad, Emirates, Gulf Air, and Oman Air. That means you can book flights on all those airlines using Aeroplan points, too.
Virgin Red
While Virgin Red might not sound familiar, it's the overarching loyalty program of Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels, Virgin Voyages, and more. And while many other transferrable points can be moved to Virgin Atlantic, Bilt points can easily be used with any of the Virgin brands. Even still, when it comes to using Virgin Red points, we're most likely to lean on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Being able to redeem Bilt points through Virgin Atlantic makes Virgin Red one of our absolute favorite Bilt transfer partners and another great option for transferring your points.
For starters, you can book Delta flights through Virgin Atlantic for far fewer points than Delta itself is charging in SkyMiles.
When Delta is charging 280,000 SkyMiles or more to fly in Delta One, you might be able to snag the same seat by transferring just 47,500 Bilt points to Virgin. Even after Virgin gutted our favorite Delta One sweet spot with the introduction of peak and off-peak pricing – and added huge cash surcharges – there are still some routes that make for a great deal, like this one between Rome (FCO) and Boston (BOS).
This means Virgin points can still be a great way to save miles when flying Delta whether you're hoping to stay close to home, heading to Europe, or flying out to Hawaii or even Asia.
The power of transferring points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club goes beyond Delta, though. It's also a stellar way to book flights to Europe with Air France or KLM for as low as 12,500 points each way. You can even book ANA business or first class to Tokyo via Virgin Atlantic.
Like most of the best options on this list, Bilt points transfer to Virgin on a 1:1 basis, which means 50,000 Bilt points will get you 50,000 Virgin Atlantic points.
Iberia Airlines
Keep Iberia in mind if you're looking to get to Europe in comfort. The Spanish flag carrier offers one of the cheapest ways to get to Europe in business class using miles.
For as low as just 34,000 Avios each way, you can book Iberia business class to and from Madrid (MAD). That's less than most airlines charge for a one-way ride in economy, making this one of the best deals in the world of points and miles and a stellar option to transfer your Bilt points.
If business class isn't a necessity for you, Iberia also offers flights to Spain in economy for half the cost: as low as just 17,000 miles each way, or 34,000 miles for a roundtrip to Madrid.
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Air France and KLM's Flying Blue program can be worth a hard look, especially if you're catching a big discount on one of the monthly Flying Blue Promo Rewards tickets to Europe.
Flying Blue regularly slashes economy, premium economy, or business class award tickets on select routes between the U.S. and Europe by as much as 50%. No matter which cabin you're hoping to fly in with your Bilt points, those monthly deals can lead to gems like this uber-cheap one-way flight from Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG).
But even without those discounts, Air France and KLM's mileage program can be worthwhile. With low rates and fairly solid availability to actually book these flights with your miles, this is one of our favorite ways to book business class to Europe. Whether you want to get to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), or connect almost anywhere else in Europe, you can regularly find business class seats bookable for just 50,000 miles each way.
Like our other top contenders, Bilt points typically transfer to Air France/KLM at a 1:1 ratio – but in the past, we've seen transfer bonuses to Flying Blue as high as 150% thanks to Bilt's monthly Rent Day promotion. If you happen to catch a big bonus like that, a case could even be made for speculatively transferring your points.
Read more: The Best Ways to Use Air France/KLM Flying Blue
British Airways
Fancy a trip to Hawaii or the Caribbean? Or maybe you want to fly the world's best business class all the way to the Middle East? British Airways Avios has got you covered.
British Airways is a stellar Bilt transfer partner. Consider this:
- Even after a recent price hike, British Airways is still one of our favorite ways to get to Hawaii using points. Nonstop flights on American Airlines (or Alaska Airlines) from several West Coast cities to all four major Hawaiian islands and back will cost you just 40,000 Avios.
- Start from the East Coast instead and you can make it to many Caribbean islands for 24,000 to 32,000 Avios roundtrip, again flying on American Airlines.
- Book your own Qatar Airways Qsuite from many U.S. cities to Doha (DOH) for just 70,000 Avios!
Since Avios is the same currency used by British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar – and now, Finnair – you can even move your Avios between all these programs. This means you'll get the first crack at booking Qatar Qsuites, save hundreds in fees for a nonstop flight to Ireland, and potentially save a ton of points if there are any transfer bonuses to any airline that uses Avios.
Avianca LifeMiles
Avianca LifeMiles is one of Bilt's newer transfer partners – and it's a pretty good one at that. This quirky Colombian airline's miles are insanely versatile and lucrative.
From cheap economy flights in the U.S. to jaunts down to South America and booking business class seats to Europe or Asia, Avianca LifeMiles has long been one of our go-to airline programs, despite a recent devaluation. While its website isn't the best and its customer service can be poor, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better combination of cheap award rates and low taxes and fees to book flights.
In many cases, you can also book domestic flights on United Airlines for fewer miles than United itself would charge. It’s also one of the better ways to book flights in business or first class to Asia.
Read more: 6 Sweet Spots Using Avianca LifeMiles
Hyatt
We'll keep this simple: Hyatt is the only Bilt hotel transfer partner that you need to be concerned with.
While most hotel chains have scrapped their award charts in favor of dynamic award pricing, Hyatt has maintained its cheat sheet for what a night will cost at a given property. And Hyatt charges fewer points than any other hotel chain, period.
With the introduction of “peak” and “off-peak” pricing, free nights can be had for as few as 3,500 World of Hyatt points per night.
Since Bilt points transfer 1:1 to World of Hyatt, you could book this hotel in Berlin for just 3,500 Bilt points per night. When you compare that to the pre-tax cash rate of $98 per night, you'd be getting some great value out of your Bilt points.
Bilt Transfer Bonuses Sweeten the Deal
You like airline miles, right? How about some free miles?
Several times a year, Bilt teams up with a specific airline or hotel program to give travelers a bonus when transferring points during a specific timeframe. Whereas most other transferable currencies run these transfer bonuses for weeks at a time, Bilt's usually come as part of its monthly Rent Day promotion and are one-day-only deals.
With that limited timeframe comes some eye-popping bonuses, though. In the past, we've seen Bilt offer up to a 150% bonus to several different airline and hotel partners. Typical transfer bonuses from banks like Amex and Chase top out at 40% but are typically between 20-30%, making these transfer bonuses from Bilt extra special.
It's easy to see why. Most recently, members with top-tier Bilt status could get 100% more miles when transferring Bilt points to Alaska Airlines.
Even though Alaska doesn't fly to Europe, the airline partners with German carrier Condor Airlines – and 55,000 Alaska miles is all you need to get from the East Coast to Frankfurt (FRA). With this bonus, you would have only needed to transfer 27,500 Bilt points to book this lie-flat, Condor business class seat.
Or … thanks to a quirk with the airline's pricing, you can sometimes score even cheaper business class awards to Europe by tacking on a connection in economy: Just 45,000 points each way! That would only require 22,500 Bilt points with a 100% transfer bonus.
Time transferring your Bilt points right to coincide with one of these promotions, you can come out even further ahead.
How to Transfer Bilt Points
Unlike most transferable currencies, you won't be able to move Bilt points to a partner on your desktop. With Bilt, you'll need to have the mobile app to get it done – not shocking from a company whose customer base skews younger.
After logging into the Bilt app, you'll need to ensure that the partner you're planning to move points to is linked to your Bilt account. If you don't already have a loyalty account with the given partner, you can create one right from the Bilt app as well. Linking your Bilt account to your airline or hotel loyalty program also yields you an extra 100 Bilt points, so it's not a bad idea to just go ahead and do this for all of Bilt's partners right away.
After you find the partner that you're looking for under the travel tab you'll be asked how many points you want to transfer. Blue members have to transfer at least 2,000 points, while those with Silver status or higher only need to move 1,000 points.
Bilt status is determined by the number of qualifying points you've earned through rent payments, the Bilt Dining program, or by spending on your Bilt Mastercard. You can also earn status through a spending “fast track” by linking any debit or credit card to your Bilt wallet.
The last step in the process is to simply review and confirm the accuracy of your point transfer request. If everything looks as it should, you'll need to agree to the terms and conditions and hit “confirm transfer.”
Just beware: Once your transfer goes through, you can’t pull those points back into your Bilt account. That makes it critical to do your research and make sure sending your Bilt points to that partner is the best way to go, and that the award tickets you want to book are available using points and miles.
Most of these transfers will clear instantly. Every once in a while, though, they can take a little longer.
Check out the charts above to get a sense of how long it should take for most transfers to go through.
How to Earn Bilt Points
Earn Points on Rent
When you pay your rent through Bilt, you'll get 1x point for every dollar spent on rent payments (up to $100,000 per year) – with no additional transaction fees.
If you live in a Bilt Rewards Alliance property, your payment will be sent electronically through the Bilt Rewards app or website – and you can even set up autopay so that you don't forget to make a payment. If your landlord has an online portal where you're required to make your rent payments, Bilt will generate a unique routing and account number for you to use that automatically charges your Bilt Card each month. You can also earn rewards by paying rent via Venmo or Paypal.
If your landlord only takes checks, you can still pay rent through the Bilt Rewards app and they'll mail your landlord a check—all for no additional cost.
Spend on the Bilt Mastercard
Piling up Bilt points with the *bilt rewards card* is easy. And unless you live in a Bilt Rewards Alliance property, you'll need to have the Bilt Card to earn points on rent, too. So long as you make at least five purchases each billing period with your card, you’ll earn points on rent and your non-rent purchases as well.
The Bilt Mastercard isn't just for renters – it's a really good option for your everyday spending as well. With bonus point earning on travel and dining purchases, plus the ability to earn double points on Rent Day it's easy to rack up points in a hurry.
Here's a closer look at everything the card has to offer:
- 1x points per dollar spent on rent in the Bilt Rewards app (up to $100,000 per calendar year)
- 1x points per dollar spent on everyday purchases
- 2x points per dollar spent on travel
- 3x points per dollar spent on dining
- Earn double points on Rent Day (the 1st of the month), up to 10,000 bonus points per month (up to 1,000 points per month effective Oct. 1, 2024)
- 6x points per dollar spent on dining
- 4x points per dollar spent on travel
- 2x points per dollar spent on everyday purchases
- 1x points per dollar spent on rent
- Trip cancellation, interruption, and delay protection
- Auto rental collision damage waiver
- Cell phone insurance
- No foreign transaction fees
- No annual fee!
Learn more about the *Bilt Mastercard*.
Other Ways to Earn Bilt Points
Paying rent and using the Bilt Mastercard will be the quickest ways to rack up a bunch of Bilt points – but they're not the only options.
Linking your airline and hotel loyalty accounts to Bilt is another easy way to earn points. You'll get 100 Bilt points for every loyalty account you link up – and with 16 travel partners in total, you can easily earn 1,600 points by doing so.
Bilt Dining is another great way to casually earn Bilt points. When you eat out at participating restaurants, you'll generally earn 3x Bilt points by paying for your meal with a card that's linked to your Bilt Wallet. And best of all, this is on top of your credit card rewards.
Finally, you can earn bonus points when you take a ride with Lyft by linking your Bilt account with the rideshare service. If you're paying with the Bilt Mastercard, you'll earn 5x points on your Lyft rides – all other cards earn 2x Bilt points, in addition to your usual credit card rewards.
Bilt Transfer Partner FAQs
What Airlines Can I Transfer Bilt Points to?
You can transfer your Bilt points to a grand total of 12 airlines.
It's an extensive list, including a couple of U.S.-based carriers as well as many fantastic foreign airlines. From A to Z, the list includes Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air France/KLM, Alaska Airlines, Avianca, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Iberia, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic.
Do Bilt Points Expire?
No … at least not if you're using your account.
Officially, points don't expire as long as your account remains open and active. Much like the points earned with other banks, you'll immediately lose all your points if your account is closed, or if you violate any of the rewards program's terms and conditions.
For purpose of point expiration an “inactive account” means there has been no activity (earning or redeeming points) for 18 months.
Read more: Will My Airline Miles Expire?
Is Transferring My Bilt Points to a Partner Airline Worth the Hassle?
There's no question it requires more legwork to transfer points. But that little bit of extra hassle can be easily worth it.
Transferring your Bilt points to the right partner airline can allow you to book a trip for a fraction of the points it would take to book directly through Bilt using your points. And if you're aiming to book a business or first class flight, transferring points is often the only way to make it happen.
How Long Do Bilt Points Take to Transfer?
It depends on where you're sending them, but most transfers are instant … or nearly instant.
Not seeing your points? Try logging out and logging back into your airline or hotel account.
What Hotels Are Bilt Transfer Partners?
You can transfer Bilt points to Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG One Rewards.
Of these hotel transfer partners, Hyatt is really the only one of value – unless you just need a few extra points to top off your account for an award. In most cases, you'd be better off booking Marriott and IHG stays through the Bilt Travel portal at 1.25 cents per point.
Which Airline or Hotel Partner Would You Recommend For Transfers to Maximize Future Trips?
It depends on what trip you want to take!
Generally speaking, we get the most bang for our buck (or points) by transferring to Hyatt for hotel bookings. If you're looking to use your points for a flight, we find great value with Air Canada Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and Avianca LifeMiles.
Bottom Line
It's not quite as straightforward as using your points toward a great flight deal, but the ability to transfer Bilt points to partners opens up a whole new world of travel.
Use this guide to get started and learn how to maximize those Bilt points.