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Bilt Rewards
This post is going to be a little different than usual- first we’re going to cover everything you need to know about Bilt Rewards in the form of a Bilt Rewards credit card review where we attempt to answer the question of whether Bilt is worth it (Spoiler Alert… nope). Then we’re going to talk about how shady and slimy the coverage has been by fellow bloggers and other industry folk (drama). Last, my colleague Ryan Flanigan will absolutely rip apart the the Bilt card and the Bilt Rewards program because he’s, well… over it. (Feel free to skip to Ryan’s section if you’re also over the Bilt Coverage). Also please feel free to leave your Bilt referrals in the comments.
You’ve most likely noticed all of the positive Bilt coverage lately so it may seem crazy to you that I’m doing this post that contradicts 85% of the other experts writing about Bilt. So, What’s my motivation for doing this you ask? It’s to help you, the Bilt coverage is very disproportionately positive in relation to the value of the card and unfortunately most of the worst offenders are media outlets who have been VERY positively enriched by Bilt but have chosen not to disclose that fact (the details- some of which are shocking are outlined below.)
The second reason I wanted to do this post is because the social media coverage is out of control and even intentionally misleading in some cases. There have been several tweets and statements made in blogs, Instagram posts and podcasts that Bilt is not paying anyone for coverage of the product, yet as soon as Wells Fargo got involved these same blogs and Instagram posts added affiliate disclosures and language disclosing business relationships with Bilt. Last, I am in the very fortunate position to be able to say whatever I want because I don’t work for anyone and don’t rely on partnerships or credit card sign ups to fund my operations- so I figured if there was one chance for my readers to get the full story it would be me. You’re welcome 🙂 (Also if you enjoy what you read please give this a retweet to enhance accountability.)
In This Post
Bilt Rewards Review Timeline
Check out the highlights of the shameful events surrounding the marketing and PR for Bilt Rewards. (Part Two elaborates and outlines my issues with Bilt and the outlets who have covered the Bilt Program.) I know some people appreciate background and I actually think the background here is pretty interesting.
- June 22 2021 (Bilt Rewards throws a party and invites many points and miles media outlets)
- September/October 2021– Blogs start posting exclusive invitation codes for their audience to “Skip the Waitlist” (if I were a skeptical person I would guess this was a way to “Skip the credit card regulations that are triggered when consumer credit is offered to the public.)
- October 2021 (Bilt founder hosts a long list of bloggers, Instagrammers and podcasters at Richard Bransons private Island all of whom were personally invited by Bilt’s Director of Travel Rewards (reports directly to the head of Loyalty and Partnerships (who is a direct report to the CEO).
- March 2022– Various dates several of the same miles and points outlets continue to talk about how they receive nothing for podcasting and discussing Bilt.
- March 28th, 2022– Bilt announces it’s partnered with Wells Fargo and Mastercard who will now issue the credit card to the general public.
- March 28th, 2022– Several blogs and IGers disclose a business relationship. The disclosure from Frequent Miler (also has been very fair and transparent) states “Note: We have previously written about Bilt a number of times. Prior to today, we did not have a business relationship with Bilt (our waitlist code simply helped readers skip the waitlist; we didn’t receive any compensation for that). We now have a business relationship with Bilt.)
- March 28th, 2022– Another Bilt Party! This time with Wycleaf Jean and a bunch of famous people- the most famous of which were half the staff at The Points Guy. Even better was that a Bilt representative objected to people complaining about the party by stating that it was a party open to members-the email invite stated that you could get a limited spot by dm’ing Bilt on IG- yet bloggers and media personalities got personal invites- so maybe the best move here would have been to say nothing.
- March 29th, 2022 Bilt’s Director of Travel Rewards tweets that Bilt has not paid anyone to cover the card. The exact tweet “
- “The loyalty/affiliate driven world is so jaded that I’m being asked how many millions we’ve paid outlets and influencers to cover it. Turns out we just made a great product and haven’t had to pay anyone.”
- Question? How is that possible since the day before the blogs said – “we now have a business relationship with Bilt”
Here is a link to the twitter thread where @TravelZork and @Travelfanboy absolutely speak all the truth in response to the misleading tweets by a Wells Fargo Bilt Rewards Mastercard representative.
I wish I could tell you it stopped there- it doesn’t. Here’s where things get really interesting and unconscionable to me. Give me a second to get to the point here.
Note: I was asked to revise this post (and I do so gladly because it’s the truth) to say that I am not calling into question OMAAT’s ethics or disclosure guidelines.
April 1, 2022 – One Mile at a Time has been completely silent about Bilt until April 1, which is a complete head scratcher. Not only don’t they have any posts about it up until that point, they don’t even mention Bilt when they list ALL of the transfer partners of loyalty programs. (Check out the screenshot below from an article posted two days ago.) I won’t speculate but I know the reason I have left out Bilt is because of unsavory marketing and the fact that I don’t think it offers value to my readers since other blogs are advertising covering it like crazy and it only makes sense for a handful of people.
April 1, 2022– George from Travel Blogger Buzz (tweet below) calls out OMAAT for their April 1 post saying they are pumping credit cards yada yada yada. But looks who’s back– The Bilt Loyalty Director claiming that 1- there are no referral links in the post 2- he’s never met Ben and 3- no compensation has been given. Then he says (paraphrasing here) they covered the card just because Bilt created a good product.
- Not true- there are more than a handful of affiliate links in the post (it’s so odd to right out say that when the truth can be discovered by simply clicking the link. Someone points this out and his response is even more curious- he says that it looks like they added the links that are publicly available- which is odd to me because those are the same links the other blogs who have disclosed a business relationship with Bilt are using. At the end of the day this point would take more time to explain than it’s worth.
- OMAAT is a huge blog that employs several people, some of whom are very close to the guy and even were present at the most recent party thrown by Bilt. Yikes- can you say semantics.
- If OMAAT was covering the card simply because it’s a good product- they probably would have given it more than 3 of 5 stars for a review score (Screenshot below.)
Bilt Rewards Credit Card Review
The Bilt Rewards Credit Card issued by Wells Fargo is part of the Bilt Rewards Program which is self described as a loyalty program designed to let renters earn points for rent payments without paying a fee. Bilt Rewards works by letting members earn points on rent without any fees. All members earn 250 points a month for paying their landlords through the program when their landlord is a member of the Bilt Rewards Alliance or allowing members to earn 1 point per dollar by paying any landlord via the app for renters who have the credit card. Bilt Rewards Mastercard members who make at least 5 qualifying transactions a month can earn 1 point per dollar (up to 50k points per year). Unfortunately the points aren’t very flexible, especially since there’s no cash out or cash back option like other programs. The closest option you have is to apply your points to your rent at .55 cents each. There’s also no sign up bonus! These last two points make the card’s value mediocre at best.
Like many traditional loyalty programs, there are different levels of elite status offering “benefits” based on the level a member achieves. Members get upgraded to higher loyalty levels based on the number of points they earn in a calendar year. This is a World Elite Mastercard with no annual fee and no foreign transactions fees. Rewards earned in the form of points are considered transferable since they can be transferred to loyalty partners but they are far more limited in redemption options since they cannot be cashed out unless you redeem them towards rent at a very unfavorable rate of just over half a cent each. This means that the card is pretty useless for anyone who doesn’t typically transfer points to air and hotel partners. The ability to transfer to these travel partners is one of the selling points of the program- it’s definitely something that miles and points enthusiasts appreciate.
Bilt Review Pros and Cons
Pros
- Earn points on rent without paying a fee.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- No annual fee.
- Good selection of travel transfer partners.
- 3x Points earned on dining purchases
Cons
- There’s no cash back option
- No sign up bonus.
- No premium card features.
- Bilt is a one-off so it’s not a rewards program you can maximize by having other cards.
- Most of the benefits are redundant since they can be obtained with any World Elite Mastercard.
- Must make 5 transactions each month.
- Very restrictive travel definition for the 2x bonus category.
How to Earn Bilt Rewards Status
The benefits of status are kind of a joke, the fact that some are listed as benefits is insulting to your intelligence. To illustrate my point- if you earn a whopping 50000 points in a year- which would require at a minimum roughly $16,500 in restaurant spend up to $50,000 in spend on anything else- you’ll get interest in the form of points based on the national savings rate (currently .06%) on your 30 day rolling balance of points. So that 50,000 point balance would earn about 30 points assuming you didn’t actually redeem any of your points.
Think of how long it would take you to earn 50,000 points and you’ll earn even less in interest by redeeming them. If you see another blog say they love that they can earn interest on points or that it serves to combat devaluations- you should probably never read another one of their posts again (or just assume they have no basic understanding of math.) I’ve also seen some blogs say this is similar to the Chase Sapphire Preferred 10% Points bonus benefit on all points earned in a year. SMDH. The previous 50k point example would earn 5,000 Ultimate Rewards points regardless of whether you redeemed them or not.
All tier levels include the ability to transfer points to travel partners at a 1:1 ratio and access to the Bilt Collection. Bilt also states that one of the benefits is that members can “Build credit history by reporting on-time rent payments to credit bureaus”. Newsflash– every on time credit card payment is reported to credit bureaus and has the same affect on credit score- this would be the case if you charged $2 a month and paid it off each statement period. The Bilt Collection includes things like art for 20,000 Points from an artist who has art on sale for $100 and limited edition “Bilt Room Spray” for 7500 points. WHAT A STEAL! For anyone who reaches 25k points there’s a 10%+ bonus on lease renewal incentives with Bilt Alliance landlords- note how you have absolutely no idea what the renewal bonus is? It’s so odd to include this as a benefit of status, it could be 50 points or 500 so how is someone supposed to decide whether they want that status? Upon further research the Bilt app states these bonuses are awarded at each individual landlords discretion- a 50% bonus on 0 is still 0. I’m looking forward to hearing data points from actual members to see how much bonuses are.
Bilt Tier Levels and Status Benefits
The Bilt Rewards Program includes the following Loyalty Tiers. Loyalty Tiers are based on the cumulative amount of Points earned in the calendar year as outlined below:
- Blue Status Benefits: (All members upon joining)
- 1:1 point transfers with airlines & hotels
- Access to the Bilt Collection
- Build credit history by reporting on-time rent payments to credit bureaus
- Silver Status Benefits: (Members who earn between 25,000 and 49,999 Points in a year.)
- 10% bonus on lease incentive points from participating properties
- Interest earned on points
- Gold Status Benefits: Members who earn between 50,000 and 99,999 Points in a calendar year.
- 25% bonus on lease incentive points from participating properties
- Interest earned on points
- Home ownership Concierge
- Platinum Status Benefits: Members who earn at least 100,000 Points in a calendar year.
- 50% bonus on lease incentive points from participating properties
- Interest earned on points
- Home ownership Concierge
- Gift from Bilt Collection
Bilt Rewards Alliance Property List (Rental Partners)
The Bilt Rewards Alliance includes (among others) the following real estate partners:
- American Landmark
- Applied Management
- AvalonBay Communities
- Berkshire Residential
- BH Management
- Blackstone
- Brookfield Properties
- Camden Property Trust
- Cushman & Wakefield
- Equity Residential
- GID-Windsor Communities
- Highmark Residential
- Lennar Multifamily
- LivCor
- LeFrak
- The Moinian Group
- Morgan Properties
- Related Companies
- SL Green Realty Corp.
- Starwood Capital Group
- Trammell Crow Residential
- Veritas Investments
How the Bilt Mastercard Works
The Bilt Mastercard allows cardholders to earn points through purchases and on rent payments initiated in the Bilt Rewards app without fees. In order to be eligible to earn points on rent you must make at least 4 additional purchases within the same month on the Bilt card. The main selling point of the card is the ability to pay any landlord without a fee and earn 1 reward point for each dollar (up to $50,000 each year) spent on rent. If your landlord is not part of the Bilt Rewards Alliance you can initiate payment through the app and Bilt will send your landlord a check or an ACH payment. Note, rent payments can only be made to one rental property per month.
How to Earn Bilt Rewards Points
There are 5 main ways to earn Bilt Rewards Points
- Rent Payments made to landlords within the Bilt Alliance
- Rent Payments made through the app to any landlord (as long as 4 additional qualifying purchases are made in the same month)
- Purchases made with the Bilt Mastercard
- Signing and renewing leases with landlords within the Bilt Alliance
- Referring friends to the Mastercard
Earning Points with your Bilt Mastercard
- When you make at least 5 transactions that post to your account during a statement period, you’ll earn points during that statement period when you use your Bilt Mastercard to pay rent through the Bilt App.
- Purchases and rent payment earn the following number of points rounded down to the nearest dollar:
- 1x Point on rent and everything not included in the dining and travel category
- (One point per $1 spent on rent paid through the Bilt App with your card account up to a maximum of Fifty Thousand (50,000) points each calendar year).
- 3x Points on Dining (1 base point plus 2 bonus points)
- 2x Points on Travel (Two points – 1 base point plus 1 bonus point)
- Excluded from travel- bus lines, passenger railways/trains, taxicabs and limousines, rideshares, ferries, timeshares, travel agencies, online travel sites, real estate agents, vacation rental platforms (e.g. VRBO, Airbnb), campgrounds, boat lease/rental, motor home/recreational vehicle rental, toll bridges and highways, parking lots, and garages
- 1x Point on rent and everything not included in the dining and travel category
- If you do not make at least 5 transactions that post to your account in a statement period you’ll earn a flat 250 points when you use your Bilt Mastercard to pay rent through the Bilt App.
How To Use Bilt Rewards Points
You can use your Points to redeem for any available reward options. Bilt states that options may include:
- Transfer of Points to participating frequent travel Programs;
- Rent- points can be used to offset rent at a rate of .55 cents each- this is a terrible value
- Fitness & lifestyle partners- looks like a $30-$35 dollar class will cost you 3600 points (terrible value)
- The Collection curated by BILT (REALLY TERRIBLE value)
- Down-payment on the initiation of a mortgage and products or services made available through the Program or directly from Bilt-approved third party merchants. (Don’t get me started on this one.)
Redeeming Bilt Rewards Points
The best way to redeem Bilt Points is to transfer them to loyalty partners to book free nights and award flights.
Full List of Bilt Travel Transfer Partners
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- American Airlines AAdvantage
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Emirates Skywards
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Turkish Miles & Smiles
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- IHG Rewards
- World of Hyatt
Who Should Get the Bilt Rewards Credit Card
I know this card sounds pretty crummy based on everything I’ve told you but the truth is there is a very specific set of circumstances that would make someone benefit from applying for this credit card.
- Rent makes up a majority of your spending
- Already over Chase 5/24 because you’d be a little wacky to let this card take up a Chase spot.
- Don’t want cash back and instead prefers to transfer credit card points to travel programs AND you must know how to get maximum value from your airline miles and hotel points.
How to Maximize Value from The Bilt Rewards Program
If you do fit the description above, you can increase your favorite loyalty program balances by ONLY paying your rent and making 4 tiny dining purchases each month on the card. If you want to take advantage of the trip interruption and cancellation benefits you should put the taxes and award fees on this card since the terms state that “benefits pay up to $5,000.00 per Insured Person for the non-refundable Common Carrier ticket(s) that You paid for with Your covered Account. You, Your spouse (or Domestic Partner) and Your Dependent Children are eligible for coverage if You charge the entire cost of the Trip using Your Account, less redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons.” You can see the full guide on Wells Fargo site here.
Bilt Credit Card Benefits
- World Elite Mastercard Benefits
- Travel insurances
- No foreign transaction fees
Nobody loves the benefits that come with World Elite Mastercards more than I do. It’s true- I love them. I have covered them extensively but there’s just one small caveat- the benefits don’t overlap from one card to another and you have to use the Bilt credit card to make the purchases in order for the benefits to kick in. Additionally, the Chase Freedom Flex is also a World Elite Mastercard and far superior to Bilt in most respects so you should probably just use that card instead.
Related: Try This Trick to Find Valuable World Mastercard Benefits
Misleading Advertising, Downright Lies and How to Get the Truth
I find it completely offensive that bloggers who are benefiting from a relationship with Bilt have overblown the value of the Bilt Rewards program to the detriment of their audiences. Look at the difference between the coverage of the card for everyone who went on the Bilt trip to Moskito Island v. the reviews here of the Card by Chuck and Will from Doctorofcredit.com (Doc doesn’t even publish credit card links so they’re widely respected by everyone in the industry- including this girl). Check out Travel Blogger Buzz for another objective opinion. I’m hoping this post will do it’s part to correct a lot of disinformation out there regarding the card. I can’t say for sure that most of the blogs covering it are being disingenuous, but I can say that invites to a few swanky parties, sponsored events FOR THE BLOGGERS and a very luxurious trip to a private island seem to have influenced the Bilt coverage. To be clear, people in our industry regularly attend events and promote each others content but this is a very different situation- the Bilt Card is a consumer credit product offered by a financial institution and therefore- it’s employees and marketing associates are subject to a whole bunch of regulations and industry safeguards designed to protect consumers from unsavory advertising and marketing practices.
Another issue I see here is that prior to becoming available to the general public the only way to get a Bilt Rewards Mastercard was to use a special code to apply for the credit card to “skip the waitlist”- some were guests of the Bilt Rewards founder to “talk about the program and provide feedback” as noted by Gary Leff who has been refreshingly transparent in regards to every detail of his relationship with Bilt. Another reason I have massive respect for what Gary does is that he donates the value of gifted accommodations to charity. This is in complete contrast to Monkey Miles who literally has posted about Bilt 4-5 times- on his blog- and not once in any of the posts again -on his blog- (as far as I can tell) mentioned the Moskito Island trip- shame shame shame (edited to clearly reflect my statements in re the lack of trip disclosure is contained to MonkeyMiles.com since he clearly indicates in the comments of this post that he disclosed on other forms of social media his relationship with Bilt- no idea how this is better, but he really wants you to know.)
Here are some talking points mentioned by some blogs, Instagrammers and podcasters.
- It’s revolutionary to pay rent with no fee and earn credit card rewards. Guess what? Several of the rental companies within the Bilt Rewards Alliance have been allowing rental payments for years at very modest fees- even a few were no fees in the past.
- Credit card sign up bonuses are only one way to earn credit card rewards- this is absurd because every other card that they talk about they’ll tell you just how important the sign up offer is.
- Bilt is the only program that has AA- they’re also the only transferable currency that has no cash out option for all of it’s cardholders. Not to mention there are literally 8 American Airlines co-branded credit cards to choose from to earn points.
Bilt Rewards Reddit
If you want to see some objective opinions, discussion and data points related to every facet of the Bilt Rewards program and the credit card you should check out this search for Bilt Rewards reddit.
Ryan Flanigan
Follow Ryan on Twitter @Flanmann718
Ryan Flanigan is a Las Vegas based travel hacker and lifelong entertainer. He developed a love of travel from performing all over the world on cruise ships. His favorite travel partners are his wife and three year old son
Bilt Rewards- No Thanks! (Ryan’s Rant)
If you are active in the miles and points world and follow some of the blogs out there, you’ve likely heard alot recently about the Bilt Rewards Mastercard and how amazing and revolutionary it is. I’m here to call BS on that, and point out the reasons why this card is not nearly as good as it’s made out to be. This card’s earning ability is not good at all, rendering any benefits in the transfer partner or redemption avenues less valuable.
Bilt is Not For Everyone (In Fact, It’s Barely For Anyone)
The big selling point on this card is that it earns 1x on rent. So, right off the bat, the main selling point renders the card instantly useless to anyone who is a homeowner. Why would any homeowner want this card? The other categories are nothing special and are easily matched by many other cards.
Additionally, pushers of this card leave out all the fine print. Points earned from rent are capped at 50k. Granted, if you are paying that much in rent per year, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you, because you are getting ripped off. Also, the property has to be part of the Bilt Alliance in order to pay with the card. If not, then it will still send your landlord a paper check (if you jump through the needed hoops in order to set up everything). To me, this is a complete waste of time. If you are going to jump through hoops to pay rent, there are many better ways to do it. There are any number of reloadable prepaid cards out there that can be loaded in all sorts of ways that will net a way higher return than 1x. Load those and use the bill pay or check payment features to pay your rent that way, often for no fee. All those types of cards have that feature. Or, take gift cards purchased at a much better multiplier and get money orders to pay your rent that way. If you like the convenience of just paying with a card and being done, I suppose that’s useful, but it’s leaving a ton of meat on the bone. Bilt claims to be better than using third party services to pay rent, which may be true from a certain point of view, but just think a bit outside of the box, and it’s way easier to do way better value wise than this paltry offering.
They try to sell the point that you get killed with fees paying rent, but one size definitely does not fit all here. Every rental situation is different. For instance, I never had to pay fees when I was a renter and had a great portal I could liquidate gift cards or use credit cards with. But, in the apartment I lived in before that, I was stuck with a landlord who insisted on a paper check delivered by me every month. There is no way to normalize what the experience is for people, and there are certainly plenty of ways to come out ahead regardless of what your individual circumstances are.
Bonus Spending Categories! (They Aren’t Great Either)
This card also has 2x on flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises when booked directly with airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies. It also has 3x on dining purchases, the only halfway decent category in my opinion. It also gives a $5 discount on your first 2 DoorDash orders each month, as well as $5 credit on Lyft if you ride 3 times a month- these are the standard benefits you get because the card is a World Elite Mastercard (like half the cards in your wallet). It gets a standard 1x on all other purchases, as long as you make 5 transactions a month, so yes, you’ll need to make 5 trandactions a month to even get the points from rent. (And people complain about Amex and “breakage”.) There are also benefits you see on a host of other cards by Mastercard- rental car insurance, trip protection, no foreign transaction fees, cell phone insurance, etc.
My response to these- eh. You can do better all around. People in the miles and points game have learned to shake off the stigma of paying an annual fee because of the increased value of the benefits returned with the right card. No one should say this is the card for them because there’s no annual fee. If that’s so important, you can still do better with a Freedom Flex card because it has no fee and 3x on dining to match this, as well as tons of additional benefits and categories. Also, why on Earth do you need to make 5 transactions to earn points, or use Lyft 3 times to get that credit? At least the Amex Everyday cards give you a bonus for having a required amount of transactions, unlike this card which requires the added transactions just to earn your points. Just another useless hoop Bilt wants you to jump through likely in the hopes people forget to do it. As for the travel categories, there are literally a laundry list of cards better for travel purchases. These categories and benefits are in no way a good selling point for this card.
Are Bilt Transfer Partners Really That Great! (Not Really)
Bilt has the following 1:1 travel partners: American Airlines, Aeroplan, Air France, Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt and IHG. Every program except for American can be accessed with either Chase, Amex, or Citi points, and with better earning value in every single instance. As for American, the one unique partner, if you want a card with a garbage earning rate for American, you are still better off with any of the Citi or Barclay cards. You can get 2x on grocery with Citi Mile Up for no fee, or 2x on dining and gas for $99 fee (waived the first year) with Citi Platinum Select. I have no love for Citi whatsoever, but it’s a way better avenue.
They also offer things like interest on points based on status level, and the ability to redeem for a bunch of other things that I just deem useless and pointless. What’s the point? Why don’t they just do something like what Amex does with the Everyday cards and offer bonuses when certain usage thresholds are met? Or better yet, just offer better earning on literally anything? Things like this and the monthly Lyft credits are nothing more than things designed to trip up the average cardholder in the hopes they won’t get maximum value.
Is the Bilt Rewards Card Worth it?
You Can & Should Do Better
I contend that if you are in the miles and points game with any level of seriousness, chances are you don’t mind jumping through a hoop or two for a much better return. What this program is trying to capitalize on are people being too lazy to put in that little bit of effort, or to just be content with a blah middle of the pack no annual fee card, as well as people not jumping through all the hoops and leaving value on the table. I’m usually not one to pile on the bloggers for certain blogs as sell outs or shills, but in the case of this card, they are absolutely trying to push a subpar product on their audience. Whenever the blogger community gets excited about something, you should always dive deep into the details and see how this would work for you specifically. What benefits one person won’t necessarily benefit you. At the end of the day, many in the space are motivated by their own profit based on how much product they move, much like in any aspect of commission sales. No need to name names, but know that there are plenty of good bloggers out there who are exceptions to this. Just remember to always exercise judgment and discipline before going for the next new shiny toy in the game. You can and should do much better than this card with little to no effort.
Funny IG Post that Inspired me to post my own thoughts which were already written: Latinos with Passports
Bilt points are varied in value by how you redeem them. The points appear to be worth only half a cent each when redeeming them towards rent. Bilt claims the points are worth up to 1.5 cents each but it’s pretty irresponsible to define a value for points that have no clear cash out option. If you plan to redeem points by transferring them to air and hotel partners then the points are valued at the same amount as the partner you use. For example, if you transfer 25,000 to Hyatt for a free night at Aria in Las Vegas when the night would cost $189 ($204 after tax) in cash, you simply divide the nightly cash price plus tax for the stay by 25,000 and your points would be worth well under 1 cent a piece- .81 cents each.
Bilt Rewards is likely making money via swipe fees charged to merchants and fees charged to customers like late fees and interest rates- this is the traditional way credit cards earn money. Since Bilt requires users to make 5 charges each month in order to earn the points for their rent payments, it seems probable they’re hoping to collect merchant fees to subsidize the rent payments. Bilt also makes money through partnerships with real estate companies.
Bilt Rewards can be used for fitness classes, to offset rent at a rate of .55 cents per point, towards retail items in the Bilt Collection, and they can be transferred to airline and hotel loyalty program partners.
Bilt cannot be used to pay your mortgage, it can only be used to pay rent.
The Bilt Rewards Mastercard is an all black metal credit card.
Yes, there are several ways to use a credit card to make your rent payments. You can use a bill pay service like Plastiq for a fee to pay almost any bill with a credit card including rent. You can also use the Wells Fargo Bilt Rewards Mastercard to pay any landlord without a fee.
Wells Fargo issues the Bilt Rewards Credit Card.
There is no sign-up bonus on the Bilt Rewards Mastercard which is a huge disadvantage of the card.
I appreciate this post and agree that there’s issues with transparency around the blogosphere surrounding this program. I appreciate that you guys would post about this in the way you have. I agree that the Bilt platform is not revolutionary and has a pretty limited scope of value.
Some of the assumptions made in this post, though, are weirdly aggressive/antagonistic/wrong?
– Having AA as a transfer partner is valuable. The counter to this in the article is “Bilt is the only program that has AA- they’re also the only transferable currency that has no cash out option for all of it’s cardholders.”, which … doesn’t have anything to do with AA or refute the value of the AA partnership?
– The post goes on to mention “As for American, the one unique partner, if you want a card with a garbage earning rate for American, you are still better off with any of the Citi or Barclay cards.” – I would absolutely not be better off paying rent with the Citi or Barclay cards, which is … the whole point of this program? My rent provider (a major company) charges a 2.9% credit card fee. I could pay with a check and not earn anything, but earning AA miles for free when I wouldn’t normally have a viable credit card option is more meaningful than you’re suggesting. If I pay $3,000 in month per rent that I have to pay regardless, I’m earning $468 per year in AA miles on a fee-free card.
– The Bilt point valuation uses an example of cashing out 25K Hyatt points at the Aria when it’s $189 per night, which is bizarre – you don’t have to use your Bilt or Hyatt points that way. I think it’s strange that Bilt bills up to 1.5 cents per point for value, but it could certainly be worth more than 1.5 cents per point if you do transfer to Hyatt using a more generous example than the one in this post.
Most significantly: “Points earned from rent are capped at 50k. Granted, if you are paying that much in rent per year, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you, because you are getting ripped off. Also, the property has to be part of the Bilt Alliance in order to pay with the card. If not, then it will still send your landlord a paper check (if you jump through the needed hoops in order to set up everything). To me, this is a complete waste of time. If you are going to jump through hoops to pay rent, there are many better ways to do it. There are any number of reloadable prepaid cards out there that can be loaded in all sorts of ways that will net a way higher return than 1x. Load those and use the bill pay or check payment features to pay your rent that way, often for no fee. All those types of cards have that feature. Or, take gift cards purchased at a much better multiplier and get money orders to pay your rent that way. ”
1) If you think it’s impossible to pay more than 50K a year in rent, I would advise you to check out rent in major coastal cities. Plenty of people pay more than $4166/month rent and have good reasons to do so, especially in a historically-difficult housing market. The *average* rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is more than $4200. I don’t know why this weirdly antagonistic tact is being taken in this post towards people paying rent as opposed to Bilt or the bloggers.
2) I don’t know why you think it’s a complete waste of time for a company to send a paper check to a landlord when that paper check is earning miles and a paper check from me would either not earn miles or cost money in the big picture. That might not be a great fit for you, but it’s perfectly fine for other people.
3) If you’re concerned about transparency/helping users, why not name and/or detail how users can load “any number” of reloadable prepaid cards that can be loaded in all sorts of ways to net a way higher return than 1x? Because you don’t want to kill a deal? Because it’s so dependent upon finding a particular store or a particular kind of store as to make it not helpful for the vast majority of users? Furthermore, despite your claim, some of those types of cards do not offer Billpay services – MyVanilla comes to mind off the top of my head, and FM has several more listed.
4) MSing credit cards to buy money orders runs into multiple known issues regarding scalability, fraud concerns, and upsetting your credit card company without even considering the landlord side of things – I strongly doubt my landlord is going to be happy/not suspicious with me handing them multiple money orders every month.
This post has the right idea, but it runs into its own set of issues, assumptions, and gatekeeping.
Appreciate the read and I mostly agree but That’s why it’s a 3 parter- I was very aware that Ryan’s opinions were extremely to one side of the debate (although I do agree with them for the most part- aside from MS stuff because I can’t think of anything I’d rather do less.) So I decided as I usually do that I was going to fairly discuss the card and add his opinion post to the end- since no one else is being fair and balanced.
Bethany,
I believe there are a lot of people for whom rent is their biggest expense, especially young professionals in major cities. Compare paying rent with Bilt vs paying rent via Plastiq.
The card is very similar to Chase Sapphire Preferred (even the primary rental CDW) with no annual fee. It doesn’t have an initial bonus, but if you’re renting for several years in a nice place in an expensive city
I notice you linked to the Doctor of Credit review of Bilt from June 2021, with their old pre-release value prop. Their current review of the card is here. Here’s the key bits of the conclusion:
“The Bilt card is an easy opportunity for someone who rents to earn up to 50,000 valuable, transferable points per year by paying with the Bilt card at no cost for you or the landlord, even if your landlord does not accept credit card payment. Some people might be nervous trusting the system to have the rent in on time; I suppose you can set up the payment to go a week early and ensure it gets there on time.
Beyond the rent payment angle, there are some nice rewards and benefits which are unique to a no-fee card: 3x dining & 2x travel earnings are nice, primary car rental insurance is useful, along with other travel protections and no foreign transaction fee.
For those who don’t travel, the redemption options are more limited. The 1.5 cents value toward a future down payment is nice for someone who plans on buying a house in the near future, but otherwise you’re stuck with .55 cents value toward a rent payment.
In the end, I see this card as useful for someone who has a decently high monthly rent payment, who can make use of the valuable transfer partners, and who is willing to sacrifice a 5/24 spot for the card. The card can also make sense for someone starting out who doesn’t have many other chargeable expenses and wants to build a credit history with their rent payments. Or, more generally, it can be a practical no-fee starter card.”
That seems like a balanced take. I’m a little more positive on it than they are. For what it’s worth I find big events more of a tax than a benefit, and I decline over 90% of them. I like Richard and showed up at Moskito Island because he asked me, but it’s 3 days away from my family. Sure, at a nice resort, but at a nice resort… without my wife and daughter.
Mostly I’m impressed by what they’ve done at Bilt because it’s a really new and interesting take on marketing a credit card, it’s not a travel cobrand, they’ve found a young market where they live and deliver value in a way no one was doing before. Have you seen Chase or American Express or Citi offer no fee points-earning rent payments to virtually any landlord? That’s pretty cool. And for folks in Bilt buildings they’re reporting on time rent payments to credit bureaus free to help build credit (there are services people pay for that do this). Also very cool.
It’s not a super premium card and shouldn’t be compared with Amex Platinum or JP Morgan Reserve, right? And different cards do different things. If you aren’t 5/24 constrained, either because you aren’t someone signing up for a lot of great cards or because you’re already over, then get a Sapphire Preferred for the up front bonus and put your spend on Bilt including rent.
I agree that if you’re trying to manage 5/24 you need to think about how much your rent payment is, how long you’ll be renting, to figure out the lifetime value proposition here. I have a draft post on this that I haven’t finished. But if you’re someone paying $4k+ a month in rent (and there are a ton of them out there) that’s ~ 200k points over 4 years you wouldn’t have earned somewhere else, or ~ $5600 in Plastiq fees. That’s nothing to sneeze at. And it’s something no other card does. It’s innovative and it’s new and that’s exciting.
I haven’t read or watched the other coverage to offer an opinion on their disclosures and there may be better that some could do (hardly unique to this card, right?). But as far as the product goes, I get more excited writing about this than I do about another merchant-funded offer from a credit card coupon book, even though those are worth covering too.
Best,
Gary
Hey Gary! I don’t disagree with most of your points and I know how fair and impartial you are- which is why I mentioned it twice. I think it’s really cool that you do what you do with charity donations.
Something that I left out (bc it was just too long already) that I think is really important for people to understand is the number of credit card sign up bonuses people could receive each year by paying the 2 1/2 to 3% fee to pay their rent.. Thinking out loud in re your 4K rent figure – those renters could rack up 12+ welcome offers per year… and countless big spend bonuses. I’m sure even if you deducted for transaction fees they would still come out ahead.
While I agree that it’s unique to have a card like this… It’s also undeserving of the praise it’s getting in comparison to some of the most popular credit cards and I think it’s problematic that it’s being compared to those same cards while there is no meaningful cash out option.
Last and something that I think is really interesting about this is that …on the one hand the card is being marketed to young professionals in expensive rent markets On the other hand the people who will truly be able to get value out of this are those who understand how transfer partners and loyalty programs work which is not your typical credit card user. So that is probably also factoring in to the coverage that people are not accounting for.
One thing Richard Kerr does a REALLY nice job of is producing walk-through videos showing people how to take advantage of their points transfer partners. This isn’t just something they say is possible he shows you on the screen how to do it. Something I’d love to see them supercharge, maybe with a point.me partnership, have you seem the simple ‘circles and arrows’ videos they’ve done on this?
On the one hand you suggest someone should be dedicating their rent to credit card signup bonuses, but on the other hand suggest that it’s not fair to highlight the great stuff they’re offering in transfer partners because cardmembers are non-experts. I think there’s a tension there.
If you’re going to dedicate all your spend to signing up for a ton of cards for the bonuses, then you shouldn’t be focusing on where you get the best return on a card for its spend category bonuses. Sure. [And by the way, I’m sure Wells Fargo … like Chase, Amex, Citi, etc. doesn’t really want to build a card for those people :p ]
But for 98% of the world (and most blog readers even!) that aren’t doing that, this is a really nice card for return on spend and you don’t have to maximize Turkish Airlines redemptions or Aeroplan stopovers to get great value here you can just transfer to United or American where a lot of folks are comfortable. Or you can save points towards a mortgage downpayment which is kind of cool (they actually had to get federal regulatory signoff to be the first ones ever allowed to use points as part of a down payment on a house!) or you can cash points in for merchandise – yeah, please don’t do that, but they actually have some very cool art custom art and new stuff each quarter.
I’m curious what cards you think are underpraised relative to Bilt? (Recognizing also that there’s some newness to it that drives coverage, it’s not *another* article about maximizing the $200 airline fee credit from Amex Platinum.)
Thanks for the interesting dialogue!
Best,
Gary
Gary and Bethany,
Appreciate your perspectives here. Like you Gary, I do see some value for renters who have a 5/24 spot to spare.
Another exciting no-fee, points-earning product that has not been widely covered is the Amex personal checking account with its 0.5% APR and 0.5x MR earning on debit charges. It’s a stellar fee-free alternative to earn points on something the vast majority people pay (as opposed to rent, as 65% of Americans are homeowners) – taxes. For a flat $2.20/quarter, earning 0.5x on each tax dollar, it equals (or beats) even a stand SUB. And if the rumor that Amex’s business checking with it’s 1.1% APR will also adopt the 0.5x earnings is true, well, that’s a slam dunk.
Sandy, does that digital checking card run as a debit card to pay estimated taxes? I was looking for a datapoint on that before signing up. Thanks
Outside of a small portion of Manhattan renters, whos paying 4K a month in rent?
San Francisco, Boston, and it’s not *that* small a portion
You will be surprised, I am in the Bay Area, most of my friends already got this card because they are paying 3k+ per month on rent. It’s no annual fee, so why not?
Seattle’s rental market is insane. Tons of $3/4k rentals. Amazon recruits get paid well & want to live in urban areas. It has driven rent through the roof.
Talk to anyone east of the intracoastal in South Florida.
Rent where we live would easily be over $5K per month for our house. It’s insane.
Gary,
Did you know that the early access codes had people sign up with a different bank other than Wells Fargo? Also did bilt tell you that those users who used that code wouldn’t have access to the same benefits as WF card holders, mainly those with evolve are stuck with secondary rental insurance instead of primary? Can your relationship with bilt have any pull to ask if they informed those special code users that the benefits would not be the same?
Is this true? I think it says primary….isn’t the Mastercard providing the rental bennies and not the issuing bank?
nope, it’s secondary for me. Is Wells Primary? What a bummer.
If you are with Evolve, then it’s secondary. They wouldn’t answer that question and they failed to let early adopters know. They didn’t even offer “go away” points as a solution. Wells is primary.
That really stinks.
I also got a week of 10x as a signup bonus getting the Evolve card earlier this month, so that was nice.
An easy solution is get the card if it works for you (Rent is the largest monthly spend for many people) and don’t get the card if it doesn’t work.
I own a home so see no use. However, if this was out when I used to rent I would be all over this card! Also, no SUB but I figure there has to be some give in order to provide payments to a category that’s been completely locked (without Plastiq or sketchy GC schemes).
I don’t care about people going to parties, writing positively about a product while disclosing all the features, or pushing CC links. People do this for a living and they have to live. It’s still up to us as the consumer to decide what works for us or not. Plus, the very definition of what works changes over time.
I fear that articles like this might make backers second guess getting behind innovative products, especially ones that consumers have been asking for forever (rent payment rewards earning). Regardless of anyone’s opinion the card is unique. It’s not the card for me but I’m all for innovative products to be launched.
Couldn’t agree with you more on most points. And I also don’t care about parties- my issue is with the misrepresentations of the people who represent Bilt- the timeline portion of this is where I think the major issues lie. It’s not a good look to say we haven’t paid anyone the day after all of the blogs say they have a business relationship. I was very sensitive to this because my legal focus and law school dissertation was focused on advertising is consumer financial products and unfortunately there are a lot of issues here with respect to consumer protection. Last I agree with you about being open to innovative products- HOWEVER when you work for or with a consumer financial services company – it’s imperative that you follow industry standards and more traditional methods of promotion. C’mon it’s not like Amex and Chase following all the rules don’t have their products noticed.
I’ve attended American Express parties and Chase events, I’ve generally written about those. I thought it was pretty cool when I got my photo taken with Kristen Bell at the launch event for the Everyday cards back in 2014. I shared that photo on my blog.
But I believe it’s also correct for Bilt to say that they didn’t pay anyone referral fees or affiliate money to promote their cards (now of course there is a public referral program)..
You suggest that being invited on a future trip is the same thing, and that you don’t know anyone that had a referral code in the fall that wasn’t on that trip, but there definitely people writing about the card with referral codes that were not on the trip.
I’m not making excuses for anyone that fails to disclose any business or personal relationships that readers might find relevant to their coverage. I haven’t read enough of the coverage to evaluate this. But I feel like there are some assumptions here that are doing a lot of the work that may not be completely correct.
Best,
Gary
Well everyone has a referral post now and several of those blogs posted them after the trip. I think you think that I think (LOL there’s a mental challenge) there’s something wrong with compensation or even sponsored posts etc. no issue here. The issue is really just about misrepresentation and transparency. Last, I really just think it’s important for people to have all the facts which is why the timeline was (IMO) my greatest contribution to the post. I believe in things being fair and balanced and simply wanted to share the other side of things- which based on the fact that I have gotten no less than 15 private messages from other industry folk- people are scared to do. It’s almost comical because even the biggest points and miles outlet is less well known than d-list celebs from the 80s but I guess perception is reality sometimes.
No I didn’t take your post to be critical of compensation per se. And again, I cannot speak to others’ disclosure practices. I’ve read Frequent Miler’s stuff on the card, DoC’s stuff on the card, and not a lot else. So I just don’t have a sense of it.
But I did see an impugning of motives or suggestion that content was being influenced by compensation prior to there being compensation and the rather extreme claim you were making seemed to be that ‘only people who went on the Moskito Island trip had or were promoting referral links to skip the wait list’ which just is not correct.
I think there’s a more nuanced take and one I’d sign onto: be nice to the people that cover you and they’re more likely to be nice to you, because we’re all human. That’s smart PR and not everyone does this at all let alone well.
I thought Richard Kerr had some of the best content at TPG when he was there, and I was impressed with what he built in the Award Travel 101 Facebook group (as I understand it, he’s the first person ever to sell a Facebook group). So I do root for Richard’s success. But I also think they’re doing something interesting and innovative at Bilt, and I’m bored to death of so much that un-nnovative in the space 🙂
Alright- I have to ask- who had the skip the waitlist promo codes that wasn’t on the island? I searched high and low and didn’t find one but I’ll gladly post a revision.
Gary,
Now if Richard Kerr could turn his enterprising spirit to tackle mortgage payments – now that will be an innovative product I would jump on.
Interesting article, though I would respectfully push back a bit on the earnings assessment. As a moderate points & miles P1 with a begrudging P2 – and having long ago concluded that AA & Hyatt are the most useful points of each category for my needs, having a flexible currency that can transfer to both has real appeal and might offset that most spend is just 1x.
FWIW, I have not yet sprung for the Bilt MC and would be interested if you think I’m off base given my preference for AA & Hyatt.
Thanks!
I would be happy to talk details via email… But I think if you’re not adverse to signing up for a few cars a year there are definitely better ways to get your AA and Hyatt points- Again things are never a one-size fits all approach but I prefer points that have a cash out option in case of large devaluation switch I think it’s coming with AA
Interesting. I appreciate the insight. I had not really considered that after the big AA didn’t come to fruition last year. Thank you!
In good company with George, bravo.
Just presenting the other side which not many have done :). Hope all is well and the pandemic finally Gave you enough time to heal so that your wife didn’t have to keep walking the dogs 🙂
One major item that needs an amendment is that renters in the Bilt network didn’t need a code to skip the waitlist. The properties in the network made it very easy to apply. I think that needs to be clarified in the post.
The card was not open to the public until March 28… However if you were part of the Bilt Rewards alliance you could use the program. I should definitely make that more clear
You seem to be dragging every blog through the gauntlet here. I don’t see mention of miles to memories mentioned.
Hey Adam. Bilt has never dictated anything we have written and the vast majority of the posts about Bilt have been news related posts written by DDG our Deals Editor. I haven’t influenced those posts in any way and any time I have spoken about Bilt I have mentioned the trip. We also now have an affiliate relationship with them as of the time of the launch of the Wells Fargo card and are disclosing that no matter who writes the post.
There simply is no need to hide anything and we aren’t.
I hope this never ends. I can’t stop.
#biltaddict
#unhealthyobsession
#endlessscrolling
#bookmeaflighttoportugal
I agree with some of your points but there are 2 things missing:
1) Parents of college and grad school often pay rent. Not only can the individual student’s rent be reimbursed from a 529 plan but you can pay the full rent for the whole apartment on Bilt and get reimbursed via Venmo from the other roommates.
2) You can absolutely pay via the app even if your landlord is not in the Alliance. As long as your landlord has a payment portal, Bilt will give you a bank account number and a routing number to use and pay automatically through the landlord portal.
I agree on the 5/24 issue but there’s a bigger market for this than you think and it’s easier than you think to pay rent.
Yes – the ACH tool is what convinced me to sign up for this (with a waitlist code that I used a few months ago) when I found out PayPal Key was dying. I have a mental hurdle of regularly paying 2.2-3% on rent to get a SUB – at that point the effective cost to get that is a lot higher and makes the math more complicated than I’d like. Being able to simply use an ACH transfer (fee-free with my landlord) and get 1x back is nice. Plus I really don’t want to deal with MS avenues, potential shutdowns, etc. – yes, maybe I’m not earning quite as much but it’s within my comfort level.
Agreed! I am an empty nester who downsized and decided to rent since I was unsure of my next step. Staying liquid by renting provided me the flexibility, and in a Covid world, selling a home isn’t so simple depending on where you live.
Further, with some of the multiple free month rental programs to entice renters and a rent-stabilized building, I live for much less with less commitment than if I owed a home.
Having a card where I can earn points is a game-changer.
However, bloggers who don’t disclose they earn money from an article are not cool and could violate various regulations.
Bethany,
You know I love you, but I feel like there are some items that need to be clarified. First, all the disclosures. I was on Moskito Island. As a friend of Richard’s, I also had conversations with him when he was considering taking the job at Bilt. And, I have entered an affiliate relationship with them as of about 2 weeks ago. Prior to that, I have received no financial compensation whatsoever and, like Gary and others, paid my own way to Moskito Island (which was a bitchin’ place to visit).
I loved what they were doing, and I really respect that Bilt Rewards wasn’t born to be a travel rewards program or even a rental rewards program. The initial idea was to make it easier for folks who traditionally had a difficult path to homeownership. Final disclosure on my part, I also asked their founder, Ankur Jain, if our investment firm could invest in Bilt. He declined.
I am a big fan of Richard’s and will always root for him. I had Richard and his boss Dave Canty on my podcast well before there was an affiliate program or a trip to Moskito Island. The first iteration of Bilt wasn’t great for me, but it was really great for renters. BTW, according to reports issued by NYC, there are over 3 million rental units in NYC alone. HUD estimates there are over 40 million rental units in the US. That’s a lot of people that the Bilt Rewards card can help.
Now, you might not agree on the value prop, and I respect that. I don’t agree with your take on the value of the card and Bilt Rewards points at all, but I also believe that point values are incredibly subjective. And, I think Gary has illustrated those points just fine above.
You noted that Ben over at OMAAT wrote a nice review and that was somehow influenced by what Bilt paid him. Richard is correct when he says he’s never met Ben. He’s also correct when he says that there was no direct communication between Bilt and OMAAT about covering the card. He genuinely didn’t know the story was coming until it was done. I know Richard is friends with Howie and Tiffany over at OMAAT (as am I) and I’d be willing to bet there was some casual conversation between Richard and one of them about Bilt. However, your piece insinuates some sort of opaque financial transaction that’s just not there.
I’ve known both Richard, Ben and Gary a long time. I really can’t recall any time either of them has done anything in even a remotely opaque or translucent fashion. And, the assumptions made in the article about Ben receiving financial incentive from Bilt are factually incorrect. Ben and Richard are two of the most honest folks in the points and miles world along with Gary. None of them are deceiving you or anyone else here.
In short, I wish you had stuck to your beliefs that the card is a bad value for some subsection of people. That’s a discussion I would enjoy having. Calling into question the integrity of people I have always found to be honest and genuine takes away from the rest of your argument. Add to that the personal insults in your comment section from some readers and I am truly disappointed in the direction this has taken.
I see why your comment went to spam- it was a .com address- I respect your opinions and wish I could have written this without stepping on any toes, especially of some of my favorite people in the industry. I left out a few names of the people I care for the most, probably my own implicit bias, and I now realize that was a hit to my level of transparency. One thing I want to clear up is that I said OMAAT gave it 3 stars which means they didn’t think it was worthy of coverage just because it was a “good product” it was in direct conflict with what the Bilt rep said on twitter. OMAAT was fair in their coverage giving it 3 stars. I think it’s really important for everyone to remember that the person they keep talking about being their friend is now a credit card company employee- as such the coverage should be altered to respect the stated purpose of most of our blogs and companies- which is to help consumers with personal finance, credit cards and travel awards.
I guess I’ll just leave it at the fact that I have significant disappointment over the fact that you chose to make light of the disparaging comments made by Alyssa above. Not interested in trying to have a reasonable discussion when you can’t start with basic civility.
So nothing concrete to say about Bethany’s points but trying to gaslight other people by pretending to “disappointed”. Tiff and Howie being there should suffice as OMAAT being there and the denial of OMAAT’s presence was such crock.
Hey Jamal — fwiw OMAAT did not, and would not, attend such an event. We’re very public about our approach to these things.
I was not there, and I’m not sure how anyone got the impression that I was. (Plus anyone who has been paying attention knows there’s a 0% chance of my hotboxing with strangers mid-pandemic, but I digress). I was hosting the point.me team in Palm Springs.
Howie attending in a personal capacity to support his friend is completely separate — he neither writes on the site, nor influences content creation, nor participates in business negotiations. It would be wildly inappropriate for me to dictate what someone does in their free time, especially when it doesn’t impact their job. And we have enough mutual respect for each other to not cross the boundaries we’ve set.
Thanks for clarifying Tiffany.
I agree. I really do enjoy this blog and I think it’s repulsive when people (presumably men) criticize how women look behind pseudonyms on the internet. Regardless of what you might think about Richard or the Bilt product, it seems really easy to set the bar of not needing to insult someone’s physical appearance as a baseline for comments or criticism, regardless of gender. To have the person in charge of this blog treat that as a fun gender role reversal makes me not want to read any longer.
I hear what you’re saying- I deleted it.
Deleted.
Ed, you paid your own way. Did BILT pay for your accommodations on the island and have you disclosed that on your blog?
To my knowledge, the estate we stayed at on the island is owned by the Jain family (the founder of Bilt) so there was no nightly rate. Gary does note that the parts of the island are now available to book. There were obviously a list of expenses for food, employees, etc for our stay that were in excess of what was consumed/needed just for the Jain family.
I did not pay for my meals while I was on the island, nor did I pay to borrow a tennis racket or a paddle board. They had some wicked good coffee there and a coffee machine I really want to buy for our home, but I’m too cheap. Honestly, just the ridiculous quality of the coffee (I generally hate coffee but need the caffeine to function) was enough to taint me forever and make me a shameless shill for a product I hate. 😀
Except, I carry the card in my wallet and spend money on it every month. So, it works for me. I have discussed the Moskito trip on my podcast on more than one occasion, and I have discussed the card as well. When I recently agreed to an affiliate relationship with Bilt I did note that in the show notes of the podcast episode.
But, honestly, as long as Richard keeps giving me that incredible coffee, I’ll obviously risk my entire reputation to say nice things about him.
Ok. So my major issue is that bloggers were provided free accommodations (by your account from the founder/founder’s family). My opinion, which is shared by the FTC, is it constitutes a material relationship that should be disclosed clearly. I knew of only 1 person, Leff, who clearly and publicly stated his accommodations on the island were paid for.
And I understand that some, including you, mentioned the trip and even the nature of the trip, but did not disclose that the stay was provided for free. Vague language like “I was invited” or “I paid my own way” isn’t clear enough for readers and doesn’t provide the full context.
I don’t think it was wrong to go on the trip and subsequently write about BILT. For many writers having these brand partnerships is important. And I”m sure everyone had a good time. Who wouldn’t? Well, probably me because I’m a grump.
What I hope doesn’t get lost here is that this is new territory for a lot of people in this community. Some points and miles writers are sharp and it’s smart for product teams to hire them. I think we’ll continue to see that more and more. But as friends switch from content writers to product owners, it creates some messy waters writers need to wade through. How do bloggers support their friends while attempting to remain objective about a portfolio of competitors? It’s possible. But certainly difficult.
In this instance, I don’t think a majority of the bloggers on the trip did enough to disclose their material relationship to BILT. Maybe my standards for disclosure are too high. Maybe. But I tend to err on the side of over disclosure. And I’ve been extremely disappointed in the number of people I’ve seen who claim this type of thing needs not be disclosed.
The vague and evasive replies Ed gave you in his reply is proof enough to realize why travel bloggers have such a poor reputation in the travel hacking community. “To my knowledge” and “I was invited” are bad enough but to say I paid my own way is downright misleading insofar as alluding that the plane ticket to get there was meaningful part of the trip equivalent.
I don’t pay rent, I am over 5/24 and I don’t churn credit cards or MS.
I was originally not a good fit for the Bilt cc but I applied and used it on Black Friday when they were offering 5x on all Black Friday purchases. For me AA points are harder to collect (other than using an AA co-branded cc) so I jumped at the chance to earn 5x points transferable to AA.
I don’t plan to use this card regularly but am happy with my decision to apply for it.
I Can’t complain at all about this no fee card!
That sounds right to me! It’s a value add for some for sure.
Bethany, thank you for your important work in covering this terrible product and calling out the shameless behavior of bloggers. I hope you will call the CFPB whistleblower hotline so that they can launch an investigation into the shadiness of all of this. Wells Fargo can’t seem to get its act together, and I am sure the CFPB would love to hear about all of this.
I also hope that some of these blogs come under investigation. The excuse that you had no financial relationship won’t hold up well when the facts will undoubtedly show communications with bilt before the positive coverage started. Just because the financial relationship was still being negotiated, doesn’t make it any less illegal. Good luck if the CFPB comes after all of these stupid, shady blogs. The semantics and word games won’t save you from your shadiness.
Guy that accepted many a paycheck from TPG has no scruples. Shocking.
Hey Bougie –
We’ve never met so I’ll introduce myself via your comment section. My name is Zach and I’m the founder of Monkey Miles – I wanted to address a couple of things since you made a point of singling me out and disparaging my reputation without pinging my site ( which you did for Gary ) or even emailing me so I could point you to some facts.
First off my largest audience by far is on TikTok where I have 1.2 million followers and directly in my profile disclose I am a Bilt Senior Advisor – I also have it on my Insta with 60k followers disclosed the same information – these two are the largest origins of traffic for my site. My email list – I wrote an entire paragraph letting my audience know that I became an advisor on the product
I even clearly point out it in my first TikTok after having a financial relationship https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPd9BGUPf/
Referring to Moskito…
When I was on the island I published this video which very clearly details why I was there and put stories up on my Instagram while I was on the island as well as a feed post
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTd9r7n5g/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVig238FuJn/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Up until a bit before the launch I only had an early access code, they later approached me about a financial relationship which I accepted and have been transparent about.
It’s clearly stated on my favorite credit card page that I have a relationship with Bilt which is where most of my traffic from social lands. I have an affiliate disclosure on every post of my blog – it’s clear I make money off links
If you look at my favorite credit cards page it lists the best offer not just affiliate links – whether that be affiliate, resy, etc. – I do my best to give readers the best offers out there whether I make money or not. I can not think of many who do this.
My audience is very new to points and miles and I think Bilt is a fantastic product for renters in general but specifically for those who are newly on ramping and I stand by that – it’s why I chose to partner with them and have a line of communication with them. I’ve been transparent about it and I take great issue with you casting aspersions against my reputation.
You have my email now,
Zach
That’s fair- I was only referring to your posts on the blog, glad to see you did better for your other audiences. Cheers
Bougie –
As I mentioned, it’s disclosed on my blog in the affiliate disclosure as well as my credit card page. I’d suggest updating your post and retracting since you’re disparaging my name by feeding your readers misinformation.
Zach
Your a fraud .Yiur wife said so .
Updated to ping your site as requested…
There isn’t a ping and that wasn’t the point or my request. I’ve illustrated that your claim is false, I healthily pointed out the disclosure of my involvement on the blog + socials + continued relationship with Bilt and yet you’re continuing to present it as fact – which is slander.
As you said yourself in response to comment above ” I left out a few names of the people I care for the most, probably my own implicit bias, and I now realize that was a hit to my level of transparency. ”
By purposefully including my name, I can only conclude that if this article remains unedited you are knowingly and willfully aiming to damage my reputation through false claims.
Your audience is new points and miles and that’s exactly why recommending this card so highly is even worse! Those of us that have been around this block a few times know this card isn’t worth a second look.
The way some blogs mentioned this card OVER and OVER was ridiculous. If Richard didn’t know all these guys (and note they are all men) this card would not have been covered the way it was.
I’m not a blogger, but I’m a longtime participant in this hobby and dabble in a side business advising people on credit card/point strategy. Throughout the years, I’ve gotten to know many of the bloggers either personally or by following their work, and there’s a wide range in how they approach affiliate marketing and communicating deals to their readers. I respect calling that out, as there are some who don’t always look out for their audience, and some who are incredibly diligent, even at a detriment to their own bottom line. But the example you’ve chosen here is the wrong one and you’ve called out a lot of the wrong people.
I have zero skin in this game, but I can tell you in the last week I’ve referred multiple people to Bilt. As Gary pointed out above, 98% of the public have no desire to manage more than a few cards, shop for gift cards (not to mention exchanging them for money orders), or have any clue what 5/24 means. If you’re at the pointy end of the miles collecting hobby, this card is not for you. But as someone who diligently looks after the best interests of any client I take on (including factoring in how much time they want to spend chasing points), this card works for a much larger segment of the public than I think you understand. Most of the people I work with are high income big city dwellers, and no, they don’t all own their homes (or want to). As one piece of a diversified wallet, this is a good card for many.
I know it’s gratifying to buck the trend, but there is good reason your colleagues piled on to the coverage, as this card fills a hole in the market. Please, please, feel free to call out bad actors, but a lot of them weren’t named here, a lot of decent people were, and the fact remains that this card CAN be a solid choice for many: not for me, not for you, but yeah, for a lot of others.
Who are the bad actors ?And what do they do ?
I’m over 5/24, have the CSR and watch to get rid of it because my only use for UR is World of Hyatt. If I can get 3x on dining and 2x on travel without having to shell out $550 for Chase annually, you bet you butt I’m going to get the Bilt card.
Bethany, I’ve always respected what you brought to this space, and I truly don’t take issue with you having an opinion on the folks you’ve mentioned, but to say this card isn’t worth it simply because it doesn’t work for you isn’t quite right.
I don’t think Amex provides good value for those who don’t travel internationally or in premium cabins…but that doesn’t stop folks from singing their praises. Many folks in this space give Amex a pass because of their ability to game the MR system by way of upgrades/downgrades, sign up bonuses, no life time language, and AU/POT offers.
If ever the gaming tactics at Amex fade into the distance folks are going to go back to whining about them, crowded Centurion Lounges, and the expensive cost of the Amex Platinum that they claim to love dearly.
Your opinion of the card is valid, your thoughts on other folks are just that, but if you’re going be transparent, then call out of some the reasons why folks could find benefit in this card and I think I’ve pointed out a good one in the example of myself.
Keep doing you…
Thanks for your thoughts :). I actually thought I did that in the part where I said who the card would be good for but I think you’re right- I could have tried a little harder to see it even more favorably for some aspects and people. A lot of the comments show that people don’t have the same issues with it I do. I just can’t get over the fact that the Flex within the UR realm would be my pick all day every day over this. Either way, I hear your points and think they make perfect sense.
I made this comment in my blog Beth referred to:
I have been around this hobby for a very long time. And I am amazed how “hobbyists” are all becoming credit card salesmen feasting on uneducated consumers. But it still shocks me how much “play” the Bilt Rewards card has gotten out there! It is a card WITHOUT a signup bonus and I can not imagine how much more hyped it would be if it ever started offering one! As far as the card goes, I guess if you pay high rent and don’t mind the minimum five transactions per month and also earn 3x on dining…it could make sense. I can not help but wonder how much bloggers earn pushing it, those referral commissions must be very high! Especially after finding out how many of them were dined and dined by the Bilt Rewards people and its bank partner who is no other than Wells Fargo, yikes! I mean, could they not find any other bank with such horrific anti consumer rap sheet, wow! For the record, Bilt raised $60 million dollars from Wells Fargo!
And when I posted it…I had even forgotten about the Mosquito Island “free” trip!
Some more points:
-So many esteemed credit card salesmen were invited, no wonder I was not. Not that I would ever have accepted it. Because, the moment you do…. you are no longer objective WHATEVER you say via “disclosures” or…not.
-Again, can you imagine if Wells Fargo decides to sweeten the game with a signup bonus? I can see Gary doing “69 reasons I love the Bilt card”!
-Wells Fargo is the worst, this is the only bank they can get in bed with, seriously?
-The card is a niche product. Good to see some innovation in the market place. Would it have gotten so much buzz if it was not for free wining and dining and luxury trips and commissions? Of course NOT! And this is how it rolls in this “hobby” that has become a multimillion dollar business of supposedly hobbyists blogging to tell family and friends how to travel for free. Lol.
For old timers (and new ones) I wrote this satire piece back in 2014. This space has gotten even worse since then sometimes I feel like taking a bath with all these shills.
https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/travel-milespoints-blogosphere-has-turned-into-a-giant-credit-card-pumpization-scheme/
Anyway, you all have a nice weekend. The only thing I wish is for…peace in Ukraine!
Is pumpization a word? I love it. Lol have a good weekend to you too!
My two cents, having already given them in the article: People coming to the defense of this article stand to benefit monetarily from that card doing well. That’s not really my area of expertise. All I know is that “paid promotion” has always rubbed me the wrong way and put me off, similar to when Venture X came out. If anything, I hope this teaches the average user to look through the bias, which is something we should do in all aspects of news and life in general, and determine things for what they really are, and what they would mean for you. My take on this card is pretty clear, it’s being pushed in a selfish and not forthcoming manner, which demeans the value of the card in my opinion. It has its niche use, but that’s all it is. An ok card for a specific purpose with no SUB and mediocre earning, rendering partners less effective.
And I mean people defending themselves from the content of the article, just to clarify
So what I’m hearing is because there’s no SUB for you to MS and benefit from, the card is crap and the integrity of the people speaking of it is horrible?
You guys make me giggle. You speak of integrity when most blogs speak highly of a credit card when they stand to gain. Folks speak of Chase as if it’s the best and if one fails to have them in wallet then they’re crazy. Chase has Hyatt and United…that’s there uniqueness…everything else can be had by another lender with better earning rates and usually a lower AF…but do yo run around griping about that? No, you don’t.
Something tells me if Bilt had a 50-100k sub that you could benefit from, this comment wouldn’t exist because you’d be gainfully benefitting from it.
The hypocrisy is unreal here. Just say that you couldn’t game this card so you hate it. Just like you spoke ill of the Venture X until you decided to put that sucker in your wallet…then you became VERY quiet about it.
Just stop…the internet has a long memory so when you choose to stand firm on an issue be sure it aligns with your values and view on similar issues to which you turned a blind eye.
They’re living in a bubble. It’s bizarre to me that they don’t get that the world is not obsessed with MS, moving from SUB to SUB, or managing 10 cards in their wallet. If this was such a niche product, as they keep insisting, why would major financial firms be pouring millions of dollars into it? While that doesn’t make it inherently valuable, it does mean someone has done the research and found that there’s an active market for what they’re selling. And my own experience backs this up: there are a lot of high paying renters out there who want to find a way to EASILY extract value from their top spending category.
Combining this with the Venture X naysaying makes me think that everyone’s gotta have an angle, and theirs is finding a way to take a contrary view on consensus views of popular topics. No issue with that, but I think they’re taking it a bit far here and some of their arguments are just uninformed.
And for the record, I have no financial, reputation, or other interest here.
“my own experience” backs this up. Conformation bias much?
The “major” financial institution is Wells Fargo, hardly a stellar bank by reputation and practically a nobody in the credit card world.
This a mediocre card and I am shocked that anyone would believe that folks like Gary would have covered the card with the same fervor if the trip to Branson island wasn’t in play.
To be clear- I don’t have either card and yea if the card had a sub it would be better, isn’t that the point? Also the internet having a long memory is fine by me. I only cover what interests me and this was interesting.
I’m not hiding from exactly what I’m saying. There’s no SUB and earning is weak so it’s not good. The integrity of the people in question is a separate yet equally valid issue. As for Chase, the proof is in the pudding. It’s the gold standard and has been for a long time. If you don’t have a good setup with them, then yes, you are missing out on a lot. The amount of money I’ve personally saved with them is far more than any other bank. These are just facts for me. Also, yes, if there was an SUB, the card would be a lot better, because at least there would be some significant entry value. You calling it hypocrisy is a wildly inaccurate statement. I’ve been very analytical running the numbers on this card, and it doesn’t measure up past a niche use product. And also I haven’t been quiet about getting a Venture X. I’ve openly spoken about it on my podcast. (BTW this must be “Randy” from twitter- sounds like a fake name that someone is probably using IMO). I didn’t get it initially because the coverage was gross, like this. When the bonus was going away, I had some big spend coming and no other card needs, so I threw out an app in the hopes of cashing in for Disney or something. If Bilt had that, we’d have a different discussion. So you acting like you’re owning me with that oh you’d not be saying that if you could benefit comment is ridiculous. That’s literally the point of getting a new card. To say I’ve been quiet about my Venture X is incorrect. It’s been all over my social/podcast areas in discussion, so let’s get the facts straight there. So, thanks for your “input.”
Oh and also this card is as gameable as any other so MS angle has nothing to do with it.
I completely understand how the people featured in your story are defensive and feel they are above board.
But I believe your post is valid and highlights some of disclosure omissions we see in the industry. As with many things what is legally defensible might appear to others as questionable or immoral
As an analogy if I’m comfortable putting my bare feet on the bulkhead and it’s legal, does that make it acceptable?
What I took issue with was the substance of the discusskon of the Bilt card. It is clearly a better product for many people than was being given credit for. It seems like the product was beinf criticized to suggest that positive reviews must have been bought and paid for.
I wasn’t aware of how people were or were not handling disclosure issues. But I saw what seemed like motivated reasoning about the product which seemed off base driven by a desire ro impugn motives.
Stick to ‘participation in these sorts of events should be disclosed’ and that is solid ground. It becomes a real stretch to say this isn’t a great product and people are clearly compromised by what may be forsome a de minimis relationship.
I agree it’s a good product for renters.
Coverage of this and Venture X have been grossly mishandled and misrepresented. It’s not a “great product.” It’s nowhere near the upper echelon of cards out there. It’s a “useful product for a certain subsection of people.”
Gary:
How is this a “great” product?
1. No SUB
2. Big red flag with the Wells Fargo tie up and bloggers have downplayed the connection.
3. Woeful multipliers with just one category being 3x
4. Sneaky and disrespectful marketing tactics and I am afraid this sets the tone for how this company will treat customers.
The lack of the sign up bonus is a massive disincentive since with many cards the signup bonus pays for 3-10 years of annual fees plus you get many more bonus categories.
@Jamal – no initial bonus is indeed a drawback, this card won’t get you a ton of points quickly.
There’s two ways to think about the up front bonus issue. 1. there are cards to get for the bonus and cards to get for spending, get a signup bonus card for the former and put spending on this one [e.g. Sapphire Preferred vs Bilt]. 2. Which card will reward you more over time? Paying rent for several years can be worth even more.
This card gives you earning in a category no other card does (rent) and gives you 3x on dining and points transfers all with no annual fee.
Your other beefs have nothing to do with the value prop of the card itself. I’d say the Wells connection is a positive not a negative (how many of us even have Wells cards, this puts another issuer in play). And your beef with what some have said about the product, I’m not sure how that plays into the value proposition itself.
I thought the card was kind of crappy and that had nothing to do with a desire to
Impugn motive- that’s silly. I like almost (lol) all of the people who have covered it. I see from the comments that the card isn’t crappy for some people but that doesn’t change either of my material opinions on the card or the coverage.
Bethany,
I appreciate what you bring to this space, always have. But I hate when people make blanket statements that something is crap just because it doesn’t fit into how they go about this hobby. You never went there and I appreciate it.
A few folks up thread have done just that…they criticize the card because it doesn’t work into how they do things or they have a set up that already accomplishes what this card brings to the space so it’s of no use to them…even more so without a sign up bonus.
But for those who have locked themselves out of Chase by being over 5/24, or have played the game in a way that Chase doesn’t care for and have gotten shut down, this card does allow access to such partners like United and Hyatt.
Do I think one should pick this card over the Sapphire Preferred, may not unless the aspect of paying rent is of interest to them then there may be a play.
Ryan up thread seems to think that everyone has went about hobby in the same manner he has and such gets frustrated (don’t know why) when folks find value in a card that he has no taste for.
The world is big enough for everyone to have a thought, we don’t have to march to the beat of another persons drum.
I think a lot of the drama surrounding this card is how compensation was disclosed and to me, that’s a separate matter. I also believe that folks have issue with Richard Kerr and his connections to TPG and the others who may be involved with this card…and that too is far but it does no one any good, especially those outside of this space, lump all of it together.
The card is what it is…it works for you or it doesn’t. It doesn’t have a sign up bonus which is a bummer but being as though Richard Kerr and TPG is behind this card, they know what churners will do and thus decided that this card would never be targeted towards those folks.
Anyway, it is what it is but I do appreciate you not mixing your thoughts on disclosure with just putting out a blanket statement that this card is a dud for everyone.
I appreciate your point and agree with pretty much everything you’ve said. I actually made the decision over the weekend to bifurcate the post and leave the review portion mostly because Of exactly what you’re saying in terms of my issue with the disclosures versus the issues with the card. I realize that this post will live on Google for a long time And people searching for the merits of the card definitely don’t need to be bombarded with 3000 words on the issues with the credit card affiliate community. As always thank you for reading and letting me know you’re what you think!
It’s a value add for me because PayPal Key got nuked from orbit, making rent payments in my high cost of living city using my landlord’s portal 3% vs. $10 on a debit card. Yeah, I know, minimum spend on an offer, but I am actually trying to go below 5/24 from LOL/24 so my ability to grab cards in 2022 is limited.
Bilt actually gives me an ACH number so I actually don’t have to pay the $10 any more, so there’s that (1x is worse that 2x minus $10 on PayPal Key but not nothing, plus I now have a way to generate Hyatt from CC spend before I go under 5/24). They also gave me a 5 day 10x on all purchases SUB, max 50k, which while not the most amazing SUB ever given the short period, also wasn’t nothing, I prepaid some bills and netted some points. I also got the Evolve card, which was weird since I applied in late March, but OK…
Also… you’re bagging on Bilt for bad cash outs, have you heard of this company called AMEX? .6 cents per point on statement credits, friend, and not everyone has the Schwab or Morgan Stanley Platinum card. I mean, maybe you like Red Lobster gift cards at a penny a point, but Bilt isn’t the only company where cash out value is well behind transfer partner value.
It’s definitely a niche market but if you’re on team No Annual Fees, with this card, and Capital One VentureOne and SavorOne you actually have a way to transfer to a lot of programs with no annual fee.
The card definitely sounds like it makes sense to you and the Red lobster gift cards cracked me up. I actually use Amex points for domestic business class flights with the rebate. Actually that’s another knock on Bilt I hadn’t considered- no portal booking to use for 1+ cent each.
Amex travel portal is 1c.
Cashing out for 0.6c is one option out of many but the fact that you focus on that tells me everything about your posts.
I think the more options there are the more valuable the points are. Of course no one is dying to cash out points in this hobby but sometimes it makes sense. Like PYB or when Schwab cash out was better. I know personally I cashed out 10k to my accounts during the pandemic bc the points were just sitting there- so it happens. Obv transferring them is the bread and butter but it’s a little wonky that people are making it seem like those points are as valuable as the other transferable currencies with many more options.
Never forget that Richard Kerr paid for AA Mailers, then wrote about people deserving to be shut down on TPG.
Bethany,
I applaud your courage. At the very least, you exposed this “incentive meeting” that many of us followers of miles and points blogs knew nothing about, including me! Your expose has made everyone defensive that they told readers, etc., that they went. Now was/is there more coverage of Bilt than there would ordinarily be for a new productive? I thought so! But being a discerning shopper, I wrote it off, as not for me.
But there is a bigger issue here. You see for 2 years most people were not travelling. But the bloggers were pimping credit cards like there was no tomorrow! Disclosed or not, the reason to follow these bloggers disappeared, when their blogs only became about selling credit cards. One culprit of this is a commenter here. I accumulated miles and points during Covid, as well. But there needs to be a pull-back on this pimping of CCs. I stopped my subscriptions to many blogs, because the info I need just isn’t being posted. Matter of fact I really don’t find the need for any of the miles and points blogs anymore, because they all cover the same thing.
Thank you for your kind words! I would LOVE to know what types of posts or heck, even specific posts you’d like to see? I agree with your points about the coverage and I used to get inspired to create content when I read other blogs, lately I’m lacking inspiration to say the least.