Advertiser Disclosure: CNET’s editors independently select each product and service we cover. Although we cannot review every company or financial offering available, we strive to make comprehensive and accurate comparisons in order to highlight the best ones. For many of these products and services, we earn a commission. The compensation we receive may affect how products and links appear on our site.
You can book a direct flight to Paris from several US cities with miles through Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France and KLM KLM.
Alexandre Spatari / Getty Images
As a credit card editor, I see so many card deals—but it’s so rare that I find one I’m excited to jump on myself.
That’s why, when this Bilt Mastercard’s May Rent Day deal hit my inbox, I knew I had to share it… right after I checked my Bilt account to see if I had enough points to take advantage of.
On the first of every month (aka “Rent Day”), Bilt usually drops a new special promotion. For the month of May, Bilt Mastercard is offering a 100% flight bonus to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, only on May 1. If you bundle this deal with Flying Blue’s monthly promotional bonuses—discounted fares for select itineraries that change each month—you can book a flight to Europe for 6,000 Bilt Points one-way (or 12,000 points round-trip), plus taxes and fees.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Bilt Mastercard, the deal, the trips available – and tips and tricks for making the most of this card and reward.
About the card
Card highlights
Introduction view
See terms
Purchase an APRN/A introduction
Recommended credit: Excellent, Good
Rewards rates 3x points on dining, 2x points on travel, 1x points on other purchases, earn up to 1x points on rental payments with no transaction fee, up to 100,000 points each calendar year. When you make at least 5 posted transactions in a statement period with your Bilt Mastercard, you will earn points on net rental and eligible purchases.
Annual fees
Additional details
APR balance transfer, see terms
Balance Transfer Fee An introductory fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater, for 120 days from account opening. After that, up to 5% per balance transfer, with a minimum of $5.
Late payment fee up to $40
Foreign transaction fee $0
APRNONE PENALTY
Rewards and redemption details
3x points on dinner, 2x points on travel, 1x points on other purchases Earn up to 1x points on rental payments with no transaction fee, up to 100,000 points each calendar year. When you make at least 5 posted transactions in a statement period with your Bilt Mastercard, you will earn points on net rental and eligible purchases.
Bilt Mastercard is a card with no annual fee that offers a unique value proposition: It allows you to pay rent with your credit card and earn rewards, while avoiding the transaction fees you’ll typically encounter when trying to pay rent with any other card. Credit card. When you sign up for the card, you’ll receive a unique routing number and account number associated with your card that allows you to pay your rent through an online portal as if you were paying through an ACH transaction, which is usually free. You will earn 1 point for every dollar spent (up to 100,000 points each calendar year). If your landlord or apartment complex only accepts rent payments by check, you can also get a check mailed to Bilt and still earn 1x points on the transaction.
In addition to earning points on rental payments, you’ll also earn 3x points on dining, 2x points on travel and 1x points on other purchases – a respectable rewards rate for a card with no annual fee. Then on the first day of each month, or “Rental Day,” you’ll earn double points on all non-rental purchases (up to 10,000 bonus points). This boosts your rewards rate to 6x points on dinner, 4x points on travel and 2x points on all other purchases for just that day. You will need to make five purchases each month with your Bilt Card to qualify for rental points and points on eligible net purchases.
Redeem BILT points
Bilt offers several points redemption options, including credit for rental payments, shopping with points on Amazon.com and exclusive merchandise, but there’s only one option worth spending your points on: transferring your points to travel partners.
BILT has 12 airline partners and 2 hotel partners. You can transfer your points to a partner in increments of 1,000 or 2,000 (depending Bilt Rewards Status) with a 1:1 transfer ratio. But sometimes, Bilt offers special transfer bonuses that offer even more value for your points: like the Flying Blue transfer offer that goes live on May 1.
Why is this offer such a big deal?
On the rental day in May, Bilt is offering a 100% carry-on bonus to Flying Blue – the rewards program shared by Air France, KLM KLM and partner airlines. This means that you can redeem one Bilt Point for two Flying Blue Miles (instead of the typical 1:1 conversion ratio), essentially doubling the value of your points. The 100% Referral Bonus is a rare deal, and much higher than the typical 25% Referral Bonuses we typically see for this rewards program (such as the one currently active from Chasing).
This offer is only available May 1 from 12 AM ET to 11:59 PM PT, so be sure to convert your points within the window. After May 1, you can still convert your Bilt Points to Flying Blue, but it will be at the normal conversion rate of 1:1.
How to book your dream European vacation with 6000 points
The 100% conversion bonus is indeed a great deal, but Flying Blue is the same every month Promotional bonuses Sweeten the pot more. Each month Flying Blue offers discounts on select reward flights, usually for bookings within the next six months. May promotional fares include flights to Europe between May 1 and October 31 starting at 11,250 miles one way – which you can get for just 6,000 BILT Points if you take advantage of the 100% transportation bonus on May 1st.
Here’s a sampling of some of the promotional May fares to and from Europe and their prices at Flying Blue Miles (taxes and fees not included). If you are taking advantage of a BILT transportation bonus, divide the cost of the miles in half to determine how many BILT points you will need.
From the economy to Europe
To/from Boston starting at 11,250 Flying Blue Miles one way.
Premium economy class for Europe
To/from Houston starting at 30,000 blue flight miles one way.
Business class to Europe
From/to Newark to Paris starting at 41,250 Flying Blue Miles one way.
To/from Atlanta starting at 52,500 Flying Blue Miles one way.
For the full list of May promotional bonuses, check out Flying Blue website on May 1.
To book a flight, first link your Flying Blue account to your Bilt account in the Bilt app. Then you can transfer your BILT Points to your Flying Blue account and book your flight directly via the KLM or Air France website using your newly converted Flying Blue Miles.
Other tips for getting the most out of your Bilt Mastercard
If you don’t have enough Bilt Points to cover the full cost of the flight (and you probably won’t if you’re a new cardholder), you can also transfer points to Flying Blue via American Express Membership RewardsAnd Capital One milesAnd Chase Ultimate Rewards® And City Thank You Points. While you won’t get the same 100% conversion bonus as Bilt (although Chase is offering a 25% conversion bonus to Flying Blue through May 15), transferring your points from these issuers can still be a viable avenue. To increase your miles. And get the trip you want. If you don’t currently have a Bilt Card and are considering signing up, know that you likely won’t be able to collect enough points in time to really take advantage of the Flying Blue moving bonus on May 1, but this card offers great ongoing value even outside of these special deals come deals. New rent day every month, so you can get one of the following offers. If you have Premium travel credit card Like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® CardYou can use it to pay fuel surcharges, taxes and fees on your reward trip to take advantage of the card’s travel protection benefits. Flying Blue’s promotional fares last all month (subject to availability), so don’t worry if you can’t book your flight for exactly May 1. The program offers new promotional rewards every month, so if you’d like to fly with Air France or KLM (or one of its airline partners) but can’t find any flights you want at the moment, it might still be worth taking advantage of BELT’s offers. Transfer your bonus and bank miles into your account until you find the flight you want. (I usually recommend not transferring points until you’re ready to book, but a 100% conversion bonus may be one of the rare cases when it makes sense to credit your points for a future trip.)
You get 100 Bilt points for each travel partner you link to your account – that’s an extra 1,400 points you can get just by signing up (for free) to each hotel or airline’s loyalty program and linking your account to Bilt.
Also check out other Bilt Rent Day offers, including the chance to win a month’s rent or a free trip to Europe via the Bilt Rent Day Challenge, the chance to win an extra 250 points via the Point Quest Trivia, and more.
The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent evaluations by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It is not provided or authorized by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق