Bilt Mastercard Review: A first for renters and future homebuyers

One of Bilt's best features is its Rent Day bonus points. On the first of every month, your Bilt Mastercard will earn double points on all non-rent purchases for 24 hours, up to 10,000 bonus points. (Use your card five times each statement period to earn points. See Rewards & Benefits.):

• Dining: 6X points (regularly 3X points)
• Travel: 4X points (regularly 2X points)
• All other non-rent purchases: 2X points (regularly 1X points)

Once you reach 10,000 bonus points, you’ll resume earning rewards at your standard rates. Bilt also introduces unique bonuses as part of Rent Day each month. These bonuses can provide outsized value. If you time your purchases right, you can earn one of the best rates for dining and travel on the first of each month. 

You’ll qualify for loyalty status based on the number of points you earn in a year. As soon as you reach the required number of points, your status will automatically update and you’ll gain access to the associated benefits. There's also a Fast Track option based on your spending rather than points earned. In addition, you’ll keep your new status through the end of the following year. These perks serve as a nice way to encourage you to use the card and accumulate points throughout the year. The bonus on lease incentives and interest earned on points once you achieve Silver status or higher are unique features that can also add points to your account. Here’s a look at each status level:

The card's travel insurance sets it apart from its competitors. Coupled with its lack of foreign transaction fee, this feature can turn the Bilt Mastercard into an attractive travel card. 

The card covers up to $5,000 worth of trip cancellation and interruption if your trip gets interrupted or canceled due to a covered event. There’s also trip delay reimbursement, which offers up to $200 per day for up to three days on a trip that’s delayed for at least six hours (up to $1,800 total for all covered travelers per trip), and an auto rental collision damage waiver if your rental car is damaged or stolen.

If your cellphone is damaged or stolen, the issuer may reimburse up to $800 for the cost of repair or replacement after any coverage provided by primary insurance as long as you pay your phone bill with your Bilt Mastercard. There’s a $25 deductible, and you can only make two paid claims per year, but this perk surpasses coverage offered by many other rewards cards with cellphone insurance. (See Guide to Benefits.)

The Bilt Mastercard is unmatched when it comes to using a credit card to pay rent. It’s also a rarity among no-annual-fee cards because it allows you to transfer your points to travel partners without a premium card to pair it with. This gives it a leg up over the Chase Freedom Unlimited card, which can’t access transfer partners unless you also have one of the Chase Ultimate Rewards cards — the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card. The Bilt Mastercard also doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, unlike the Chase Freedom Unlimited. 

However, the Freedom Unlimited card combines an attainable welcome offer, high-earning bonus categories and a boosted flat rate on general purchases for a terrific all-around package. 

Both cards outperform several entry-level travel cards, but the Autograph card goes a bit further. It offers elevated rewards rates in more everyday categories, a welcome bonus comparable to most no-annual-fee cards and an intro APR offer on purchases.

If the majority of your purchases fall into one of the Autograph’s bonus categories, the Autograph card is likely a better option. Yet, there isn’t a good match to beat the Bilt Mastercard’s rewards rate for rent payments. The Autograph card doesn’t let you transfer your points to airline or hotel partners, which could be a disadvantage for travel strategists who are adept at maximizing rewards by transferring them for optimal value. Meanwhile, the Bilt Mastercard has far more flexible redemption options and opportunities for extra value.

The Blue Cash Preferred rewards generously for several everyday categories, carries a decent welcome offer and includes an intro APR for purchases and balance transfers. This card complements the Bilt Mastercard well because it has a variety of boosted categories that Bilt doesn’t cover, like U.S. gas stations, U.S. supermarkets and U.S. streaming subscriptions. As an extra incentive, the annual fee is waived for the first year.

This is one of the best mid-level travel cards around thanks to its modest annual fee and solid selection of everyday rewards categories like travel, dining, online grocery purchases and select streaming services. You receive generous perks like a travel credit, transfer partners and the opportunity to redeem travel rewards for 25 percent more value through the Chase Travel portal. When paired, the Bilt Mastercard and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card can provide renters with a comprehensive card strategy that covers a majority of common spending categories. There are also overlapping transfer partners with both programs which can work in tandem towards an award booking.

Anyone interested in earning rewards on rental payments will benefit from having this card. Without a transaction fee, this card has no downside when used to pay rent. For instance, if you pay $20,000 in rent every year, the points you earn could be worth $420, according to Bankrate's estimations. That's money you could use for travel or to help pay next month's rent.

Many of Bilt's features are geared toward helping cardholders pursue a home. Not only does the card help build credit, but Bilt’s gold and platinum elite statuses also offer the benefit of a homeowner concierge.

Additionally, the Bilt app features a Home Buying Tool that helps you determine what type of home you can afford (and how your points can help). You can even redeem your points toward a down payment.

While there may be higher-earning travel rewards cards, this card can be advantageous for occasional travelers who prefer not to pay an annual fee for a premium travel card. The Bilt Mastercard allows you to transfer points for travel, has no foreign transaction fees and features comprehensive travel insurance. You can also take advantage of transfer bonus promotions for exceptional value.

The primary criteria for a rewards or cash back card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Based on this data, we determine a “chargeable” spend (which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards). This includes the following spending by category:

• Groceries: $5,200
• Dining out: $3,000
• Entertainment: $2,500
• Gas: $2,100
• Apparel and services: $1,700

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 23 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases, as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.

We also rate cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each rewards or cash back card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards or cash back cards. 

We also score each card based on how its annual fee influences its overall value. 

We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value, but if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score even if it carries a high annual fee. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against other cards in the category when you subtract its annual fee.

We rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards and factor this rating into a card’s overall score. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you redeem for some options versus others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners. 

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. 

We break down these tiers as follows:

• Tier 1 has less than standard card features (an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits. 
• Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges. 
• Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection. 
• Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs. 
• Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.

Yes, but you must opt-in to benefit from this feature. It can take 45 to 60 days (in some cases longer) before reported rent payments appear on a resident’s credit report. 

Nearly all apartments will accept the Bilt Mastercard as payment. If you pay rent via check, Venmo, Paypal or any other online portal, you can use the Bilt Mastercard® to earn points on rent when you use your card five times each statement period. 

You can use the Bilt App to pay rent by check and still earn rewards. However, Bilt Mastercard does not currently support Zelle.

Yes, the Bilt Mastercard is a World Elite Mastercard, so you can enjoy enhanced benefits such as cellphone insurance, travel insurance and concierge services.