They say to take what you love and turn it into a job. I get to talk about credit cards, points and miles every day and get paid for it, so I say I’ve succeeded at that. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I enjoy singing the praises of rewards credit cards whenever I get the chance.

But the credit card industry offers so many options that even an expert like me can struggle to keep track. That’s why I love helping my friends and family sift through the choices to find cards that fit their lifestyles and travel goals.

Usually, there’s a handful of rewards cards that come up whenever I’m giving my Ted Talk on credit cards, points and miles. There’s a good reason for that: these cards are flexible, easy to use and brimming with enough perks to justify whatever annual fee they may have.

Here are my top picks.

Comparing my top picks for the best rewards credit cards

Here’s a quick overview of what each of my favorite rewards cards has to offer.

Card	Welcome offer	Earning rates
Chase Freedom Flex® (see rates and fees) (No annual fee)	Earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 in the first three months from account opening.	5% back on rotating quarterly categories each quarter you activate (on up to $1,500 of spending each quarter, then 1% back) 5% back on travel booked through Chase Travel℠ 3% back on dining and at drugstores 2% back on Lyft (through Sept. 30, 2027) 1% back on all other purchases
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) ($95 annual fee)	Earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first three months from account opening.	5 points per dollar spent on Chase Travel 5 points per dollar spent on Lyft (through Sept. 30, 2027) 3 points per dollar spent on dining, select streaming services and online grocery orders (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs) 2 points per dollar spent on all other travel 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees) ($95 annual fee)	Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months from account opening.	10 points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com 3 points per dollar spent on air travel, other hotel purchases, dining, supermarkets, gas and electric vehicle charging stations 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
American Express Platinum Card® ($895 annual fee; see rates and fees)	New Amex Platinum cardmembers can find out their offer and see if they’re eligible for as high as 175,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 in the first six months of card membership. Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.	5 points per dollar spent on airfare booked directly or through American Express Travel® (on up to $500,000 in spending per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar spent) 5 points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases

Chase Freedom Flex

Standout benefits: This card’s best benefit is its rotating quarterly bonus categories. You’ll earn 5% back on up to $1,500 of spending each quarter in these categories (then 1% back; activation required). Plus, cardholders can enjoy a complimentary six-month DoorDash DashPass membership (activate by Dec. 31, 2027).

The Freedom Flex is, in my opinion, one of Chase’s most underrated cards. It often gets overshadowed by its big siblings, the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees).

This card is best for beginners and those looking for an affordable, flexible product. It was my first proper rewards card, and it was the one that truly got me hooked on this hobby.

To learn more, check out our full review of the Freedom Flex.

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Apply here: Chase Freedom Flex

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Chase Sapphire Preferred

Standout benefits: This card offers access to Chase’s transfer partners, a critical component of maximizing your rewards. If you have an eligible no-annual-fee Chase card, like the Freedom Flex, you can turn that card’s rewards into transferable Ultimate Rewards points with the Sapphire Preferred.

The Sapphire Preferred gets put on a pedestal here at TPG, and for good reason. It’s an affordable card that earns valuable, transferable Ultimate Rewards points. Plus, it’s easy to get your money back (and then some) with the Sapphire Preferred’s annual fee, thanks to its DoorDash DashPass membership (activate by Dec. 31, 2027).

Cardholders also get a $50 credit for an eligible hotel booking through Chase Travel each year, in addition to a 10% anniversary points boost. These approachable perks make this card a great introduction to the world of points and miles — it was even my very first transferable rewards card.

To learn more, check out our full review of the Sapphire Preferred.

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Apply here: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

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Citi Strata Premier

Standout benefits: This card covers a wide variety of everyday spending categories, making it a great fit for a one-card wallet. If you like using issuer travel portals for your bookings, you’ll appreciate this card’s annual $100 hotel benefit on a single hotel booking of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) made through Citi Travel.

Ask around enough at TPG, and you’ll soon find a few people who’d agree with me that the Strata Premier is a dark horse in the mid-tier credit card space. With this card, you’ll be able to earn bonus rewards on the majority of your everyday spending, including groceries, gas, EV charging and dining. You’ll also gain access to Citi’s 22 transfer partners, including award enthusiast favorites like American Airlines and Air France-KLM Flying Blue.

I don’t have the Strata Premier myself, but I’d absolutely choose it if I had the desire (and willpower) to hold myself to just one card.

To learn more, check out our full review of the Strata Premier.

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Apply here: Citi Strata Premier Card

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American Express Platinum

Standout benefits: Trying to condense this card’s standout benefits into a few sentences is nearly impossible. It boasts a long list of statement credits, elite statuses and lounges you can access, among other benefits. It may feature the highest annual fee of any card on the market, but it’s well worth it for the right cardmember.

The Amex Platinum is my most expensive card, but I’m able to justify it thanks to its various benefits. I just used my statement credits for Resy*, which is up to $400 annually (up to $100 per quarter) and for Lululemon** which is up to $300 annually (up to $75 per quarter). This means I’m already roughly $175 toward breaking even on this card’s annual fee.

I also value this card’s lounge access, which is the furthest-reaching of any card currently available. If you can afford to pay $895 in one billing cycle for a card, the Amex Platinum is definitely worth considering.

To learn more, check out our full review of the Amex Platinum.

*U.S. restaurants only; enrollment required
**U.S. stores and online only; outlets excluded; enrollment required

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Apply here: American Express Platinum Card

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How I chose my top rewards cards

The best rewards cards offer flexibility and a lot of value. Some carry annual fees, some don’t, but each has at least a few tried-and-true ways to justify their place in your wallet. They all offer bonus categories tied to common spending, solid lifestyle credits, brand perks or some combination.

I recommend these cards time and again because I believe they’re the best fit for most travelers. You don’t need all four of these cards to have a well-rounded wallet, but your travels can certainly be elevated if you do.

Bottom line

Ask me for my best rewards card recommendations, and these are the ones you’ll hear about. I have three out of four of them in my wallet, and I don’t regret opening any of them. The Strata Premier, while not a good fit for my personal card strategy, is still on the same playing field as its companions on this list.

Be intrigued, not intimidated, by rewards credit cards. These options can all unlock travel opportunities you might never have thought possible.

Related: Best credit cards: These 4 keep me on the go about 180 days a year

For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.

After being acquired by Marriott in 2024, Postcard Cabins began its integration into the Marriott Bonvoy program in May. At the time, only a handful of Postcard Cabins’ 29 locations across the country were bookable through Marriott Bonvoy, and points redemptions were not yet available.

Now, the full portfolio of Postcard Cabins is bookable via Marriott Bonvoy for stays using cash or points, with nightly rates starting at under $150 or 27,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night (plus taxes and fees). Stays at Postcard Cabins will also earn points and elite night credits at Marriott’s standard rate.

If you haven’t yet been introduced to the brand, Postcard Cabins are luxury tiny cabins that let travelers connect with nature without sacrificing comfort or convenience. Each private cabin sleeps between two and four guests, with amenities like fully stocked kitchens, spa-inspired bath products and outdoor seating areas where you can dine alfresco or build a cozy fire at night.

Related: Maximize your rewards by getting a fourth or fifth night free on award stays

Postcard Cabins locations are located within a two-hour drive of major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and Boston, so you are surrounded by nature but never too far off the beaten path (or from an airport).

Now that Postcard Cabins is fully integrated with Marriott Bonvoy, there are several ways to book your next glamping adventure using points.

Book Postcard Cabins with credit card points

In addition to Marriott Bonvoy points that you earn directly from holding a cobranded Marriott credit card, you can transfer points to Marriott Bonvoy from several popular credit card points programs, including Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards and Bilt Rewards.

Related: 5 ways to maximize Marriott Bonvoy award night redemptions

You can transfer points from any of these programs to your Marriott Bonvoy account and use those points to book your stay. Unless there is a transfer bonus, all transfer ratios are 1:1 between these programs.

There are a few exciting welcome offers right now that can help you earn enough points to spend several nights in the great outdoors with Postcard Cabins:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees): Earn 100,000 points, plus a $500 Chase Travel℠ promo credit after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees): Earn 75,000 points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Find out your offer and see if you are eligible to earn as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards Points after spending $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of cardmembership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
• American Express® Gold Card: Find out your offer and see if you are eligible to earn as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.

Book Postcard Cabins through a credit card portal

Rather than booking directly through Marriott, you can also book Postcard Cabins through your favorite credit card travel portal. Postcard Cabins are currently only bookable through the Chase Travel portal, not the American Express Travel portal.

Though the Chase Travel portal underwent changes this month, if you were a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve cardholder prior to June 23, you can currently still redeem Ultimate Rewards points through the portal for 1.25 or 1.5 cents per point, respectively. However, the fixed rate through the travel portal will end Oct. 27, 2027.

If you are a Chase Sapphire cardholder after June 23, your points can be redeemed at a rate of 1 cent per point, unless a Postcard Cabins location becomes available for Points Boost, which will allow eligible cardholders to redeem points for up to 2 cents per point.

The example above shows a Sapphire Preferred redemption when booking through the Chase Travel portal. You can book a two-night stay at Postcard Cabins Western Catskills for an all-in price of $668.82 or 53,505 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which will give you a value of 1.25 cents per point.

The cash price is slightly higher than if you were a Marriott Bonvoy member booking directly, but this also gives you the option of redeeming an annual travel credit if you have an eligible Chase card.

Should you transfer points to Marriott or book via a travel portal?

If you booked a two-night stay at Postcard Cabins Western Catskills in August on Marriott’s website, it would cost $640 ($668 for nonmembers) or 155,000 Marriott points. This would give you a value of 0.4 cents per point.

TPG values Amex Membership Rewards points at 2 cents per point, Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2.05 cents per point and Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents per point, per our June 2025 valuations. Therefore, if you transfer your credit card points to Marriott Bonvoy, you’d be losing more than half the value of your hard-earned rewards.

Although you’ll lose some value of your points if you book through the Chase Travel portal, it still provides a much better value than using your Marriott points or transferring your credit card points.

Bottom line

At Postcard Cabins, you can drink your morning coffee by the campfire, go on long hikes in the woods and spend quiet nights gazing up at a star-filled sky without having to fuss with setting up a tent or forgoing a hot shower each day.

Plus, escaping the big city doesn’t have to cost you a ton of money. Now, you can use Marriott points or transfer credit card points to book your next nature-filled getaway.

Related reading:

Every year, the TPG Awards honor excellence in credit cards, loyalty programs and travel. Please click here to read more about our winner selection process and methodology for the 2024 TPG Awards.

If you’re looking for a loyalty program ideal for renters, Bilt Rewards is a solid option. As a member, you’ll earn Bilt Points when you pay rent and make your regular everyday purchases. The points you earn can be redeemed for travel through loyalty partners, rent or future down payments, fitness classes, and more.

Plus, there are no transaction fees (see rates and fees) on rent payments when you use the Bilt Mastercard®. You can earn up to 100,000 points on rent per calendar year.

We’re celebrating the Bilt Mastercard (see rates and fees) for winning the Best No-Annual-Fee Travel Rewards Credit Card award at the 2024 TPG Awards. This card is a powerhouse for renters, who can earn valuable Bilt points on their rent payments with no transaction fee. You must make at least five transactions on the card every statement period to earn points (see rewards and benefits).

While we love this card, you don’t need to have it to earn and redeem points in the Bilt Rewards program.

TPG’s May 2025 valuations place Bilt points at 2.05 cents apiece, though there are plenty of ways to get more value from them. Let’s delve into all the details of the Bilt Rewards loyalty program and explore how to earn and redeem points for maximum value.

What is Bilt Rewards?

Bilt Rewards is a loyalty program that lets you earn points to redeem toward travel, Amazon purchases, home decor, fitness classes and more. You can earn Bilt points by simply becoming a member, linking a qualifying card to your Bilt Rewards account and transacting with Bilt partners.

Perhaps most notably, you can earn Bilt points by paying your rent. With the Bilt Mastercard, you can earn points on rent with no transaction fee (see rates and fees).

How do you earn Bilt Rewards points?

You don’t necessarily need to have the Bilt Mastercard or pay rent to earn Bilt points. There are nine primary ways to earn Bilt points.

1. Earning Bilt points by paying rent

You can earn 1 point per dollar spent on rent at any home (up to 100,000 points per calendar year) by paying your rent with the Bilt Mastercard.

You can pay your rent with your Bilt Mastercard through the Bilt app, but if your landlord only accepts physical checks, don’t fret. You can still pay your rent with the Bilt Mastercard on the app, and then Bilt will mail your landlord a rent check each month, allowing you to earn points on rent without incurring any additional transaction fees (see rates and fees). If applicable, you can also process payments through Venmo and your landlord’s online rent portal.

As of April 2025, you can now use a credit card that isn’t a Bilt Mastercard to pay rent, though it may not be the best option. If you use a Visa, Discover or Mastercard, you’ll earn 1 Bilt point per dollar spent on rent. Using an American Express card, you’ll earn 1 Bilt point for every $2 spent. However, you’ll incur a 3% transaction fee with this route.

2. Earning Bilt points with the Bilt Mastercard

Speaking of the Bilt Mastercard, it offers a simple earning structure:

• 5 points per dollar spent with Bilt Dining partners and Lyft, once you link your Bilt and Lyft accounts and pay with the Bilt Mastercard
• 3 points per dollar spent on dining
• 2 points per dollar spent on travel booked directly with the provider or through the Bilt Travel Portal and on Walgreens purchases and prescriptions
• 1 point per dollar spent on rent payments (up to 100,000 points per calendar year) and all other purchases

You must use your card at least five times during each statement period to earn points.

This no-annual-fee card (see rates and fees) offers impressive perks, including an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection, and No Foreign Transaction Fees (see rates and fees).

You do not need to pay rent to apply for the Bilt Mastercard.

Related: Should you pay your rent with Bilt? We crunch the numbers

3. Earning Bilt points through Bilt Dining

Bilt also has its own dining rewards program called Bilt Dining.

You can link any Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit card to the Bilt Dining program to earn up to 3 points per dollar spent at Bilt Dining restaurants when you pay with any eligible card in your Bilt Wallet.

These earnings come in addition to what you earn with your credit card. For example, if you pay with your Bilt Mastercard, you’ll earn 3 additional points per dollar spent*, for a total of up to 6 Bilt points per dollar spent. Put differently, that’s a 12.3% return on your dining purchases, according to TPG’s May 2025 valuations.

Bilt states that you can earn up to 10 points per dollar spent on eating at a Bilt Dining restaurant and paying with any eligible card on file in your Bilt Wallet. Plus, there is no cap on how many points you can earn through Bilt Dining.

4. Earning Bilt points on the Bilt travel portal

Expedia powers Bilt’s travel portal, where you can earn points on flights, hotel stays, car rentals and things to do. As a Bilt member, you earn 1 point per dollar spent on travel booked through the portal.

As a Bilt Mastercard holder, you earn 2 points per dollar spent on travel booked through the portal and 2 additional points per dollar by charging your purchase to the card*. That is a total of 4 Bilt points per dollar spent.

5. Earning Bilt points with referrals

You’ll earn 2,500 points each time you refer a friend to the Bilt Mastercard, on up to 50 total referrals. For every five referrals, you earn 10,000 bonus points. You can refer friends to the card through the website or app.

6. Earning Bilt points with Lyft

You can earn 2 Bilt points per dollar spent on Lyft rides when you link your accounts. When you pay for your ride with the Bilt Mastercard*, you’ll also receive an additional 3 Bilt points per dollar spent.

7. Earning Bilt points with fitness studios

You can earn up to 10 points per dollar spent on fitness classes booked through the Bilt app.

These studios include SoulCycle, Pure Barre, Barry’s and Rumble Boxing.

8. Earning Bilt points by playing the Rent Free game

Bilt offers a game show-style opportunity for members to earn extra points on Bilt Rent Day (the first of the month): Rent Free.

Rent Free is set up like “Family Feud,” with a new creator or personality playing the game each month. As a Bilt member, you can earn points with Rent Free when you pick a top-three answer, when you correctly rank that answer (double points) and when the celebrity guest picks the same answer as you (triple points).

On top of earning points, the top 10-scoring players will win free rent for a month (up to $2,500). The next 600 top-scoring members will get Bilt points. If you tie, the tie will be broken based on who played the game first.

9. Earning Bilt points on home buying

In 2024, Bilt launched a new way to earn points: home buying. The loyalty program partnered with eXp Realty, and when you work with an eXp agent, Bilt members will earn 1 point for every $2 of a home purchase price. For example, if you purchase a home for $500,000 using an eXp Realty agent, you could earn up to 250,000 Bilt points. According to TPG’s May 2025 valuations, those points would be worth $5,125.

*You must use your card at least five times during each statement period to earn points.

Related: Bilt considering new credit card products to pair with points for mortgage payments — here are our thoughts

Bilt Rewards elite status tiers

Bilt offers four status tiers. You can reach Bilt elite status in two ways: earning Bilt points and receiving fast-track status with spending on the Bilt Mastercard and within the Bilt ecosystem.

While you won’t earn fast-track status on rent spending, you can earn it through SoulCycle classes booked in the Bilt app, Bilt Dining restaurant purchases made with any card linked in your Bilt Wallet, Lyft rides when Bilt is set as your rewards partner, and bookings made via Bilt’s travel portal.

Every member of Bilt Rewards starts in the Blue tier.

Here’s a quick overview.

	Blue	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Option 1: Bilt points qualification	All Bilt Rewards members	50,000 points	125,000 points	200,000 points
Option 2: Fast track with spending	All Bilt Rewards members	$10,000 spent	$25,000 spent	$50,000 spent
Earn interest on your points (at the FDIC-published national savings rate)		✓	✓	✓
Blade benefits		✓	✓	✓ (including a complimentary Blade flight)
Access to complimentary homeownership concierge			✓	✓
Rent Day transfer bonuses		Higher transfer bonuses	Gold-level transfer bonuses	Platinum-level transfer bonuses

Your member status is based on the total points earned in a calendar year. You’ll receive the higher of the two statuses through qualifying points or via spending on the fast-track status path.

No matter when you earn status each calendar year, it’s good for the rest of the year and the following year.

Bilt Platinum members can apply for an Air France-KLM Flying Blue status match

Bilt Platinum members can receive 12 months of Flying Blue Gold status. To activate this status match, members must go to the Bilt app and select “Elite Status Match.” Then, members must transfer 10,000 Bilt points to Flying Blue to officially activate their Gold status. Luckily, these 10,000 points can be used toward a future Air France-KLM award flight.

After requesting status, it may take up to three business days for your Flying Blue Gold status to become officially active.

Flying Blue Gold status will give Bilt members additional airline perks and qualify them for SkyTeam Elite Plus status, which includes benefits on other SkyTeam airlines like Delta Air Lines.

Learn more about specific Flying Blue Gold status perks on Flying Blue’s tier benefits page and the added benefits of having SkyTeam Elite Plus status on SkyTeam’s FAQ page.

Related: How to earn ‘interest’ on your points balance with Bilt Rewards

How to use Bilt points: Best-value option

The Bilt Rewards loyalty program gives you many ways to use your points, though not all carry equal value.

Let’s start with the best way for you to redeem your Bilt points. Nothing beats the outsize value of transferring your points to Bilt’s 20 airline and hotel partners.

Transfer your Bilt points to travel partners

Joining these loyalty programs is free, even if you’ve never flown the airline or stayed with the hotel brand.

By transferring your Bilt points to the right programs, you can easily get 2.05 cents per point in value — and perhaps much more — and score a lie-flat airplane seat or a luxurious hotel stay.

Program	Transfer ratio	Transfer time
ALL — Accor Live Limitless	3:2	**
Aer Lingus AerClub	1:1	Within minutes
Air Canada Aeroplan	1:1	Within 24 hours
Air France-KLM Flying Blue	1:1	Within minutes
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan	1:1	Within minutes
Avianca LifeMiles	1:1	Up to 72 hours
British Airways Club	1:1	Within minutes
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	1:1	Within minutes
Emirates Skywards	1:1	Within minutes
Hilton Honors	1:1	Within minutes
Club Iberia Plus	1:1	Within minutes
IHG One Rewards	1:1	Within minutes
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank	1:1	**
Marriott Bonvoy	1:1, with 5,000 bonus points for every 20,000 points you transfer in a single transfer	Within 48 hours
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards	1:1	**
TAP Miles&Go	1:1	**
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles	1:1	Within minutes
United Airlines MileagePlus	1:1	Within minutes
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	1:1	Within minutes
World of Hyatt	1:1	Within minutes

**TPG has not yet tested transferring Bilt points to these programs.

Best-value transfer partners

Bilt Rewards partners with some of our favorite airline and hotel loyalty programs, including Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and World of Hyatt. These programs have largely kept standard award charts for award flights and hotel nights, meaning you’ll pay a predictable rate and can often get outsize value from your points.

Transfer bonuses

Bilt Rewards has historically offered some of the best transfer bonuses we’ve seen during Rent Day (the first of every month).

These have included 150% transfer bonuses to some carriers, such as Emirates Skywards, and up to a 100% transfer bonus to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan for July 2024 Rent Day. Additionally, Bilt has previously offered a 100% transfer bonus to Flying Blue.

Related: The best airline award chart sweet spots

How to use Bilt points: Medium-value options

The following redemption options will get you decent value with a redemption rate of at least 1 cent per point.

Use your points to save up for a down payment on a home

Bilt offers the unique ability for users to save up their points toward a down payment on a home.

If you opt for this route, your Bilt points are valued at 1.5 cents each toward a down payment. This means 10,000 Bilt points are worth $150 toward your down payment.

Redeem for travel on the Bilt travel portal

You can use the Bilt travel portal to offset the cost of flights, stays, rental cars and activities at a rate of 1.25 cents per point.

How to use Bilt points: Poor-value options

If you want to extract maximum value from your Bilt Rewards points, you’ll likely want to avoid some of these less valuable redemption options.

Use points for Amazon purchases

You can select your Bilt Mastercard on Amazon as a payment method and redeem your points to cover all or a portion of your purchase at checkout. However, Bilt points are worth 0.7 cents each when used this way.

For example, you’ll need approximately 14,300 Bilt points to cover a $100 Amazon purchase. Compare that to TPG’s May 2025 valuation of 2.05 cents per Bilt point, and it’s not necessarily the best deal.

Shop the Bilt Collection

The Bilt Collection is a curated list of items, including art, home decor and apparel. The value per point will vary, but since it rarely exceeds more than 1 cent per point, you should likely pass on this option.

Redeem your points for fitness classes

Fitness enthusiasts can redeem their Bilt points to attend name-brand classes like SoulCycle, Solidcore, and Y7 Studio. The value will depend on the class you select, but it hovers around 1 cent per point.

Redeem your points for rent

A potentially enticing option with your points is to save them to help cover your next rent payment. However, the redemption value is just 0.55 cents per point.

Related: Ways college students can meet credit card minimum spending requirements

Frequently asked questions

Does the Bilt Mastercard charge a fee to pay rent?

No, the Bilt Mastercard does not charge a transaction fee (see rates and fees) when you use it to pay rent through Bilt Rewards. However, you can only earn 100,000 points on rent each calendar year, and you must make at least five transactions with the card in each statement period to earn points.

Can you use Bilt without the Bilt Mastercard?

Yes. You do not have to hold the Bilt Mastercard to enroll in Bilt Rewards and earn Bilt points in the program.

Does my landlord/management company have to have a partnership with Bilt?

No, you can use Bilt to pay rent even if your landlord does not partner with the program.

What are Bilt points worth?

TPG’s May 2025 valuations deem Bilt points as worth 2.05 cents per point. Depending on how you redeem your points, however, you could get a much higher or lower value for them.

Is the Bilt Mastercard worth it?

The Bilt Mastercard could be worth it if you want to earn points on rent without incurring a transaction fee (see rates and fees). The card also features popular bonus categories and could be a great option if you find value in the program’s transfer partners.

However, the card doesn’t feature a traditional welcome bonus, and some features aren’t as useful if you live in a less populated area. So, as with any decision, you should consider what you want in a card before you apply.

Related: Bilt Mastercard review: No-transaction-fee rent payments

Bottom line

Bilt Rewards presents an exceptional value proposition for both renters and nonrenters. Bilt has established partnerships with some of the more lucrative airline and hotel loyalty programs, enabling you to extract extraordinary value from your points. Your points transfer seamlessly at a straightforward 1:1 ratio (except when transferring to Accor), and most programs process the transfers instantly.

Even if you aren’t renting or don’t want to apply for the Bilt Mastercard, you can earn lots of points by linking your Lyft account, enrolling in Bilt Dining and booking travel through the Bilt portal.

See Bilt Mastercard rates and fees here.
See Bilt Mastercard rewards and benefits here.