Review: Is The Bilt Mastercard Worth It?

The Bilt Mastercard has no annual fee.

The Bilt Mastercard started accepting applications on a widespread basis. Anyone who pays rent in the US should consider picking up this innovative no annual fee card.

The basic value proposition of the Bilt Mastercard

The Bilt Mastercard is issued by Wells Fargo. The card can be used to transfer points to popular airline and hotel partners. The no annual fee card has many amazing benefits, including cell phone protection, rental car coverage, and more.

The fundamental value proposition of the card is the ability to pay rent with no fee, all while earning rewards.

Even if your landlord doesn't accept credit card payments, you can still pay your rent with no fee. For many people that sounds too good to be true, let's dig a bit deeper.

Earning points with the Bilt Mastercard

When you have at least five transactions posted per billing cycle, the Bilt Mastercard will give you the following rewards.

• 3x points on dining
• 2x points on travel
• 1x points on rent payments without any transaction fees, up to a limit of 50,000 points per year
• 1x points on everything else

The card has no foreign transaction fees and is a World Elite Mastercard, so it is a good card to use abroad, especially given that a lot of foreign spending is on dining and travel.

Redeeming points with the Bilt Mastercard

The idea of earning points per dollar spent sounds great, but how can you redeem them? The ability to transfer points to airline and hotel partners is one of the ways in which points can be redeemed.

All of the travel transfer partners in Bilt offer 1:1 transfers.

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• American AAdvantage
• Emirates Skywards
• Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
• IHG Rewards
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Points
• World of Hyatt

The transfer partners are competitive with what you can find with major points currencies. The World of Hyatt partnership and the American AAdvantage partnership are exciting. The former only partners with Chase Ultimate rewards, while the latter doesn't partner with any major points currencies.

Bilt Mastercard perks & benefits

The Bilt Mastercard is a World Elite Mastercard, which means you won't find many other no annual fee cards. The Bilt Mastercard offers a lot.

• A cell phone protection benefit — pay your monthly cell phone bill with the Bilt Mastercard, and you’ll get up to $800 in protection (subject to a $25 deductible) against covered damage or theft
• Primary rental car coverage — receive auto coverage for covered damage due to collision or theft for most rental cars when you pay for the transaction with the Bilt Mastercard
• Trip delay reimbursement — get reimbursed for expenses incurred when your trip is delayed more than six hours due to reasons like inclement weather, mechanical breakdown, etc.
• Trip cancellation & interruption coverage — get up to $5,000 reimbursement for non-refundable passenger fare if your trip is interrupted or canceled for a covered reason when you book with your Bilt Mastercard

It is extremely rare to see this level of protection on a no annual fee card. You should consult the benefits guide to see all the terms and conditions associated with this.

Bilt refer-a-friend program

Refer a friend and you will be rewarded with a Bilt card.

• You can earn 25,000 points for every five friends who are approved for the card and make their first purchase within the first 30 days
• You can earn up to one million points this way, which you’d get after successfully referring 200 people
• You don’t even need to be a cardmember to refer someone — just download the Bilt Rewards app, fill out your profile, and at the top left you’ll find your invitation code to give to friends

If you recommend the product to friends and family, you will be rewarded.

What’s the catch? Is Bilt too good to be true?

The ability to pay rent by credit card without fees and earn up to 50,000 points per year is one of the most intriguing aspects of the Bilt Mastercard. Even if your landlord doesn't accept credit card payments, Bilt will send a check.

All I can do is speculate, but here's how I view it.

• Presumably Bilt loses money when giving out rewards and then mailing a check to a landlord it has no relationship with, but this is part of a bigger play
• Bilt hopes to get rental companies on its platform, hoping that being associated with Bilt gets more renters, and streamlines the payment process
• The Bilt Mastercard doesn’t offer any sort of a welcome bonus, so I suppose you can view this as another way of investing in cardmembers (other credit cards offer rewards upfront that are in some cases worth $1,000+)
• The Bilt Mastercard is designed so that you have to make a certain number of purchases every billing cycle, which is a good way to keep people spending money on the card (which could be lucrative)

Is the Bilt Mastercard worth it?

Is the Bilt Mastercard worth it? If you are a renter in the United States and you can pay your rent with a credit card, then this card is absolutely worth it. It's a no-brainer that you can earn rewards for money you have to spend.

What about those who don't rent? It would make sense to get the card since you can make fee-free payments for mortgages, HOAs, etc. 3x points on travel and 2x points on dining on a no annual fee card is pretty lucrative. Cell phone protection, rental car coverage, and travel protection, with a no annual fee card, are not usually offered.

A strong argument could be made for a certain type of consumer using the Bilt Mastercard for these bonus categories. The lack of a welcome bonus is one disadvantage of this card.

If you spend a lot on dining and travel, then this is an excellent option for you.

I think the card is a great option for a large segment of the population, but that is not the case for everyone. For example, in my case, there is not much value to be had, at least based on my current credit card strategy.

• I don’t rent, so I wouldn’t benefit from the ability to make fee-free rent payments
• I have nearly 30 credit cards that I use to maximize my points, so I have other cards that offer bigger bonuses on both dining and travel
• I have credit cards offering many of the perks that the Bilt Mastecard offers, like cell phone protection and rental car coverage

I'm not your average consumer when it comes to using rewards cards.

Bottom line

The Bilt Mastercard was recently opened to applicants without a wait list. This card has a unique value proposition, which is that you can pay up to $50,000 per year in rent without fees, just pay through the Bilt app, and a check will be sent to your landlord on your behalf. It's an amazing opportunity for people to rent.

3x points on dining, 2x points on travel, and those points can be transferred to several valuable partners, including American AAdvantage and World of Hyatt. Cell phone protection, rental car coverage, travel coverage, and more are offered by the card.

If you value the perks and are looking for travel rewards and spend a lot on dining and travel, this could be a great no annual fee card option.

What do you think about the Bilt Mastercard?