CNN Underscored reviews financial products based on their overall value. We may receive a commission through our affiliate partners if you apply and are approved for a product, but our reporting is always independent and objective. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Bilt Mastercard® — one of the best no annual fee credit cards on the market, especially for those paying rent — just got better (see rates and fees).
Bilt Rewards, which is already known for its strong rewards structure and their first of the month “Rent Day” promotions, just partnered with Awayz.com to streamline the process of redeeming its points.
For those new to the Bilt Rewards program, it works similarly to both Chase Ultimate Rewards® and American Express Membership®, where you can redeem your points through Bilt’s travel portal at fixed 1.25 cents apiece. Plus, you get even more value from your points when transferring Bilt Points to any of the program’s 14 transfer partners, which includes 12 airlines and two hotels.
But finding award availability and figuring out the number of miles or points required through a transfer partner can many times be daunting. Fortunately, Bilt’s newest partnership makes redeeming your points with a partner loyalty program significantly easier, specifically for hotel rooms.
Search for hotel availability in the Bilt app
With with integration of Awayz right within the Bilt app, Bilt Reward members have access to a one-stop shop to see hotel availability as well as the number of points required for Bilt’s hotel partners, which includes World of Hyatt and IHG One Rewards.
Once you find a hotel that works for your vacation, members can seamlessly transfer the necessary points needed to the partner program for ease of booking.
This enhancement streamlines the process of booking your desired hotel as you can now skip the need to access multiple websites to search for availability.
In the Bilt Rewards app, you’ll now see the Awayz tool within the ‘Travel tab’ in the Hotels section. From there, you can search for award nights by geographic location or the exact hotel name. You’ll only have access to Bilt Rewards partner availability, which means you can search Awayz for Hyatt and IHG stays through the Bilt app. You’re also capped at 50 hotel award searches per month.
If you want to redeem points within a different program or want more search capability, the Awayz.com site offers more robust packages for a monthly fee. But for the average user, especially one who is racking up Bilt points, this free option right within the Bilt app should suffice.
You can also search for flight availability within the Bilt app
Similar to this newly announced partnership, Bilt also partnered with Point.me earlier this year to power its partner airline reward search — which includes 12 loyalty programs.
These include Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, American Airlines AAdvantage, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles, Aer Lingus AerClub, Iberia Plus, Air Canada Aeroplan, Emirates Skywards and United MileagePlus.
This integration within the Bilt app allows all members to search for award flights on its partners between two city pairs within their desired class of service. Once you find a flight option that works, you can transfer your Bilt Reward points to the partner program.
How to earn Bilt Reward points
Earning Bilt Reward points is incredibly easy, especially with the Bilt Mastercard.
With this card, you’ll earn 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides, 3 points per dollar on dining, 2 points per dollar on travel (when booked directly with an airline, hotel, car rental or cruise company) and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases (see Rewards & Benefits). And on the first of every month, you’ll earn double points on all purchases, up to 1,000 bonus points per month (except for rent).
Most notably, you can pay for your rent with the Bilt Mastercard and earn 1 point per dollar (up to 100,000 points per calendar year). This even applies if your landlord doesn’t accept a credit card as a form of payment. Through Bilt, you can have your rent payment sent via ACH transfer, through Venmo or a check-in-the-mail.
You rent payment will be billed to your Bilt Mastercard or the funds can be pulled directly from your connected bank account, depending on how you set up your rent payment within the app. This is all fee-free and you’ll earn the same number of points.
The only caveat to earning your Bilt points, however, is that you must make at least 5 transactions per statement period. There’s no minimum spend per transaction, so even your everyday purchases count, such as grocery shopping, pharmacy purchases and your morning coffee. If you don’t meet the minimum transaction requirement, you’ll only earn a flat 250 points on your rent payment for the month.
Bottom line
Being able to seamlessly search for hotel award availably is a great addition to the Bilt Rewards program. While the program was quite strong to begin with, these partnerships make redeeming your hard-earned points significantly easier.
Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.
Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as our best credit cards currently available.
Get all the latest personal finance deals, news and advice at CNN Underscored Money.