In the miles & points world, many of us are familiar with the Bilt Mastercard® (review), which is a valuable no annual fee card that allows you to pay your rent by credit card and earn rewards, even if your landlord doesn’t ordinarily allow no-fee credit card payments.
However, the Bilt Rewards ecosystem goes beyond that, with all kinds of other ways to earn and redeem points. Bilt has an elite status program, and since 2024, has also offered Milestone Rewards, providing (minimal) perks for passing certain thresholds. The company has now announced plans to change this as of 2026.
Bilt will award $50 in Bilt Cash for every 25,000 points earned
As of January 1, 2026, Bilt Rewards will replace Milestone Rewards with Bilt Cash. Specifically, you’ll earn $50 in Bilt Cash for every 25,000 Bilt points earned. It doesn’t matter how those points are earned, and of course Bilt Cash is in addition to whatever Bilt points you ordinarily rack up.
The idea is that while Bilt points can be redeemed primarily outside the Bilt ecosystem, Bilt Cash can be redeemed within the Bilt ecosystem, giving dollar-to-dollar value to access experiences and benefits that points can’t buy.
Bilt Cash can be redeemed for local restaurants with mobile checkout, for hotels on Bilt’s travel platform, for fitness studios, and more. Bilt Cash can also be used to upgrade status tiers for improved Rent Day transfer offers, for early access to high demand comedy, dining, and fitness experiences, and for access to the Home Away from Home collection.
This seems like a win-win change for Bilt and members
Personally, I’m happy to see this change. While I don’t think this is some sort of a game changer, I do think it’s an improvement over what’s currently offered. For example, here are the Milestone Rewards people can choose from after earning 25,000 points:
- Double points on Bilt Dining for seven days, up to 1,000 points
- 1,000 points for the Bilt Collection
- 2x points at grocery stores for 30 days, up to 1,000 points
- 2x points at gas stations for 30 days, up to 1,000 points
- 2x points on sports and concert tickets for 30 days, up to 1,000 points
If you ask me, these rewards are so minimal to the point that they’re almost not worth even bothering with. I don’t think I’ve actually selected one up until now, since Bilt’s card isn’t my go-to product for most spending categories. So if I can instead save $25 on a meal every so often, I’d consider that to be a positive change.
This also seems like a beneficial change from Bilt’s perspective. Bilt wants people to increasingly engage with its entire ecosystem beyond just the credit card and paying rent, so having some Bilt Cash to spend will help with encouraging that.
Bottom line
In 2026, Bilt will be replacing Milestone Rewards with Bilt Cash. With this, Bilt members will earn $50 in Bilt Cash for every 25,000 points they earn, regardless of how they’re accrued. That’s intended to be good as cash within the Bilt ecosystem, for everything from dining at local restaurants, to hotels, to fitness classes.
While I wouldn’t consider this to be hugely valuable, I do think it’s an improvement over the current program.
What do you make of the introduction of Bilt Cash, and do you like this more or less than Milestone Rewards?