Bilt Introduces Daily Rewards With A Chance At $1 Million For A Home—And Gives You More Time To Spend Bilt Cash

I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Be aware that websites may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Capital One, and others. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all offers that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.Bilt is changing how members earn rewards in 2027, giving them longer to spend Bilt Cash and more freedom to choose their card benefits. There’s also a deadline to preserve one of the richest earning opportunities in credit cards: new card applicants must both apply and accept their card offer by December 31, 2026 to remain eligible for 4% Bilt Cash earning – though most people already choose the alternative of ‘up to 1.25x points-earning on housing payments’ that they’ll be moving everyone else to. I’m going to keep the 4% Bilt Cash earning option. The Bilt Palladium Card (See rates and fees) has gotten more of my spending than any other card since it launched near the beginning of the year. It’s a points-earning beast. These changes include a real improvement for me, and I don’t mind what I view as negative changes because existing cardmembers can opt out of those – and new cardmembers applying before the end of the year get the choice to opt out as well. Key dates: January 1: New cardholders will receive the new reward option (you can apply for a Bilt Palladium Card or other Bilt card before then and have the choice of which set of rewards you prefer). January 15: Daily Rewards begins for everyone Card anniversary: Annual Bilt Cash is awarded to your account. Legacy cardholders switch into the new card rewards. Those opting out of the switch remain in Bilt Cash mode, but can switch later. Switching is one way and cannot be reversed. If you make the switch after your first card anniversary, then it applies starting with the first day of your next billing cycle. Bilt will convert your hotel credit for the current card year into Bilt Cash, so you receive your yearly amount minus any hotel credit you’ve already redeemed that was issued after your last card account anniversary. The option to upgrade or downgrade cards, for instance from the no annual fee Bilt Blue Card (See rates and fees) to the Bilt Obsidian Card (See rates and fees) or the Bilt Palladium Card, or to take a Palladium Card and downgrade it, should now be available in the Bilt app. I consider Bilt Points the most valuable points currency. They have the best transfer partners, frequent transfer bonuses larger than other programs offer, and a 1.25 cent points value floor by booking through their travel portal. Earning a lot of those points, and then taking advantage of transfer bonuses, is why I’ve put so much spending on the card. But Bilt is much bigger than its credit cards. It’s a coalition loyalty program built around housing: one rewards currency earned across many different merchants. They call it neighborhood rewards, centered on where you live. Most members participate without a Bilt credit card. The company reaches people through major apartment owners and their rent payments, then rewards them for activity with restaurants, fitness studios, rideshare, pharmacies and other partners. You can link cards you already have and participate. The new Daily Rewards feature is aimed at that broader membership, too. Daily Rewards Launches Instant And Grand Prizes January 15, 2027 An on-time monthly rent or mortgage payment earns a Daily Reward. So does one qualifying neighborhood partner activity per day, such as a meal, fitness class or ride. Each Daily Reward presents two rewards, and you choose one. The possibilities include instant Bilt Points and Bilt Cash, along with collectibles associated with prizes such as: $1 million toward buying a home 10 million Bilt Points Free rent or mortgage for a year Free Lyft rides for a year A dream getaway The value of an instant prize is revealed after you select it. It could be substantial or nominal. With collectibles, you can see which prize a piece belongs to. Collect all four pieces in a set and you win the associated prize. The pieces and prizes appear by chance from the available inventory. Completing a set isn’t just an entry into a later drawing. More prizes and the full rules will come in the new year, and the odds for each prize will determine how valuable this is. For Bilt cardholders, Daily Rewards is added on top of housing point earnings. For members paying housing without a Bilt card, it replaces existing housing rewards (up to 250 points for rent paid through a bank account or debit card). Default Card Earning Option Becomes 1.25x On Housing, Current Cardholders Can Preserve 4% Bilt Cash The vast majority of cardmembers already choose the housing option. Everyday purchases earn points, and the amount they spend relative to their housing payment determines their housing multiplier. Today, the alternative is Flexible Bilt Cash: everyday purchases earn their normal points plus 4% in Bilt Cash. That Cash can be used for housing points or other benefits. It takes $30 in Bilt Cash to earn 1,000 housing points, up to one point per dollar of the housing payment. Under housing-only earning, spending at least as much as your housing payment during a billing cycle earns the maximum 1.25 points per dollar on housing. Spending beyond that doesn’t increase the housing multiplier. Under Flexible, additional eligible spending keeps generating 4% Bilt Cash. That’s the better option when spending is large relative to the housing payment and you can use the additional benefits. The new structure takes away the ability to switch back and forth between those options: Existing cardmembers who want to retain 4% Bilt Cash need to opt out of the change in card settings before their card anniversary. That includes current members who want to preserve the Flexible option instead of moving permanently into the new structure. New applicants must both apply and accept their card offer by the end of December 31, 2026 to qualify for grandfathering. Submitting an application by that date isn’t enough. Moving to the new model is permanent. You won’t be able to switch to 4% Bilt Cash later. The earning choice applies to the whole card account, including authorized users. Choosing whose Bilt account receives the points and Bilt Cash is separate. Most existing cardmembers won’t lose the earning method they’re using. They will lose the option to change their minds later. Those of us who prefer 4% Bilt Cash can keep it. Product upgrades are also now available in the Bilt app. Check card settings to see whether you’re eligible. Palladium’s $200 Annual Bilt Cash And $400 Hotel Credit Become $600 Flexible Bilt Cash Cardmembers who keep earning 4% Bilt Cash keep their two annual $200 hotel credits on 2+ night hotel stays, one redeemable January through June and one July through December. And for those customers, they can still be stacked with $100 off a hotel stay of two nights or more using Bilt Cash. However, for most customers – and all new customers starting in 2027 – the Palladium Card gets $600 annual Bilt Cash instead of the previous $200 – instead of the two hotel credits. That’s more flexible. But they’ll lose the ability to stack a $200 hotel credit with a $100 credit for a $300 discount on a two night hotel stay. Obsidian’s $100 annual hotel credit becomes $100 in Bilt Cash. The annual Cash credits will be deposited on the card account anniversary. Palladium’s existing annual Cash deposit currently arrives January 1. Obsidian and Palladium cardmembers in the new structure will now be able to redeem Bilt Cash for Point Accelerator. That makes the housing-only option better, since current rules restrict accelerator use to Flexible Bilt Cash earning. For $200 in Bilt Cash, an accelerator adds one point per dollar on the next $5,000 in eligible spending. A $600 annual deposit therefore funds three activations, producing 15,000 additional points after $15,000 in eligible spending. On Palladium, that’s three points per dollar during those activations, alongside the housing rewards. And the annual deposit isn’t the only way to acquire Bilt Cash. Members also earn $50 for each 25,000 status-qualifying Bilt Points, including points from accelerators, and Daily Rewards may offer another source. Hotel Redemptions Get Devalued The ability to redeem Cash for hotel discounts is moving from monthly to once in each half of the calendar year, and it will no longer be possible for Palladium cardmembers to stack a $200 and $100 discount on a booking of two nights or more (except for Palladium customers who opt for the legacy rewards scheme, as I’ll be doing). Member Current Bilt Cash hotel limit New Bilt Cash hotel limit Blue or Silver, without Palladium $50 per month; up to $600 per year $50 per half-year; up to $100 per year Gold or Platinum, without Palladium $100 per month; up to $1,200 per year $100 per half-year; up to $200 per year Palladium with Blue or Silver status $50 per month; up to $600 per year $200 per half-year; up to $400 per year Palladium with Gold or Platinum status $100 per month; up to $1,200 per year $200 per half-year; up to $400 per year Palladium currently has its separate $400 annual hotel credit on top of those Cash redemption opportunities. That makes the theoretical annual hotel maximum $1,600 for a Gold or Platinum cardmember with enough Bilt Cash. The new maximum is $400. I’ve used a $200 card hotel credit plus $100 in Bilt Cash to take $300 off a stay, twice. A $300 discount made it worth using, and I find that Bilt often has very good pricing, but outside of premium Home Away From Home redemptions the inventory is usually from Expedia which means no hotel points or status-earning and status benefits on a catch as catch can basis at check-in (I’ve had good luck with this, but it’s technically not provided for). Almost no Palladium cardmembers are booking hotels through Bilt every month with the discount. I think the bigger loss is that those moving into the new rewards scheme lose stacking, which is what made the hotel redemptions worthwhile for me. Bilt Cash Expiration Gets Much Better Instead of losing everything over $100 on December 31, each amount will expire at the end of the month twelve months after it was earned. Cash earned in February 2026, for instance, will expire February 28, 2027. This protects existing balances before the coming December 31 deadline, and the earliest-expiring Cash gets used first. There’s no longer a $100 limit on the amount that can survive year-end. For the $100 that previously could roll into another full calendar year, the new rule can actually mean earlier expiration. For someone like me, who’ll have more than $100 left, this is a big improvement. If you already had more Cash than you could use before December 31, earning another 4% in November or December was wasted. And seeing your net earn from spend essentially fall at the very end of the year, because the Bilt Cash would almost immediately expire, was a disincentive to using the card. Fixing this made sense. Two Elite Improvements For 2027 Two changes are coming for members with status. Gold and Platinum members can redeem points for Home Away from Home luxury hotel bookings at 1.25 cents each. Points can be redeemed in conjunction with Bilt Cash discounts, and you won’t even need to book the hotel on a Bilt card to do this. Complimentary rental car status matches. Platinum members can match to Hertz President’s Circle and SIXT ONE Platinum. Gold and Silver members can match to Hertz Five Star and SIXT ONE Gold. Existing members of those rental loyalty programs can participate. Understanding Bilt Cash The way I think about Bilt Cash is as a way to choose the benefits I actually want. Airlines like Delta and American offer choice benefits to engaged members as they earn status credit throughout the year. Bilt offers choices along the way, with more participation in the program generating more benefits to choose from also. With Amex Platinum, you get a long list of benefits, including plenty you may not want. Maybe you have no interest in an Oura ring but buy one anyway and try to resell it. (Good luck!) I’d rather trade benefits I don’t use for more points. Bilt lets me allocate a benefits budget to the things I value. If I was going to take a Lyft ride anyway, using $10 in Bilt Cash to pay for $10 of it leaves $10 in my pocket. For Bilt, those benefits can send business to its partners, make participation more attractive to additional merchants, and grow the number of places for members to earn and redeem. Daily Rewards adds another reason to engage between monthly housing payments. A collectible set can encourage someone to return for another meal, class or ride. The annual fee cards are replacing hotel credits with more flexible Bilt Cash, while closing off 4% earning to future entrants and narrowing hotel redemption. That gives Bilt more control over how benefits are used and limits what they cost. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll issue less Bilt Cash: existing housing-only Palladium members get another $400 annually (while most were only earning Bilt Cash at 25,000-point milestones), and grandfathered members can keep earning 4% on spending as well. I’m definitely opting into keeping the 4% option. My wife largely uses an authorized user card on my account, with her points and Bilt Cash going into her own Bilt account. That gives us access to a second set of accelerators and a second transfer bonus allowance when offers cap the number of points that can be transferred with a bonus per account, often at 100,000. I’ve been able to max out both of our accelerators this year while also earning full housing points, and redeem for two BLADE helicopter rides, a Blacklane ride, the two additional $100 hotel discounts, and regular Lyft, Grubhub and Walgreens credits. There’s enough spending to fund benefits well beyond the annual card deposit. And now I won’t be forced to use nearly my entire remaining Bilt Cash balance by December 31. Bottom Line Improved expiration rules are a big deal. Readers are constantly asking how to spend their Bilt Cash before all but $100 of it expires at the end of the year. There’s no more expiration cliff. That’s good for program members, and good for Bilt because it meant end of year program activity was far less valuable, since the parallel Bilt Cash earned in addition to points would go unused rather than redeemed for rewards. Daily Rewards seems like a good way to generate engagement in the program, and may be rewarding for members. We’ll have to see what the prizes and frequency of winning each really looks like once this launches. Moving all credit card customers to ‘up to 1.25x on housing’ rather than having the option to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash instead isn’t an improvement. It’s what most people choose anyway, so isn’t a big deal. Existing customers retain the option to earn 4% Bilt Cash, and new ones can still apply by the end of the year and have this option. Still, for most people spending a lot on their cards 4% Bilt Cash is the strong option (with one exception) so I’d jump on that. Topics on this page Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.