What is the new United & Bilt partnership?

Bilt recently came out with a press release detailing that you will now be able to earn 2 United Miles per dollar spent on rent payments (via Bilt) when you use select United Airlines cards. It’s an interesting announcement as you would earn 1 Bilt point per $1 spent if you were to pay with your Bilt card currently.

And there’s already a higher earn rate that Bilt announced previously with a different partner—Atmos Rewards. With the Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature card and Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite cards, you can earn 3 Atmos points per $1 spent.

What United cards are eligible to earn 2 United Miles per dollar spent on rent payments via Bilt?

• The United Gateway℠ Card
• United℠ Explorer Card
• The New United Quest℠ Card
• The New United Club℠ Card
• The United Presidential Plus℠ Card

Do I get charged a fee when I pay with a United card for rent payments?

Yes. If you choose to use your United card for rent payments on Bilt, you will get charged a 3% fee. This is Bilt’s 3% standard fee for 3rd party credit card rent payments.

When you decide to pay with your United credit card, you have to decide whether or not the 2 United MileagePlus Miles per dollar you earn on rent payments is worth the 3% fee.

Is it a good idea to use your United card for rent payments through Bilt?

The 2 United miles per dollar spent on rent payments via Bilt definitely makes it more appealing to pay your rent with a United card. However, for most folks I don’t think it’s worth it.

Earning Bilt points is incredibly valuable as you can transfer to Bilt’s numerous airline & hotel partners. The issue with only earning United miles is that you can only use those miles for United flights. Yes, it’s true that you are earning “double” what you would if you were paying your rent with a BIlt card but you are stuck with that one currency. You also have to pay that 3% fee.

I’d think of it this way—with Bilt points you could book a 5,000 point flight on Air Canada. But if you had United Miles, your only option might be a 20,000 mile flight for the same route. That would essentially wipe out the idea of earning double the miles when using a United card for rent payments via Bilt.

The other thing is that with Bilt points you can transfer to airline AND hotel partners. You might not want to fly for vacation and instead take a drive to a hotel for the weekend. If you had United Miles, you couldn’t use that toward a hotel.

And there’s one more reason why you would earn Bilt points rather than United Miles—Bilt’s rent day. Bilt has a day called “rent day” where you can transfer your Bilt points to different airlines or hotels at a massive bonus rate. And your rate depends on your status. At the beginning of this December, you could transfer your Bilt points for a big bonus to any participating IAG airline which includes British Airways Club, Iberia Club, and Aer Lingus.

Here were the transfer bonuses for each Bilt statuses:

• Bilt Blue (earn under 50,000 Bilt points): 50% transfer bonus
• Bilt Silver (earn at least 50,000 Bilt points) : 60% transfer bonus
• Bilt Gold (earn at least 125,000 Bilt points): 75% transfer bonus
• Bilt Platinum (earn at least 200,000 Bilt points): 100% transfer bonus

As an example, let’s say you are a Bilt Blue member and you want to transfer 10,000 Bilt points to British Airways. You would get 15,000 British Airways points. And if you were a Bilt Platinum member and wanted to transfer 50,000 Bilt points to Iberia Club, you would get 100,000 Iberia points.

I would say that the only use case I see for folks who are looking to reach different types of United status. You can earn Premier qualifying points (PQPs) from flying but you can also earn these points toward status via spend on your United card. Earning the PQPs via United credit card spend is how you would earn PQPs with rent payments on Bilt. Each United card has its own rate for PQP earning along with its own limit. For instance, with the United℠ Explorer Card, you can earn up to 1,000 PQPs annually with a rate of 1 PQP for every $20 spent. Meanwhile with a more premium card like the The New United Club℠ Card, you can earn up to 28,000 PQPs annually with a rate of 1 PQP for every $15 spent.

If you don’t fly enough to qualify for the PQFs (you earn one PQF for every flight you take), the Bilt rent payments with a United card is a decent way to earn PQPs. YOu can achieve status just with PQPs.

What are the different United statuses?

Premier Silver

• 1 free checked bag in Economy
• Free access to Economy Plus at check-in for you and one companion
• Group 2 boarding
• Eligible for free day of departure upgrades
• 7 times the miles earned on every flight
• 15 PQF and 5,000 PQP or 6,000 PQP

Premier Gold

• 2 free checked bags in Economy
• Free access when booking for you and one companion
• Group 1 boarding
• Eligible for free upgrades 48 hours before flight
• 8 times the miles earned on every flight
• 30 PQF and 10,000 PQP or 12,000 PQP

Premier Platinum

• 3 free checked bags in Economy
• Free access to Economy Plus when booking for you and eight companions
• Group 1 boarding
• Eligible for free upgrades 72 hours before flight
• 9 times the miles earned on every flight
• Earn 40 PlusPoints after reaching Premier Platinum status
• 45 PQF and 15,000 PQP or 18,000 PQP

Premier 1K

• 3 free checked bags in Economy
• Free access to Economy Plus when booking for you and eight companions
• Priority pre-boarding
• Eligible for free upgrades 96 hours before flight
• 11 times the miles earned on every flight
• Earn 280 PlusPoints after reaching Premier 1K status
• Free drink and snack in Economy
• 60 PQF and 22,000 PQP or 28,000 PQP

Final Remarks

Long story short, I wouldn’t use my United card to pay rent via Bilt unless you are chasing United status. Bilt points are too valuable as a transferable currency for me to pass up on—even if you are earning 2 United Miles versus 1 Bilt point per dollar spent on rent. With Bilt points you have the power to transfer to 22 travel partners (airlines and hotels). With United Miles, you’re pretty much stuck with one currency. What are your thoughts on Bilt’s partnership with United Airlines? I won’t be dabbling in this partnership, but will you?