Bilt Rewards, the first rewards program that allows travelers to earn transferrable points on rent, rolls out a fun promo on the first of each month called Bilt Rent Day, allowing all members to earn extra points and get other benefits. This week, Bilt announced its May 2023 Rent Day promotion and it's a good one!
On May 1, Bilt is offering a 100% bonus when transferring Bilt points to Air France and KLM's Flying Blue loyalty program, meaning your Bilt points will go twice as far. While other rewards programs will roll out the occasional transfer bonus to airline or hotel partners, a 100% transfer bonus is pretty much unheard of. But not for Bilt Rewards; it has offered 100% transfer bonuses in the past, including one to Hawaiian Airlines in February.
So just how good is this deal? By combining the 100% transfer bonus with Flying Blue's May discounted award flight promotion, you can fly roundtrip to Europe for few as 13,000 Bilt points in economy from a handful of U.S. cities. For comparison, that's fewer miles than most other airlines charge for a one-way flight to Europe.
Every month, Flying Blue offers discounted award rates on a handful of routes. The discounts vary from month to month and route to route, but you can generally expect to save somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-50% of the miles it would normally cost to book these routes – and by transferring your Bilt points to Flying Blue miles on May 1, you can save even more.
One-way routes to Europe flying Air France or KLM start at 11,250 Flying Blue Miles in economy, meaning you only have to transfer 6,000 Bilt points to book a flight across the pond by utilizing the 100% transfer bonus.
But if you find yourself with a big stash of Bilt Points, it might be time to splurge for business class. For flights booked this May, flying from Newark (EWR) to Paris (CDG) in business class is only 41,250 Flying Blue Miles one-way. With the 100% bonus, if you transfer 21,000 Bilt points to Flying Blue on May 1, you would have enough miles for over seven hours of lie-flat flying.
May's list of promo routes to the U.S. is more extensive than in previous months, and that likely has a lot to do with Bilt's overlapping Rent Day promotion. Here's where you can expect to see this discounted pricing (award rates are for one-way flights).
Economy to Europe
- Boston (BOS) starting at 11,250 Flying Blue Miles
- Chicago (ORD) starting at 12,750 Flying Blue Miles
- Washington-Dulles (IAD) starting at 12,750 Flying Blue Miles
- Miami (MIA) starting at 12,750 Flying Blue Miles
- Dallas (DFW) starting at 15,000 Flying Blue Miles
- Houston (IAH) starting at 15,000 Flying Blue Miles
- Atlanta (ATL) starting at 15,750 Miles Flying Blue Miles
- Austin (AUS) starting at 18,375 Flying Blue Miles
- Los Angeles (LAX) starting at 20,250 Flying Blue Miles
Premium Economy to Europe
- Houston (IAH) starting at 30,000 Flying Blue Miles
- Washington-Dulles starting at 22,500 Flying Blue Miles
- Newark (EWR) starting at 22,500 Flying Blue Miles
Business Class to Europe
- Newark (EWR) to Paris (CDG) starting at 41,250 Flying Blue Miles
- Houston (IAH) starting at 48,750 Flying Blue Miles
- Washington-Dulles (IAD) starting at 52,500 Flying Blue Miles
- Atlanta (ATL) starting at 52,500 Flying Blue Miles
- Dallas (DFW) starting at 52,500 Flying Blue Miles
It's important to note that any of the above routes need to be booked between May 1 and May 31, for travel May 1 – October 31, in order to qualify for the discounted rate.
Thrifty Tip: You don't have to have a Bilt account or transfer Bilt points to take advantage of these discounted Air France/KLM Flying Blue award flights. If you're earning Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One Venture Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, or Citi ThankYou points, you can instantly transfer those points to Flying Blue miles and book any of these discounted Flying Blue awards, too. Chase and American Express are even out with 25% transfer bonuses to Air France/KLM, too!
If you're a Bilt Rewards member with designs on a trip to Europe this summer or fall, make sure you're on the ball: Bilt is only offering this 100% transfer bonus on May 1. But remember: Once you send those points to an airline account, you can't get them back, so you'll want to have a purpose for those Flying Blue miles before you transfer any Bilt points.
Read more: How to Save Points When Booking Flights by Transferring Them to an Airline Partner
Other May 1 Rent Day Promos from Bilt
In addition to the 100% transfer bonus to Flying Blue, Bilt has other fun things in store for members on Rent Day, too.
Participating in Bilt's Rent Day challenge – finding the Bilt logo hidden within an image on the Bilt app – will get you entered into a drawing for a free month of rent (up to $2,500) or to win a roundtrip business class ticket to Amsterdam or Paris for you and a companion. There will be five winners in total – three people will win free rent and two will get roundtrip business class airfare to Europe.
Lastly, you can (and should) participate in Bilt's ‘Point Quest' Trivia for a chance to win additional Bilt points. It works like this: Answer five questions and win up to 150 Bilt Points. Answer all five questions correctly and you’ll get access to a bonus question worth another 100 Bilt Points to win a total of 250 Bilt Points.
Earn Double Points on Rent Day
There's one more thing to keep in mind on Rent Day and that's that Bilt always offers double the points earnings if you hold the Bilt Rewards Mastercard®.
On the first of each month, cardholders will earn the following when paying with your Bilt Mastercard.
- 2x Bilt points on everyday purchases (usually 1x)
- 4x Bilt points on travel (usually 2x)
- 6x Bilt points on dining (usually 3x)
This is all in addition to the 1x Bilt points you earn on rent payments with the Bilt Mastercard when you make at least five additional transactions each statement cycle.
Read More: Bilt Rewards: Earn Transferable Points for Paying Rent (+ No Fees)
Learn more about the Bilt Rewards Mastercard.
Bottom Line
Bilt is back with another exciting Rent Day promotion, offering a 100% transfer bonus to Flying Blue. This bonus is only available on Monday, May 1, so plan accordingly.
When combined with any of Flying Blue's discounted award rates for the month of May, this promo means you fly roundtrip to Europe this summer or fall for half the Bilt points.
What are Bilt points?
Are Delta points still useable on KLM and/or Air France?