The leak machine is on, and reports are coming out of both View from the Wing and Reddit that the Help section on Rakuten seems to have added Bilt as an earning option alongside American Express Membership Rewards.
This means that the new member promotion to get $50 or 5,000 points will be able to be earned as Bilt points real soon, though not that only the Help section is updated with the Bilt info and as of this second, you can’t yet actually switch to earning Bilt – but I will as soon as it’s live!
Below is the updated help section.
I love my Amex points, but Bilt points are pretty undeniable more flexible (and therefore valuable) with their roster of transfer partners including Hyatt, Alaska, and JAL… and even portal redemptions are at 1.25 cents vs 1 cent with Amex.
But the best part of Bilt transfers is for sure their Rent Dat (1st of the month) deals which sometimes, though not always, includes an outsized transfer bonus based on Bilt tier level with 100% transfer bonuses (1:2) coming around more often than they should for Platinum members (which does require 200,000 Bilt points earned or $50,000 spent on the card in a calendar year, so by no means is the average Bilt user Platinum, I know…) but are still outsized at all tier levels. (You can see a historical list of Bilt transfer bonuses here).
And as I mentioned before, if you are new to Rakuten, you can get 5,000 points when you join and spend $50 on *anything* via Rakuten within 90 days. That referral offer has been extended and you can wait for Bilt to come online, but you can also signup now and simply switch to Bilt later as the Help terms clearly say….
Will you need a Bilt credit card or just a Bilt Rewards account?
Good question! I *think* you will need a Bilt credit card because you do need a linked Amex MR account to earn Amex. However, we’ll have to wait for it to be live to know for sure, since I wouldn’t put it past Bilt to open this up to all members that link a Bilt Rewards account. We’ll know either way soon!
Who else is excited to switch to Bilt on Rakuten?
Thoughts?
Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram for all sorts of tips on miles, points, credit cards, and travel.
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