Bilt members could now earn 2 United miles per dollar spent on rent (with a 3% fee)

Late last week, Bilt and United announced that it is now possible to earn 2 United miles per dollar spent on rent when you use a United Mileage Plus consumer credit card to pay rent through Bilt. You’ll pay a 3% fee to pay rent this way. At that cost, I’m not very enthusiastic about this opportunity, but some will surely still pursue it even if it is an expensive way to earn United miles.

Consumer United cards that qualify to earn 2x on rent

You can earn 2 United miles per dollar spent on rent through Bilt with the following cards:

• The United Gateway℠ Card

• The United℠ Explorer Card

• The United Quest℠ Card

• The United Club℠ Card

• The United Presidential Plus℠ Card

To earn 2 miles per dollar spent on rent through Bilt, you’ll need to add your eligible United MileagePlus Card to your Bilt account and pay your rent through Bilt. According to Bilt.

“One mile per dollar posts to your MileagePlus account under “Bilt Rent Cardmember Bonus Miles,” while the other mile appears on your credit card statement in the “United MileagePlus Award Miles Summary.”

Keep in mind that paying rent with a card other than the Bilt Mastercard carries a 3% fee.

I’m not sure the juice is worth the squeeze here

At first glance, since you’ll earn 2 miles per dollar spent and pay a 3% fee, this sounds like an opportunity to earn miles at a “cost” of about 1.5c per mile. While I’m not a buyer of United miles at that price point, I imagine that some people would be.

However, if you have the Bilt Mastercard (which is currently not available to new applicants until the new cards launch, which is expected to happen in early February), you can currently pay rent without any fee and earn 1 Bilt point per dollar spent. Since that 1 Bilt point per dollar spent could be transferred to United, the chance to pick up just 1 additional United mile for a 3% fee makes the math less appealing for existing Bilt cardholders. Those existing Bilt cardholders would essentially be paying the 3% fee for just 1 additional mile, an effective cost of 3c per mile. That’s not a deal that would attract me.

I’d sooner consider earning Alaska miles by paying rent with an Alaska Atmos consumer credit card and earning 3 Alaska miles per dollar spent for the same 3% fee. And with Alaska credit card spend making a meaingful impact toward Alaska elite status, rent could help you get most of the way to Silver status. Once again, Bilt cardholders would need to decide whether the additional 2 miles per dollar spent is worth the 3% fee over earning 1 Bilt point per dollar spent with no fee.

Keep in mind that you do not earn Bilt points when you pay the rent with an Alaska card or United card.

Bottom line

You can now earn 2 United miles per dollar spent on rent through Bilt when you use a qualifying United consumer credit card. I generally wouldn’t recommend this, particularly for those who already have the Bilt Mastercard, since it is generally possible to earn United miles at a lower cost in a multitude of other ways.

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