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Bilt has announced its list of September Rent Day promotions, one of which has already started. The best deals though will be taking place on September 1 only – transfer bonuses to both Avianca LifeMiles and Virgin Atlantic.
The Deal
- Bilt is offering the following promotions for September Rent Day:
- 50% transfer bonus to Avianca LifeMiles (available to all members regardless of Bilt Rewards status level)
- Transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic (based on the following Bilt Rewards status levels):
- 100% – Platinum
- 60% – Gold
- 40% – Silver
- 20% – Blue
- Virgin Voyages – Buy One Sailor Get Second Sailor 100% Off + following additional benefits
- Unlimited premium wifi
- Two (2) specialty coffees per day
- $100 bar tab credit
- Access to an exclusive cocktail event
- Complimentary laundry
- Priority boarding at embarkation
- Dedicated support
- ResortPass – BOGO (i.e. bring a friend free) – valid on pool chairs, spa passes, and day passes
Key Terms
- Avianca LifeMiles transfer bonus, Virgin Atlantic transfer bonus & ResortPass – Valid September 1, 2024 at 12:00am ET to September 2, 2024 at 2:59am ET
- Virgin Voyages – Valid August 27, 2024 at 12:01am ET to September 2, 2024 at 3:00am ET
Quick Thoughts
Bilt is back with one of the better Rent Days we’ve had this year. There’s not one, but two transfer bonuses but with each one being set up differently. The 50% LifeMiles transfer bonus is available to all Bilt members regardless of status. The Virgin Atlantic transfer bonus on the other hand has the potential to be twice as good seeing as the bonus is up to 100%. However, that’s dependent on you having Platinum status, otherwise you’ll benefit from a 60%, 40% or 20% bonus depending on if you have Gold, Silver or Blue status respectively.
Those aren’t the only Rent Day promotions that could be of interest. Bilt is running the same Virgin Voyages offer as last month where you get 100% off a second guest. While that sounds great, the savings aren’t as significant as they might appear at first glance because Virgin Voyages is giving a 70% discount on a second guest by default. Ultimately, the savings can still be significant and the additional perks via the Bilt partnership could be worthwhile too; see my analysis from last month for more about that.
They also have a new BOGO offer for ResortPass. There’s a ResortPass Amex Offer giving $20 back on $100 spend which will stack with the Bilt promotion if you pass(es) you buy total at least $100.
Note that the Virgin Voyages offer is already live, whereas the other three offers listed above are only valid on September 1.
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DP re your theories on the associated podcast.
Can’t double dip Rakuten and Bilt rewards on the same card. It’s the same as with similar restaurant-airline rewards. I’ve found only one of these tertiary programs can be attached to a card at a time.
I had enrolled all my cards in bilt neighborhood only to see they all dropped from Rakuten. The same happened on Bilt when i re-enrolled to Rakuten.
Served its purpose for me – racked up 2, 50k SUBs + max 10k Rent Day for 18 months then hundreds of thousands of AA miles banked with no addtl out of pocket expense (save the original spend). Time to move on but welcome/isolated AA multiplier while it lasted!
[…] Bilt Rent Day for September: Transfer bonuses for LifeMiles & Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Voyages promo: I’m excited to see transfer bonuses included as part of Bilt’s September Rent Day promotion. See the details on Frequent Miler. […]
Feels like we’re seeing the end of the amazing transfer bonuses and rent day promotions. It had to happen sometime, and if they can keep things sustainable with this “new normal” it’s still a pick-up for renters and/or those averse to annual fees, but it’s not the slam dunk it used to be.
What worries me most is that their communication for any negative changes is pretty poor, and it’s hard to know whether this is the new normal or if we’re still on the ramp down to whatever they’re trying to get to be the new normal. I’m strongly considering cashing out now, as I like Virgin Atlantic even with its issues.
I took a look at Resort Pass and I’d pass. Hyatt Ziva San Jose del Cabo day pass is twice what the hotel quoted. So, basically you’re getting no value. I also looked at Vegas hotels and they are close to the room rate for the cheaper hotels midweek
What is the cap on these transfers? I thought there was a cap now.
No cap.
The cap is in your earnings on rent day that is capped to 1,000 additional points.
There was a cap on the Alaska Airlines transfer last month, but there doesn’t seem to be a cap for LifeMiles or Virgin Atlantic.
These transfer bonuses are off-cycle and seem to be a reaction to the recent negative sentiment. If you use these point currencies, consider cashing out nowj. Have no expectations about the future.
What do you mean by off cycle?
Previously, Bilt’s transfer bonuses had been in the middle month of a calendar quarter. I’ve commented to other articles that I suspect Bilt is transitioning to fewer and fewer transfer bonuses. The irregularity of transfer bonuses this year gives me an unsettled feeling.
Separately, it is clear that Bilt is not simply rotating through its transfer partners. Virgin has been the bonus baby three times. This suggests to me that certain programs will never see a transfer bonus.
Bilt’s transfer bonuses this year have taken place in January, February, July and September, so three of those four have taken place in the first or last month of a calendar quarter.
They had a pattern. They moved away from that pattern. Why? What is happening now is not a discernable pattern. It seems random. It seems to be a reaction. To me, the move from pattern to random seems odd.
As evidenced by my prior comments to many articles, I have been a BIG supporter of Bilt. I am not one of those who denounced it (as if it were a personal thing). But, given the totality of the circumstances (including its poor communication), as Han Solo said, I got a bad feeling about this.
Also, Wells Fargo considers the Bilt card to not really be a WF card. “Real” WF cards can move credit limit among themselves. “Real” WF cards can product change. Not the Bilt card. If you have it, you’re stuck with it. It is really quite unfortunate.
Bilt nerfing MS doesn’t mean the program is failing and on the brink of collapse.
Agree. The panic about Bilt collapsing is silly. I wonder if these same people pull all of their money out of the market every time it gets a jolt.
Now, nerfing the 2x Rent Day bonus does mean that there is no easy way to high status without putting significant 1x spend on the card. I put the lion’s share of my dining on the card and I’ll barely requalify for Silver. You could hit gold with big dining spend and massive rent, but the 50k spending to hit Platinum likely can’t be hit with dining and travel spend alone. And regardless of the transfer bonuses, I can’t see a reason to do 1x spending on a card just to make it 2x or 2.5x on a Rent Day bonus, especially since you can’t plan on them. There’s just not enough benefits to being gold or platinum to chase status. And I hope they don’t create the benefits the way airlines do (i.e. eliminating free checked bags only to make it a status benefit).
I still have significant coop maintenance fees, so having Bilt for that is always a benefit. And the program gives away points on dining, Walgreens, and Lyft. It will always be worth engaging. But the value of card spend is not that high right now outside of dining and coop fees/rent. I know that they need people to spend at 1x to make the program work, but I’m just not going to do it. Too much opportunity cost for me.
I’m hopeful on that point too. Cutting some of their least profitable activity may be how they keep rent day bonuses going.
They also effectively nerfed buying my favorite local restaurant gift cards for 6x awards on the 1st or 2x paying taxes. It wasn’t MS for me. Alas, I can still get 5x for restaurants (or any spend) via the Staples Visa/MC gift card fee free days using Chase Ink Business Cash. And of course, 2x for taxes on other cards. But I’m going to miss not having significant points for Bilt’s impressive rent day promotions but I suspect we will continue to see erosion in these deals as well. For example, last years Virgin promotion was significantly better than the current deal.