To say this is exciting news barely captures the extent of it.
Bilt & Alaska Airlines are partnering to enable Bilt rewards members to transfer their points on a 1:1 basis into Alaska miles that can be redeemable for flights on Alaska Airlines & oneworld partners. In the entire history of points/miles, no other issuer has been able to become an Alaska Airlines transfer partner, including Bank of America (which literally issues the Alaska Airlines credit cards).
Bilt now claims the title of being Alaska Airline's exclusive transfer partner.
How Does This Position The Bilt Card?
The value proposition of Bilt points continues to grow stronger and stronger. Being able to transfer Bilt points to (now) 14 airline and 3 hotel transfer partners that even the legacy issuers can't even get access to is quite incredible:
BRAND
Airline Transfer Partner
Transfer Ratio
(Bilt → Partner)
Transfer Time
Aer Lingus AerClub
1:1
Up to a few days
Air Canada Aeroplan
1:1
Usually instant
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
1:1
Usually instant
Alaska Airlines
1:1
TBD
American Airlines
1:1
Up to 24 hours
Avianca
1:1
Usually instant
British Airways
1:1
Usually instant
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
1:1
Usually instant
Emirates
1:1
Usually instant
Hawaiian
1:1
Usually instant
Iberia Plus
1:1
Up to a few days
Turkish
1:1
Usually instant
United Airlines
1:1
Usually instant
Virgin Atlantic
1:1
Usually instant
This makes Bilt the only card to be able to transfer to several US domestic carriers, making Bilt points all that much more valuable. However, what's yet to be seen is whether or not a transfer bonus to Alaska is possible. What's interesting is that I've never used my Bilt points for anything besides Air France and Virgin Atlantic, which have offered up to 150% transfer bonuses that I've been able to take advantage of.
If Bilt only offers a 1:1 transfer to Alaska Airlines, I might never use the transfer myself unless Alaska decides to run a flash sale on partner flights like they've been promising after their devaluation. Even as an American Airlines loyalist, I've transferred 0 miles to AA, so only time will tell about how many miles I end up transferring to Alaska.
Alaska Cardholders Earn 3x On Rent Payments (With 3% Fee?)
Bilt and Alaska will be launched a unique offer later this year, exclusively for Alaska Airlines cardholders. When using that card to pay rent through Bilt, cardholders will receive double Alaska miles—3x miles for every dollar spent on rent, up to $50,000 annually.
However, paying rent using any other card besides the Bilt card in the app will incur a 3% transaction fee. But, what makes this particularly interesting is the ability to:
- Earn 3x Alaska miles per $1 spent on rent, up to $50,000 annually
- Work towards spending $6,000/calendar year to earn the Alaska Companion Pass
Given the ability to also earn the Companion Pass through $6,000 of rent spend, the economics on this become quite interesting.
BRAND
Cost
Benefit
- Rent transaction fee: $180
- Alaska Miles: 18,000
- Companion Pass
I was originally considering closing my Alaska Airlines card since I didn't see how I could hit the annual spend required to maintain the companion pass, but with this in place, I'm effectively paying $180 rent txn fee + the $95 annual fee to get 18,000 Alaska miles & a Companion Pass. I think there's a compelling argument here to keeping the Alaska card and using it to pay rent purely to get a Companion Pass.
Wait: Earn Elite Status?
With the new MileagePlan changes for 2024, there is an ongoing promotion: for every $10,000 you spend on purchases, you'll automatically earn 4,000 EQMs (up to 20,000 EQMs total)
As it turns out, rent payments will be eligible for this! This makes the value proposition of using the Alaska Airlines card for rent that much stronger.
Is This Valuable Even With Alaska's Devaluation?
Despite the unfortunate news of Alaska's recent devaluation, I think this still has significant potential. Alaska's award chart has become a little bit weaker, but there are still many fantastic opportunities to derive significant value out of your miles, especially with the new sweet spots:
- Northeast US <> British Isles in business class: 45,000 miles
- Icelandair business class flying 3,501–5,000 miles: 35,000 miles
- Intra US flights: Starting at just 5,000 miles
Read more about Alaska's new sweet spots.
Conclusion
This is an extremely exciting, unprecedented offer. While Bilt is set to lose American Airlines as a transfer partner, it sets to gain another exclusive relationship never before seen in the points/miles space. We will have to wait and see if Bilt offers a transfer promotion to Alaska in the coming weeks/months, but nevertheless, this relationship is very favorable to folks like us.
