Bilt Card User Trick Earns More Points
Adding an authorized user to a Bilt credit card for a fee allows rewards to be directed to a separate account, potentially unlocking additional spending
The Bilt credit card portfolio offers a method for cardholders to earn significantly more rewards by adding authorized users. According to a report from One Mile at a Time, this strategy can help maximize the value of Bilt Cash, which is a cash-back style reward earned on spending.
Bilt offers three credit cards: a no-annual-fee Blue Card, a $95-annual-fee Obsidian Card, and a premium $495-annual-fee Palladium Card. Spending on these cards earns transferable Bilt points and Bilt Cash, which is a 4% back reward that can be redeemed for various options, though up to $100 of it expires if not used each year.
How the Authorized User Rewards Work
When a primary cardholder adds an authorized user to their Bilt account, they can choose where the rewards from that user's spending are deposited. The rewards, including both Bilt points and Bilt Cash, can be accrued either in the primary account or in a separate account belonging to the authorized user. This choice is made during the setup process for each added user.
For the Bilt Palladium Card, adding an authorized user costs $95 per year. Each authorized user on this premium card also receives a complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge membership.
Maximizing Value with Spending Accelerators
The primary benefit of directing rewards to an authorized user's own account is to bypass redemption limits on Bilt Cash. A key redemption option is the spending accelerator. For $200 in Bilt Cash, a cardholder can purchase an accelerator that grants an extra 1 point per dollar on the next $5,000 spent, effectively earning 3 points per dollar. This can be done up to five times per year per account, for a maximum of 25,000 bonus points.
If an authorized user accrues rewards in their own separate account, they have their own independent limit for these accelerators. The source suggests that if an authorized user earns $1,000 in Bilt Cash, spending the $95 fee to add them could net an extra 25,000 points annually through this method alone.
Beyond accelerators, having a separate authorized user account resets other limits. The authorized user could potentially earn Bilt elite status, which offers perks like Flying Blue Gold status. They could also redeem for their own Lyft and Walgreens credits and take full advantage of Rent Day promotions, which often have caps per account.
The report, citing View from the Wing, notes this strategy is particularly useful for Bilt Palladium Card holders who are big spenders but may not have large housing payments, leaving them with expiring Bilt Cash. By shifting some spending to an authorized user's card and directing the rewards to that user's separate account, they effectively gain a new set of redemption limits.
The author of the source report states that in their personal situation, paying $95 for an authorized user to unlock an extra 25,000 points per year "seems like something that's absolutely worth it."
