How to earn and redeem Bilt Cash: housing points, accelerators, and monthly caps

Bilt Cash is a second currency, separate from Bilt Points, and it is dollar-for-dollar inside the Bilt ecosystem. Every member gets $50 in Bilt Cash for each 25

What this covers

Bilt now runs two currencies. Bilt Points still transfer to airlines and hotels. Bilt Cash spends dollar-for-dollar inside Bilt: housing unlocks, checkout credits, travel and wellness caps. The FAQ says it does not replace points and does not cut point earn.

The terms are stricter. Until a redemption clears, Bilt Cash has no cash value. You cannot withdraw it or send it to someone else. What you earn in a calendar year expires at year-end, except about $100 that rolls over, first in first out.

This guide follows the FAQ, the Bilt Cash terms, and the card Offer Terms: how you earn it, what to tap in Wallet, how housing and the accelerator work, and the monthly caps. How to attach a property for ACH housing payments is a separate housing guide. This one is only Bilt Cash.

Bilt Blue, Obsidian, and Palladium cards

Before you start

  1. You do not need a Bilt card to hold Bilt Cash. Every 25,000 elite-qualifying points unlocks $50. Cardholders also get welcome Bilt Cash and the 4% spend path.
  2. The 4% path and the housing-only multiplier are a fork. Housing-only means everyday spend stops earning Bilt Cash. The FAQ says the cardholder housing unlock and the accelerator both need the 4% Bilt Cash earn setting.
  3. From 1 February 2026 you can apply Bilt Cash at checkout in the app or on bilt.com. Housing unlocks and the accelerator are listed as available from 7 February 2026 after card activation.
  4. Unused monthly credits do not roll to next month. On “up to” items, leftover value on that use is forfeited.
  5. Welcome amounts follow the Offer Terms on your approval. Public roundup figures are about $100 for Blue, $200 for Obsidian, $300 for Palladium, plus about $200 a year on Palladium. Those numbers move.
  6. Menu labels change. The path below is Wallet → Bilt Cash → Spend.

Steps

How it is earned

Every member

Each 25,000 Bilt Points that count toward elite status unlocks $50 in Bilt Cash. The FAQ does not limit how those points were earned. It posts when you hit the mark. Progress sits in Wallet.

Extra for cardholders

  • Welcome Bilt Cash on Blue, Obsidian, and Palladium after approval. Read your Offer Terms.
  • Everyday spend at about 4% Bilt Cash on all three cards, if that path is on instead of housing-only.

Palladium Offer Terms also say the $300 welcome Bilt Cash posts on account open, separate from the 50,000 points and Gold status after about $4,000 of eligible spend in 90 days. Rent and mortgage do not count toward that $4,000.

Most people keep everyday spend on 4% and then unlock housing with Bilt Cash. The housing-only track can pay more points when card spend matches the rent, but leftover Bilt Cash is no longer there for other uses. Follow the switch in your account.

Check Wallet

Open the Bilt app or website and go to Wallet. You see available Bilt Cash, how far you are from the next $50, and Spend your Bilt Cash.

Bilt Cash balance and 25,000-point tracker in Wallet

A $0.00 balance is normal if you have not hit the next 25,000 or the welcome credit has not posted. Spend-based Cash often shows soon after a purchase. Trust the ledger in the app.

Unlock points on housing

Cardholders only. The FAQ: about $30 of Bilt Cash unlocks 1,000 points on a housing payment, up to 1x of that month’s rent or mortgage. You do not have to redeem in $30 chunks. Minimum is about $0.03 for 1 point.

Path: Wallet → Spend your Bilt Cash → Bonus Points → Unlock points on housing payments → Redeem.

Bonus Points: housing unlock and accelerator

The screen shows how many housing points the current balance can fund. Then make an already-linked housing payment. The rent or mortgage itself is still usually an ACH from a bank account, not a charge against the card limit.

Housing unlock copy: about $30 for 1,000 points

Example: about $15,000 of everyday spend yields about $600 Bilt Cash, which can cover about $20,000 of housing at 1x. Welcome Cash and the $50 per 25,000 points improve that math. The balance has to be there when the payment posts.

Point accelerator (Obsidian and Palladium)

Same 4% Bilt Cash setting. The FAQ dates this to 7 February 2026 after activation.

Spend $200 Bilt Cash to add +1x on the next $5,000 of everyday spend. Up to five activations a year. It ends after $5,000 of spend or at year-end.

While it is on:

  • Obsidian: 4x dining or grocery (grocery still capped near $25,000 a year), 3x travel, 2x everyday
  • Palladium: 3x everyday

That $5,000 of spend also earns about $200 more Bilt Cash, so the accelerator can pay for itself if you actually spend it. Five times a year is the ceiling.

Category credits

Spend is grouped as Dining & Groceries, Travel & Transportation, Health & Wellness, and Other. Figures below are from the FAQ still live in August 2026. They can change.

Dining and grocery monthly credits

Dining and groceries

  • Grubhub / Seamless: about $10 a month, about $120 a year. Code expires at month-end and hits the subtotal only.
  • Home Delivery (Gopuff): up to about $5 a month, about $60 a year.
  • Select Bilt Dining via Mobile Checkout: one visit a month up to about $25, about $300 a year.
  • Dining experience bookings: up to about $50 a month, about $600 a year.

Travel

  • Bilt Travel hotels: up to about $50 a month for Blue and Silver, $100 for Gold and Platinum, two-night minimum, about $1,200 a year at the top. Stacks with points, annual hotel credits, and cash.
  • Rent Day transfer-bonus upgrade: pay Bilt Cash to take the next status tier’s bonus. The FAQ example is Gold spending about $75 to move from 75% to 100%. Price moves.
  • Lyft: about $10 a month.
  • Blacklane: about $50 a year for Blue/Silver, $100 Gold, $150 Platinum.
  • BLADE airport seats: up to about $350 per seat, two bookings a year, about $700 total. Unused value on a cheaper seat does not come back. Not for bags or upgrades.
  • Home Away from Home: Blue and Silver can spend about $95 a month to unlock Gold/Platinum hotel benefits.
  • Palladium Priority Pass extra guests: up to two guests a month at about $35 each, about $840 a year, as a statement credit.
  • Neighborhood Parking: about $5 a month, listed as coming soon.

Wellness and other

  • Group fitness (SoulCycle, Barry’s, and others): one class a month up to about $40, about $480 a year.
  • Equinox spa, training, pilates: twice a year. About $75 Blue, $100 Silver, $150 Gold/Platinum. Not membership dues. Minimum redeem about $50; redeeming less forfeits the rest.
  • Walgreens: about $10 a month via an in-app gift-card barcode.
  • Comedy experiences: up to about $50 a month, FAQ date 1 March 2026.
  • Design Collection: up to about $10 a month, FAQ date 1 February 2026.

How monthly caps cut over

Each calendar month you pick what to spend. Used monthly credits reset on the 1st. Reset is midnight PT (3:00 a.m. ET). The FAQ example: a redemption at 1:00 a.m. ET on 1 May counts toward April.

Authorized users: monthly caps are per Bilt account. Primary and AU can each take a $10 Lyft credit if each account has enough Bilt Cash.

Bilt Cash does not transfer to airlines. That is what Points are for.

Bilt Cash FAQ Bilt Cash terms Bilt card Offer Terms

Carddoger take

Pick the earn path first. If you want housing points and still want 4% on spend, stay on Bilt Cash. Do not flip to housing-only by accident. Wallet shows the balance and the next $50 milestone.

For cardholders the usual order is: keep enough Cash for this month’s housing unlock, then consider the $200 accelerator on Obsidian or Palladium, then spend leftovers on Lyft, dining, or the hotel portal only if you will actually use them. Monthly credits are not a cash wallet. They clear. “Up to” leftovers clear too.

Spend anything over about $100 before year-end. App, FAQ, and terms win. This follows the official pages still live in August 2026. It is not card or lending advice.