Bilt will retire its flexible 4% Bilt Cash earning mode for new cardholders starting in 2027, the rent rewards company announced on Oct. 27, 2026.
Everyone who signs up from Jan. 1 onward lands on housing-only rewards, which pay up to 1.25 points per dollar on rent or mortgage based on how much everyday spending goes on the card.
The scale slides. Charging 25% of monthly rent earns 0.5x points on that payment, and matching the payment earns the full 1.25x.
Existing cardholders can keep the 4% mode, but only by opting out of the new benefits in their card settings before their card anniversary.
Opting out is a one-way door, since the ability to switch between Bilt Cash and housing-only mode then disappears for good.
Anyone who wants the option at all needs a Bilt card by Dec. 31, 2026.
The hotel cut lands on everyone
Bilt Cash now expires 12 months after it's earned instead of at year-end, a change that applies retroactively to balances already sitting in the app.
Under the old rules, all but $100 vanished on Dec. 31.
Hotel redemptions move the other way. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, Bilt Cash can be put toward hotel bookings twice a year instead of monthly, with a two-night minimum on each booking.
Per-redemption caps run $50 for Blue and Silver, $100 for Gold and Platinum, and $200 for eligible Palladium cardholders, which works out to annual ceilings of $100, $200, and $400.
Bilt Cash hotel caps fall to twice a year
Maximum annual Bilt Cash usable on hotel bookings from Jan. 1, 2027, USD
Bar chart. Annual Cap ($). Blue and Silver: Annual Cap ($) $100. Gold and Platinum: Annual Cap ($) $200. Palladium: Annual Cap ($) $400.
Gold and Platinum members could previously put up to $1.2K a year toward hotels through monthly redemptions, making the new ceiling an 83% cut.
Bilt's Rent Day hotel discounts have their own story.
Annual credits get folded together
The Palladium's $200 in annual Bilt Cash and $400 in hotel credits become a single $600 Bilt Cash credit, and the Obsidian's $100 hotel credit becomes $100 in Bilt Cash.
Both now arrive on the card anniversary rather than Jan. 1.
The dollar value holds steady, so the change is about flexibility. That $600 can go toward rideshare credits, dining perks, or the Point Accelerator, which costs $200 in Bilt Cash and earns an extra point per dollar on the next $5K of spending, up to five times a year.
Heavy spenders are the ones giving something up, since $600 funds three accelerators where 4% back on everyday purchases could fund five.
Bilt says shifting new members to housing-only aligns with how the vast majority of members already choose to be rewarded.
Daily Rewards launches Jan. 15, 2027, with a reward for every on-time housing payment and one qualifying neighborhood activity a day, plus grand prizes including $1M toward a home purchase and 10M Bilt Points.
Cardholders earning 4% have until the day before their anniversary to decide, and those who joined at the February launch have until Feb. 6. Bilt's transfer partner cuts are a separate story.
