Bilt’s Fancy New Partner
Tl;dr: Double points for all on Blade, with 10% off (Silver+), lounge access (Gold+), and a free flight (Platinum) for Bilt elite members.
Bilt has a new partner, and it’s an interesting (and niche) one: Blade, the helicopter service that shuttles people between New York City airports and Manhattan, saving a lot of time and (I assume) making for a pretty cool experience.
Normally this is the type of rich-person service I wouldn’t spend much time on, but there are enough interesting tidbits here you might want to be aware of if you are based in NYC, or if your travels ever take you there.
The deal
The benefits Bilt members receive with Blade depends on their status with Bilt. We recently covered the changes Bilt has made to their program, but as a quick reminder, you need to earn 50,000 Bilt points to earn Silver status in a given year, 125k for Gold, and 200k for Platinum. Bilt is also now offering the opportunity to “fast-track” status via spending: $10k for Silver, $25k for Gold, or $50k for Platinum–rent doesn’t count. People who earned status in 2023 will keep that status for 2024, but will need to meet the new thresholds to maintain or improve their status.
The new arrangement with Blade offers progressively better benefits to Bilt members depending on their status:
All members earn double points on spending with Blade. Notably, this doesn’t have to be on the Bilt Mastercard itself; it can be any card linked to your Bilt account.
Silver, Gold, and Platinum members get a 10% discount on flights when booked through the Bilt app.
Gold and Platinum members get access to Blade’s lounges in Manhattan (West 30th Street and East 34th Street), even if they are not flying.
Platinum members get a free Blade flight each year between Manhattan and Newark or JFK, or between Monaco and Nice.
Does this matter?
If you picked up Bilt Gold or Platinum last year with the lower thresholds, this is a great opportunity to get some free drinks and nice views if you’re in the neighborhood of these lounges at any point in 2024, and even to get a free helicopter ride if you have Platinum status. Those statuses will be much harder to reach in 2025, but big spenders, especially those in NYC, could get some serious benefit out of this new arrangement.
Even if you don’t have a fancy status with Bilt, the double points and 10% discount for Silver members and up might come in handy on occasion given the time and expense of ground transportation in New York and the opportunity to pair convenience and speed with a little sky tourism.
Conclusion
Although this arrangement won’t benefit most Bilt cardholders, it may provide some nice perks when visiting New York City in 2024 and make booking Blade service seem palatable in a pinch. Bilt’s never-ending quest to find new benefits for its cardholders like this is part of why we recommend the card so highly.
If you’d like to start earning points for travel when you pay your rent, consider applying for the Bilt card via our referral link HERE.