Now Live: Alaska Visa Signature Cardholders Earn 3x Miles on Rent With Bilt

Starting today, May 15, travelers with the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature^® credit card (now discontinued; replaced with the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature^® card) will be able to earn 3x points for every dollar spent on rent, up to $50,000 annually.

Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about this exciting development!

Earn 3x Alaska Miles on Rent With Bilt Rewards

In March, Bilt added Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan as a transfer partner, which is a major coup. Up to this point, Alaska has not had a partnership with any major transferable currency.

Under the new partnership with Alaska Airlines, Bilt Rewards members can transfer points earned with the Bilt Mastercard (rates & fees) at a 1:1 ratio to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program, a fantastic opportunity for those keen on earning more Alaska miles for future award redemptions.

However, the partnership has been enhanced by the ability to earn 3x Alaska miles on rent when the Alaska Signature card is linked with a Bilt Rewards account and used to make rent payments.

Cardholders of the personal card (not business card) are eligible to earn 3x points on up to $50,000 in rent annually, then 1x points. Theoretically, a cardholder could earn at least 150,000 Alaska miles per year from paying rent.

However, there is a 3% fee associated with rent payments. At the $50,000 yearly maximum, this would equate to a $1,500 transaction fee. However, earning 150,000 Alaska miles in return is worth $2,400 for flights, according to our valuations, which outweighs that fee.

The Impact of the Alaska/Bilt Partnership

Speaking about the new tie-up with Alaska, Bilt CEO Ankur Jain said: “As one of the most loved brands in aviation, this first-of-its-kind partnership with Alaska Airlines not only broadens Bilt’s members’ ability to travel everywhere Alaska and its partners fly but also exemplifies our commitment to providing Americans with more valuable ways to earn and redeem rewards on their largest monthly expense, rent, and within their local neighborhood.”

This new relationship is certainly significant. For years, points-and-miles enthusiasts have regarded Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan as one of the very best ways to book premium cabin award flights, thanks to (now former) incredible sweet spots within the chart for partner awards.

However, the partnership comes as Bilt will lose American Airlines as a transfer partner starting in June.

And despite a fresh (and still very painful) devaluation of the Alaska award chart, there are numerous ways to extract tons of value from the Mileage Plan program. For example, you can book a one-way ticket from the West Coast of the U.S. to Japan on Oneworld alliance partner Japan Airlines for 75,000 miles plus taxes and fees, while a cash ticket for the same flight would cost you $7,000 or more.

With the ability to “double-dip” on Alaska earnings — both by transferring points earned via spend on the Bilt Card and directly by paying rent with an eligible linked Alaska co-branded card — it should be a fairly easy task to bulk up your stash of Alaska miles, something that was previously only able to be done by signing up for an Alaska credit card.

Final Thoughts

Not only is Alaska Airlines a brand-new partner of the Bilt Rewards program, but you’ll now be able to earn 3x Mileage Plan miles per dollar spent on rent when you pay via an Alaska credit card connected to your Bilt account. The 3% fee should definitely be considered before paying up rent, but it could still be a good deal depending on your travel habits.