Bilt Cash Explained (Including the December Reset)

Bilt Cash is the second currency in the Bilt Rewards program. It sits next to Bilt Points but works very differently: it is spent in dollars, mostly on capped monthly credits, and most of it expires at the end of every calendar year.

If you hold a Bilt card, Bilt Cash probably shows up in your Wallet tab already, from a welcome bonus, Palladium’s annual $200, or 4% back on everyday spending. This guide covers how you earn it, what it can and cannot do, and how to plan around the December 31 reset, when only $100 carries over.

Every fact below was checked October 18, 2026 on the Bilt Cash Program Terms, Bilt’s Bilt Cash support article, the Bilt Card Offer Terms, and the FAQ on bilt.com/card. New to Bilt? Start with our Bilt Rewards guide.

What Bilt Cash is (and is not)

Bilt describes Bilt Cash as a rewards currency, separate from Bilt Points, that gives dollar-for-dollar value inside the Bilt ecosystem. The terms are strict about what it is not:

• Not cash. Bilt Cash “is not redeemable for cash,” including by bank deposit, ACH, check, or ATM.
• Not a statement credit. The terms say Bilt Cash “cannot be redeemed as a statement credit toward your Bilt Card balance.”
• Not transferable. You cannot move it to airline or hotel partners, sell it, or pool it with another member’s account.
• Not yours until redeemed. The terms say it has no cash value until you successfully redeem it, and it is forfeited if your Bilt account is closed.

You also do not need a Bilt card. The terms say “it is not required that you have a Bilt Card to participate in the Bilt Cash Program.”

How you earn Bilt Cash

Sources: Bilt Cash support article (milestones), Card Offer Terms (welcome bonuses, Palladium annual credit, 4% option), checked October 18, 2026.

Two details from the Card Offer Terms matter here. First, cardholders on the default Housing-only option do not earn 4% Bilt Cash on everyday spending (welcome bonus Bilt Cash still arrives either way). Second, your option applies to the whole account and a change only takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle, so you cannot flip it on the last day of December.

What you can use Bilt Cash for

Most uses are capped credits that reset every month or every year. From the Bilt Cash support article and program terms:

Monthly credits:

Bilt’s support article lists some of these under cardholder benefits, so check the Wallet tab to see which ones your account can use.

Bigger or less frequent uses:

• Hotels on the Bilt Travel portal: 2-night minimum; up to $50 a month for Blue and Silver members, up to $100 a month for Gold and Platinum. Bilt Cash can be combined with points, hotel credits, and cash at checkout.
• BLADE airport flights: two $350 seat credits per calendar year, resetting January 1. Any unused part of a $350 credit is lost.
• Equinox: two credits a year (one per half-year) for spa, personal training, or Pilates, from $75 to $150 each depending on status.
• Blacklane: one credit a year, from $50 to $150 depending on status.
• Rent Day and status perks: using Bilt Cash to upgrade a Rent Day transfer bonus to the next status tier, or (for Blue and Silver) unlocking Home Away From Home hotel benefits for $95 of Bilt Cash a month. See our Bilt Rent Day guide for how those transfer bonuses work.
• Priority Pass guests (Palladium only): up to $70 a month to cover up to two extra guest passes at $35 each.

Cardholder-only uses (Flexible Bilt Cash option required):

• Unlock housing points: every $3 of Bilt Cash unlocks 100 Bilt Points on rent or mortgage paid through Bilt, up to 1 point per dollar of the payment.
• Point Accelerator (Obsidian and Palladium): redeem $200 for an extra 1X on your next $5,000 of eligible everyday purchases, up to five times a calendar year. Rent, mortgage, and other housing payments do not count.

The December reset, in plain terms

From section 1.6 of the Bilt Cash Program Terms: Bilt Cash earned during a calendar year expires at the end of that year, except that $100 rolls over to the next year. Bilt Cash is used first in, first out, so rolled-over Bilt Cash gets spent first in the new year. Bilt’s card FAQ adds that this includes Bilt Cash earned in November and December.

Other year-end deadlines that land at the same time:

• Point Accelerator: an active accelerator ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on December 31 even if you have not reached $5,000, and unused capacity does not carry over.
• Obsidian and Palladium hotel credits (separate from Bilt Cash): the July to December half ends December 31. Per the Card Offer Terms, bookings must be processed before 11:59 p.m. PST that day, and unused halves do not roll over.
• BLADE and Equinox allowances reset in the new year, so a second-half Equinox credit not used by December 31 is gone.

And one thing that arrives right after: Palladium’s annual $200 Bilt Cash lands January 1, on top of whatever rolled over.

A worked example (illustrative)

Say you are a Blue-status Bilt Obsidian cardholder on the default Housing-only option, and on December 1 your Wallet shows $380 of Bilt Cash. Only $100 survives January 1, so $280 is at risk.

Here is what December’s caps let you use without changing anything:

That still leaves about $70 above the $100 rollover, and it assumes you want every one of those things. Bilt also lists comedy experience bookings (up to $50 a month) and, for Blue and Silver members, Home Away From Home hotel benefits ($95 of Bilt Cash a month), if those fit your plans. The bigger levers are a BLADE seat credit (if you live near a BLADE route and have one left this year) or, for cardholders, switching to the Flexible option early enough to use Bilt Cash on December rent or a Point Accelerator. Under Housing-only, neither of those is available.

The lesson: the December reset rewards people who spend Bilt Cash steadily through the year. If you are reading this in October, you still have two monthly cycles (November and December) to use the caps.

Is Bilt Cash worth more as credits or as points?

That depends on how you value Bilt Points. Using an assumed 1.5 cents per point (our illustrative figure, not a Bilt one):

• Housing unlock: $3 of Bilt Cash for 100 points means $30 buys 1,000 points, worth about $15 at 1.5 cents.
• Point Accelerator: $200 for up to 5,000 extra points, worth about $75 at 1.5 cents, and only if you spend the full $5,000 before December 31.
• A credit you would use anyway (a Lyft ride, a Walgreens run, a 2-night hotel stay you were booking): about $1 of value per $1 of Bilt Cash.

So the rough order is: credits for things you already buy first, then the housing unlock or accelerator for Bilt Cash that would otherwise expire. If you value Bilt Points higher than 1.5 cents, the point options look better; the math is easy to redo with your own number.

Year-end Bilt Cash checklist

1. Open the Wallet tab and note your Bilt Cash balance and status tier.
2. Subtract $100 (the rollover). The rest expires December 31.
3. Use November’s and December’s monthly credits on things you would buy anyway.
4. Book any 2-night Bilt Travel hotel stay you are planning; the cap is $50 or $100 a month by status.
5. If you hold Obsidian or Palladium, also use the July to December hotel credit before December 31 (11:59 p.m. PST).
6. Cardholders: decide by your billing cycle date whether switching to Flexible for housing unlocks or a Point Accelerator is worth losing the Housing-only tiers.
7. Palladium: expect $200 of new Bilt Cash on January 1 and plan for it early in the year.

FAQ

Does Bilt Cash expire?

Yes. Bilt Cash earned in a calendar year expires at the end of that year, except that $100 rolls over to the next year, per the Bilt Cash Program Terms.

Can I turn Bilt Cash into a statement credit or cash?

No. The terms say Bilt Cash is not redeemable for cash and cannot be redeemed as a statement credit toward your Bilt Card balance.

Can I transfer Bilt Cash to airlines or hotels?

No. Bilt says Bilt Cash is for use inside the Bilt ecosystem. Bilt Points, not Bilt Cash, transfer to travel partners.

Do I need a Bilt card to earn Bilt Cash?

No. Every Bilt member earns $50 in Bilt Cash for every 25,000 points earned toward elite status, per Bilt’s support article. Cardholders have extra ways to earn it.

How do I get the most rent points from Bilt Cash?

Under the Flexible Bilt Cash option, $3 of Bilt Cash unlocks 100 points on rent or mortgage paid through Bilt, up to 1 point per dollar. That is $60 of Bilt Cash for the maximum 2,000 points on $2,000 of rent.

Which Bilt card is best if I want more Bilt Cash?

Palladium gives the most built-in Bilt Cash: $300 at opening plus $200 each year. Our Bilt Blue vs Obsidian vs Palladium comparison covers whether its $495 fee fits your spending.

Bottom line

The Points Quest

Related reading

• Bilt Rewards Guide: Earn Points on Rent, Mortgage, and Everyday Spend (2026)
• Bilt Rent Day Explained: Transfer Bonuses, Double Points, and When to Wait
• Bilt Blue vs Obsidian vs Palladium: Which Bilt Card Fits You?
• Bilt Rewards Hub: Every Bilt Guide in One Place
• Bilt 2027 Program Updates: Cash Expiration, Card Benefits, Daily Rewards

Points Quest is educational content only, not personalized financial advice. Bilt Cash earning, redemption caps, expiration rules, and card terms were checked on bilt.com and support.biltrewards.com on October 18, 2026 and can change at any time; terms apply. Point values used in examples are our own illustrative assumptions, not Bilt figures. Bilt Cards are issued by Column N.A., Member FDIC. Advertiser Disclosure