Bilt to Last? Grading Bilt Rewards Six Months On

Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways - NerdWallet Travel

In this episode of Smart Travel by NerdWallet, hosts Megan Coyle and Sally French revisit the Bilt Rewards program six months after its init

Key takeaways

• Bilt members can now use up to $700 in annual cash credits (up to $350 per seat) for Blade helicopter rides between Manhattan and airports like JFK or Newark.

Main topics

• Bilt Rewards program update: Blade helicopter bookings with points and cash
• Annual Bilt cash credit usage and limitations

Notable quotes

"You could possibly spend up to $700 in Bilt cash a year for these helicopter rides to and from the airport."

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a mix of excitement over Bilt's expanding rewards

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:04) The Speaker 1 (0:05) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 4 (0:15) The new Speaker 1 (0:20) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 2 (0:28) In January of 1915, Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, became encased in the ice in the Weddell Sea. Through determination, grit, and savvy, Shackleton would lead his men through a brutal winter, then over hundreds of miles of Antarctic ice, followed by 800 miles across some of the roughest waters in the world. It is one of the most extraordinary and inspirational journeys in the history of exploration. Find this story and many others at the Explorers Podcast. Available wherever you get your podcasts or at explorerspodcast.com. Speaker 6 (0:58) Bill just made it a lot easier to spend your points on a helicopter ride. Speaker 7 (1:02) And as of D23 coming out over the past weekend, we have tons of Disney news. Plus, Speaker 6 (1:07) we have some interesting data around premium credit cards and which ones have the highest customer satisfaction rating. You might be surprised which one it is. Speaker 6 (1:18) Welcome to Smart Travel from NerdWallet, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars. I'm Megan Coyle. And Speaker 7 (1:25) I'm Sally French. And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip. Today, we are checking back on Bilt, which is the rewards program that clearly we have not... stop talking about. But first, the news and our disclaimer, and that is that we will talk about a few credit card companies that are nerd wallet partners in this episode that does not influence how we discuss them. The benefits, terms, fees mentioned were accurate at the time of this recording, but things can change. Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening. So for the latest details, follow the links in the episode description. This Speaker 6 (1:51) is so classic. We already recorded an episode about Bill, and then they're announcing more news as we're going. So today's episode is about Bill. The new news is you can book a Blade helicopter flight inside the built travel portal. You can pay cash for it, but you can also pay with built points. And Speaker 7 (2:11) to remind listeners, Blade is the helicopter shuttle service. They're primarily known for going between Manhattan and JFK or Newark, which they say gets you to the airport in five minutes. I am impressed. They also run some other routes to bougie places. I'm talking the route between Nice and Monaco. I've heard this is a super convenient way to get to the Speaker 6 (2:29) airport because usually if you're taking an Uber or Lyft, it's going to take you an hour to get to the airport from Manhattan. But the biggest piece of this news is built cash because members can now also put built cash toward Blade bookings. That's up to $350 per seat for up to two flights per calendar year. So you could possibly spend up to $700 in built cash a year for these helicopter rides to and from the airport. and Manhattan. It shows up automatically at checkout as a payment option, and you can also stack it with points and a link card. So this one is kind of interesting because usually what you can spend built cash on is sort of separate than what you can spend your points on. But now it's like all together, you could spend all three types of built currencies on this one helicopter ride. Get those Speaker 7 (3:16) helicopters. There is a lot of fine print. We're not going to say it all, but some of the key points. Credits reset every January 1. They do not replenish once you use them. Also, each credit applies to one seat. So if your seat costs less than $350, then you do eat the difference. You do the credit and then you get the seat. So this could be not the best deal. And then also just to be clear, this covers bookings only for the seat. It does not cover the cost of your bags or incidentals. So if you're packing heavy, not good. Speaker 6 (3:45) And also the $350 might be more than the actual cost. Like, for example, a ride from JFK to Manhattan is typically around $280 per person without those incidentals you just mentioned. Speaker 7 (3:58) It's still that high? Yep, yep. Oh my gosh. You haven't taken one of these, have you? Speaker 6 (4:03) No, I have not. But some of my friends have and they really enjoyed Speaker 7 (4:06) it. They're paying $280 to go to the airport? Speaker 6 (4:09) I think they were doing this back when this option was available under Bill's like old 1.0 system. Wow. I feel like that's more than the price of the flight Speaker 7 (4:17) itself. Could be. Depends where you're going, I guess. I'm actually kind of just looking as you've been talking on Uber. You can take an Uber from JFK to Penn Station right now. And I'm actually kind of surprised. Do you want to guess how much it costs to go in an Uber? A hundred bucks. Yeah, $98. And then I guess it's before tip. I just want to say there is the best option here. It is called taking the Jamaica Air Train for eight minutes, then riding 37 minutes on the E and it costs $11.75. Is Speaker 6 (4:45) that Long Island Railroad? Because there's a lot of ways to get to JFK on public transportation. And so it could really depend where Speaker 7 (4:52) you're going and stuff like that. Actually, the Long Island Railroad is a little bit more expensive, but I actually think it's bougier. If I'm really being fancy, if I'm expensing it to NordWallet, I'm doing the Long Island Railroad. which is also great. Speaker 6 (5:03) And what hasn't changed is that everyone earns two points per dollar on Blade bookings through the portal. So if you are paying cash for it, you get to earn bill points on that. Gold, silver, and platinum members also get a 10 % discount. And gold and platinum members get access to the lounge. There's actually an airport lounge, I guess, for Blade rides. Helicopter lounge. Even when you're not flying. So you get up to two drinks a visit if you're doing that. You could just roll into the lounge. in Manhattan? Apparently, without even taking a flight. Let's try that. Maybe next time we're in New York. Let's Speaker 7 (5:39) do it. I'm very curious about this. Do you think there's people who are just going into this lounge every Friday night and getting two free drinks and rocking and rolling? I don't think so. I think they got better Speaker 6 (5:47) places to be on a Friday night in New York. Speaker 7 (5:49) If you can afford to take Blade, you can afford to buy your own drinks and not get the free ones from the lounge. Yeah, Speaker 6 (5:55) exactly. Speaker 7 (5:56) Wild. All Speaker 6 (5:57) right. Up next, we are switching gears to Disney real quick because Disney just had their big D23 Expo. This is a big Disney fan convention and they hold it every year. And this is where they make a bunch of announcements about what's coming up for Disney. This Speaker 7 (6:11) D23 was interesting because I'm very entrenched with the Disney fans. And a lot of them were complaining that there was not enough new news announced. And it was kind of an expansion of news that had already been announced. But I think for the more casual traveler, they should be floored at the number of things. that are coming to all the Disney parks around the world. So some of the big ones over in Orlando, which has four parks, Magic Kingdom is getting a refresh of the Carousel of Progress, which I know is so good for the super Disney fans who love that ride. Then they're adding a whole new Villains Land. And my favorite part is when they were like, guys, we have a huge announcement. We have the name of Villains Land. It's... Villains land. Speaker 6 (6:50) Turns out the crowdsourced like slug line for this land is Speaker 7 (6:54) actually the best one. Well, Speaker 6 (6:56) you know, sometimes Speaker 7 (6:56) Disney does wildly long. land names, so I'm glad that they just made it simple. This is going to have a Maleficent themed coaster. It's going to have a magic mirror dark ride. It looks legit scary, which I am intrigued by. Then if you're not into the scary things, they also are going to have a Piston Peak land, which is basically just Cars Land. That again, they've announced two rides. There's going to be more of a kiddie ride called Miss Fritter's Daredevil Spin Along. And then also there's going to be Cars Ridge Run Rally, which if you're familiar with Radiator Springs Racers, it is one of the best Disney attractions on earth. I think it's going to be somewhat similar to that. Speaking Speaker 6 (7:30) of long names, the new rides coming to Animal Kingdom also have these giant long names. I guess I'll say them for you. Yo, say it. This one got me. Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. This new ride is going to feature Harrison Ford as the actual animatronic model in the ride. So exciting. There's a new carousel, El Carousel de los Animalitos. It's a brand new carousel with all these different animals from Disney and Pixar movies. And then Antonio. Romeo's Fiesta de Encanto. So again, another ride based on the Encanto movie. There's no height requirement for that one. So very family friendly. But wow, I don't think any of those ride names had less than four words. Speaker 7 (8:10) I'm going on Indiana Jones, the Carousel and the Encanto ride. Let's just say that. I think the part that I'm most excited for over at Disney World is happening in Hollywood Studios. Now they got rid of the Muppets area of the park, which I know is very controversial, but they're replacing it with a Monstropolis themed to Monsters, Inc. Parts of Monstropolis will open in 2027. And I think that will include something that should be very enticing is Harryhausen's Restaurant. If you're familiar with the movie, this is where Mike and Celia go on the date and it's like the sushi restaurant. And I think this is going to be sushi just turned up to a million because it's going to be sushi and monsters themed. Then not expected to open in 2027 is going to be the highlight of this land. And that is the coaster. It's going to be a coaster where they lift you 40 feet up in the air and then shoot you through the vault. This is where all the vault of the doors are. And then you're going to ride through all the doors. I think it's going to be killer. Speaker 6 (9:01) Oh, yeah. That one looks super fun. As a rides person, I can't wait for this one, but it's going to be a lot of waiting. All right. Over on the California side, Disneyland is getting a revamp of Tomorrowland. This land has kind of needed a little bit of new energy for a while now. This is Speaker 7 (9:17) so overdue. Yeah. But Speaker 6 (9:19) not a lot of details on what exactly is happening in that land. We just know it's going to be bigger and better. Well, Speaker 7 (9:24) they're listening. to the fans in doing Carousel of Progress redo in Disney World. So maybe they'll bring it back to Disneyland because I think that Innoventions land or it was Innoventions in my era. And now it's, I think, Star Wars Launch Bay. And then it became empty. It might be empty now. That should be Carousel of Progress. And Speaker 6 (9:41) California Adventure, the other park in California, has a brand new family-friendly Cocoa Boat ride that's based on the Encanto movie. It'll be near Pixar Pier. And this one's also very family-friendly. And then they're continuing continuing the expansion on the Avengers campus, which right now doesn't have a whole lot in it. Not Speaker 7 (10:00) a whole lot in it, but they're going to have two new rides coming and they have a locked in date of 2028 for these rides to open. Avengers Affinity Defense. And then there's the Stark Flight Lab. I think both of these should be very exciting. Speaker 6 (10:12) Lots of updates for our Disney fans there, but you probably won't see some of these rides until next year or even the year after. No. Moving on, we've got J.D. Power's 2026 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. Oh my gosh, why are all these names so long today? This study came out last week, and one of the most interesting insights I thought was that premium credit cards, those are cards with annual fees of over $300. saw value satisfaction go up in the survey. Even after all the fee hikes we've seen over the past couple of years, even with a lot of complaints about how hard some of these benefits are to use, people are happy with them. Well, Speaker 7 (10:50) on the flip side, overall satisfaction among cardholders with no rewards or cards with no annual fees is 573 on their ranking, which, just to put that into perspective, is significantly below the overall average. Speaker 6 (11:02) Okay, so people are happier if they're getting rewards. Interesting. And apparently they're okay. paying for it. Yeah. One stat that I can't stop thinking about is that only 29 % of people say their card use maximizes rewards earning. And the average number of card benefits that they use is down from 2.5 to 2.3. So like a small decline, but it sounds like almost a third of people are like, I can't maximize this thing. It's too much work. But Speaker 7 (11:30) it's interesting because the satisfaction is still going up. Do you think it's because cards keep adding more and more benefits that people aren't going to use, but they're still okay with it. Like I even think about the blade thing that we just talked about earlier. I'm not paid 280 for a blade, a helicopter. See me on the Long Island Railroad. But people are still happy even if they've added benefits that they can't use. I Speaker 6 (11:49) think. People are seeing that having a wide variety of benefits, like a lot of these cards we talk about, we used to call them travel credit cards and we still do, but honestly, there's so many benefits on them that are not exactly travel related, like the Lululemon credits on the Amex Platinum card that are quarterly. There's a lot of dining benefits out there. So I think people are finding that some of these benefits outside of travel are actually pretty easy to use in their everyday lives. Well, Speaker 7 (12:17) we should talk about some of the cards that people love the most. And this is interesting. Of the most beloved card, Amex ranks highest among issuers for the seventh straight year. Specifically, their Amex Platinum card tops the premium cards. It has a rating of 720 on the J.D. Power Scale. Compare that to number two, went to the Capital One Venture X at 705, and then the Chase Sapphire Reserve. barely lost silver. Instead, they're in bronze with 703. On Speaker 6 (12:45) the airline side, the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card leads those cards with a 715 satisfaction rating. And Hilton Honors Amex, that's a no annual fee card, leads the hotel co-branded cards. Speaker 7 (12:59) I should note that this study is based on responses that were submitted between June 2025 through May 2026. So as you guys all know, listening to the show, there are tons of changes that always happen. So if anything changed and impacted these results, just know the last results came in on May 2026. And Speaker 6 (13:15) listeners, email us at travel at nerdwallet.com if you agree with these satisfaction ratings, because I'm not sure everyone does. Whoa, Speaker 7 (13:23) what do you think would be different? Speaker 6 (13:25) Ooh, okay. I am very surprised about the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card coming in so high. I find that if you are going to fly Delta a lot, one of the less expensive Delta cards is usually a better fit. The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card comes with Delta SkyClub lounge access, but it's limited. It's like 15 visits a year. Are you going more than 15 times to a Delta lounge? No, but... I would rather just get an Amex Platinum card that also gives you access to the Delta Speaker 7 (13:55) Sky Club, and that one's up to 10 times per year. You know what I mean? Because you're saying then you also get into the Centurion Lounges? Yeah, you just Speaker 6 (14:01) get a lot more benefits with an Amex card. So I'm a little bit surprised about the Delta Sky Miles Reserve. Okay, well, that's why Amex Platinum came in number one of the premium cards. So there you go. Speaking of Amex, Resi, the reservation system that Amex owns, is now adding talk restaurants, wineries, and experiences to its booking system. So that's... going to give cardholders a lot more options of where they can use Rezzy credits if they have those on their eligible credit card. So Speaker 7 (14:26) Talk and Rezzy were different booking platforms and they have basically merged into one. This is relevant for people who have cards that have Amex Rezzy credits because beginning September 15th, if you made a purchase at a Talk restaurant, now that will count towards the Rezzy credit. Some of the cards that have this credit include the Amex Platinum card, which we just talked about. That one has a $400. year resi credit broken out into $100 in quarterly credits. There's Speaker 6 (14:54) also the Amex Gold card. That one has a up to $100 annual resi credit, but it's split into $50 in each half of the year. And then also the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card I was just talking about has resi credits as well. And the Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express card. If you want to learn more about any of these cards or the resi credits on them. Check out the links in our episode description. And Speaker 7 (15:19) there is always a fine print. We're not going to say it all. But the key thing is that enrollment is required on these things. So you can't just put down your card and then get the credit. You have to first go into the website and actually check to enroll to actually get these resi credits. So just, you know, I don't want you to be the sad person who didn't actually get their credits. Speaker 6 (15:37) Exactly. OK, Sally, it looks like you added one fun thing to our news today. Well, Speaker 7 (15:42) I texted you this weekend showing it to you because this is breaking news. There is a. Pho Burger at McDonald's in Vietnam