Bilt and Blacklane have just formally launched a partnership. With this, were seeing the Blacklane booking platform integrated into the Bilt app. On top of that, you can now redeem Bilt Cash, and earn Bilt bonus points, for Blacklane rides.
Call 9-1-1, 1990 (aka Veruca) is going to have a stroke.
I got it, NOW!
A 'stroke' because I'm so excited to finally get to burn some of my expiring BILT Cash!
(Yes, please 'stroke' me. Harder!)
Careful.
Some overly sensitive snowflakes here can get your 'stroke' censored.
Or maybe they're just someone's guardian angel.
Perfect timing...I have an early morning flight out of TPE that I needed to prebook a car for, the Bilt Cash basically covered the entire ride from the hotel! $2.50 out of pocket.
@Ben BTW, I don't know if this will trigger the Strata Elite credit. The charge on my Bilt Card was listed as "Bilt Car Service - Lyft". I didn't have a Strata Elite to test it out.
@ Samar -- Thanks for the data point! Hah, funny it shows as being Lyft related, given that Uber is in the process of acquiring Blacklane. Guessing it won't trigger then. Bleh!
@Ben, I just logged into my Bilt account and in there it says "Bilt Car Service - Blacklane" (Lyft came from my iPhone notification), so maybe it'll work? I guess someone else will have to be the guinea pig...
Ben, can you suggest a strategy for stacking the BILT cash and Citi Strata Elite credits? I've never used Blacklane before. If there is, say, a $300 charge for the ride, would I pay $200 with one card (Citi) and $100 with another (BILT)?
@ Phred -- We'll have to wait for some data points, but if it works, the idea would be to make the Blacklane booking through Bilt, redeem your Bilt Cash, and have the Citi Strata Elite as the card on file to pay the remaining amount. Again, that's not to say it'll work, but that's the idea!
Oh, you guys were already talking about this here! Nice. I'll just add, consider the triple-dip by also using the occasional Blacklane discount codes that come and go (30% off, etc.) Would be awesome to take a $250 ride, use discounts and BILT/Citi credits to bring cost to near $0.
Hey, Ben, are you a "Close Friend" of BILT? (I'd think you're probably levels up from that.) Their announcement email said: "Kate, our Sr. Director of Product Marketing for Travel, is picking a handful of Close Friends to surprise with a Journey Upgrade: a dedicated driver and car for a trip you've already got coming up." I'd like to think Ben et al is deserving of said upgrade! Bah!
@ 1990_ -- Lol, I'm definitely not. And the press release I got says this, which is quite something:
"To mark the launch, we're rolling out "Bilt for Those Going Places": a campaign following creators and members on chauffeur-driven journeys inspired by their own plans, passions, and places to go – all showing how the journey can be just as memorable as the destination."
Aww. At least the marketing messages are somewhat thoughtful. (It's about the journey!)
There's opportunity but also confusion as to whether the semi-annual $100 Blacklane credit on the Citi Strata Elite (July-Dec) would qualify, if you, say, booked through BILT's platform, used the $100 Bilt Cash, then charged the balance to Citi Strata Elite. Many of these rides are over $200 for a single ride (think, Manhattan-JFK, ouch), so that'd be nice to use both credits in one-go. Also, Blacklane does occasionally do discount codes. So, think of the triple-dip possibility!
I went to a BILT Close Friends happy hour recently since I was wondering how I was selected for it and what it’s for. Turns out, it’s a great avenue for BILT to get customer feedback and for active customers to express their issues. I have a new found appreciation for BILT after last night and their willingness to listen to feedback.
The (in)ability to use all the BILT Cash before YE came up multiple times at the happy hour from both customers and BILT. If you have a good suggestion that’s profitable to them and useful to the customer base, they recommended emailing them what it is so they can consider it.
@DohaDuster -- Cool. If they can uncap Accelerators and still be 'profitable' then just do that, please. Otherwise, I'm not one of those totally-not-astrotruf'd Reddit commenters that regularly spout: 'Palladium is a points-earning machine!' and 'Ignore the BILT Cash!' people.
I'm more of a 'Remember how Wells Fargo lost $10-million-per-month on all of us earning 1x points on our over-priced rent every month?' and a 'I'm probably gonna have thousands of dollars of Bilt Cash expire at the end of the year if they don't fix this soon' kinda person.
Hi Ben, do you know if the Blacklane booked is prepay or post paid? I know booking through blacklane places a temporary charge but it only really charges after the ride is complete. Is booking through Bilt the same way?
Checked in Bangkok - Blacklane was well over $100 more than the service I typically use.
I'll check it in the future, but doubt this is going to move the needle for me.
BILT can add all the highly restrictive coupons they want. They’re still a sht issuer. And they will nerf.
I just want to put a data point out there that my Blacklane booking through Bilt has been posted on my citi strata elite card since 06/21 but no credit was given. I believe Citi won’t credit blacklanes booked through Bilt