Bilt and BLADE launched a partnership back in 2024, offering Bilt members perks with BLADE. Well, this partnership has just been taken to the next level, as it’s now possible to redeem Bilt Cash on BLADE, and we’ve also seen BLADE bookings integrated directly into the Bilt app. Let’s cover all the details.
In this post:
Details of the expanded Bilt & BLADE collaboration
Effective immediately, BLADE has been integrated into the Bilt app, meaning that Bilt members can now make BLADE flight bookings directly in the Bilt Travel Portal. Furthermore, it’s also finally possible to redeem Bilt Cash for flights on BLADE.
Specifically, members can now redeem Bilt Cash toward BLADE bookings — up to $350 per seat, for up to two flights per calendar year, for a total value of up to $700 per year. At checkout, available Bilt Cash credit will appear automatically as a payment option.
Bilt Cash can also be combined with Bilt points and/or any linked card, meaning that it’s now also possible to redeem Bilt points toward BLADE bookings, and points can be used to cover part or all of the cost of a booking.
When it comes to redeeming Bilt Cash on BLADE, each credit applies to one seat booking, so if your seat costs less than $350, remaining credit can’t be carried over (so you’re capped at two tickets, even if you don’t max out the $700). Furthermore, Bilt Cash applies to seat bookings online, and not to incidentals, like luggage.
This latest development complements the existing partnership between Bilt and BLADE:
- All Bilt members can earn 2x Bilt points on BLADE bookings made through the Bilt Travel Portal
- Bilt Silver, Gold, and Platinum members receive 10% off BLADE bookings made through the Bilt app
- Bilt Gold and Platinum members have access to BLADE lounges, even on days when they’re not flying, including up to two drinks per visit
- Bilt Platinum members can claim one complimentary BLADE flight per year from Manhattan to New York Kennedy (JFK) or Newark (EWR), plus lounge access
This is finally another good use of Bilt Cash
For those who like BLADE, this partnership is great in general (personally I have an irrational fear of helicopters, so this has no appeal to me, but that’s besides the point).
That being said, there’s no denying that this is a great partnership in general:
- For those pursuing Bilt elite status, it’s great to get access to the BLADE lounge, and it’s particularly nice for Platinum members to get one free flight per year
- This is perhaps most exciting for redeeming Bilt Cash, given the limited opportunities there have been with that currency, especially for those who earn a lot of it through the no annual fee Bilt Blue Card (learn more), $95 annual fee Bilt Obsidian Card (learn more), and $495 Bilt Palladium Card (learn more) — read my Bilt credit card review and comparison (Rates & Fees)
- I guess it’s nice to have another option for redeeming Bilt points, though I wouldn’t expect for this to be a particularly good use of points
Bottom line
Bilt and BLADE have just expanded their partnership. It’s now possible to book BLADE flights directly through the Bilt app, and with that, it’s also possible to redeem Bilt Cash toward BLADE flights. You can book up to two flights per year using Bilt Cash, for a total of up to $700 in value.
This all complements the existing partnership between Bilt and BLADE, which includes BLADE lounge access for Bilt Platinum and Gold members, and a free annual flight for Bilt Platinum members.
What do you make of the expanded Bilt and BLADE partnership?
Lounge access even when not flying… really? Who is going to wander over there to hang out? Lol
Yep. Just more fake benefits that companies can use to say that you are getting over $XXXX in value with their card.
The biggest shortcoming of Blade is the logistics of checked luggage. The helicopter accommodates a carry-on. Larger bags are ground transported. To the airport, for other than evening departures, bags are collected the night before. From the airport, bags are dropped late.
With Uber's planned acquisition of Blacklane, any contract between Bilt and Blacklane could represent a "material adverse change" (aka "MAC" in the M&A world). Then there are the competing interests of Bilt's other rideshare partner Lyft. So, maybe the Blacklane benefit gets resolved after the deal closes. I'd say Bilt was blindsided by this unexpected deal.
Was BILT also 'blindsided' by Citi forcing exclusivity on AA transfers?
Bilt had a term contract with AA. Barclays had a pre-existing term contract with AA. Citi long desired an exclusive contract with AA. And, AA knew that Citi would pay up for it. I sense Bilt and Barclays knew Citi was holding the cards and expected non-renewal.
100%. Jack gets it.
The folks at 388 Greenwich were done getting just one slice-at-a-time; they wanted the whole pie.
Yawn. And Don’t come crying when the chopper crashes.
According to NTSB data, the accident rate for general aviation helicopters is ~0.7 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours, which is comparable to small, private airplanes, but way higher than commercial airlines. Sadly, we have had some accidents in the NYC area (April 2025 in the Hudson, March 2018 in the East River), but those were each sightseeing tours, not Blade transfers to airports. That said, it's been an awful year for Brazil so far...
According to NTSB data, the accident rate for general aviation helicopters is ~0.7 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours, which is comparable to small, private airplanes, but way higher than commercial airlines. Sadly, we have had some accidents in the NYC area (April 2025 in the Hudson, March 2018 in the East River), but those were each sightseeing tours, not Blade transfers to airports. That said, it's been an awful year for Brazil so far (deadly accidents in June and August, 2026). And, lots of incidents over the years in Hawaii, too. Of course, then there's high-profile deaths, like Kobe (2020) and Stevie Ray Vaughan (1990), RIP. If it could happen to them...
To/from JFK is mostly a "fun for some" gimmick. It takes 10-15 minutes to get from JFK to Jamaica on the airtrain and then 20 minutes on the LIRR to either Grand Central or Penn Station. You're just not really saving time with Blade.
To/from the Hamptons is not a gimmick. You are actually saving a ridiculous amount of time. Not sure $350 off a $1250 fare or whatever is "putting Blade in reach for...
To/from JFK is mostly a "fun for some" gimmick. It takes 10-15 minutes to get from JFK to Jamaica on the airtrain and then 20 minutes on the LIRR to either Grand Central or Penn Station. You're just not really saving time with Blade.
To/from the Hamptons is not a gimmick. You are actually saving a ridiculous amount of time. Not sure $350 off a $1250 fare or whatever is "putting Blade in reach for most" but it's at least a service that makes sense.
Otherwise, I hope Blade continues to succeed at its primary mission - transporting human organs.
It's not about being the fastest, it's about selling a lifestyle image, being away from the poors that use public transit.
They even used to sell BLADE flights to LGA, which was completely unnecessary, the time that it would take you to get to a BLADE would be equivalent to the drive time to LGA.
yoloswag420, "the poors" LOL. Hey, bud, call me a filthy peasant, but $3 for the A Train to Lefferts then the Q10 to JFK is the deal of all deals.
so 30-35 minutes on the train vs 5 minutes on the helicopter? i hope math isnt involved in your day job homie. yowzers!
Do the math based on your starting point not based on once you are inside the helicoptor, and you'll be surprised that BLADE won't save you any time afterall. I hope logical reasoning isn't necessary in your life, yowzers!
Oh, DMoney, but it's all about the views of the city, and the very-real statistically exhilarating reality that helicopters are far more dangerous than commercial airplanes and cars. Wee!!
(If Kobe and Stevie Ray Vaughan were not spared, what chance do any of us no-bodies have?)
I mean, @DMoney already provided you with the answer, but just to get to a blade heliport from midtown is going to take you ~20 minutes in traffic. You're probably going to want to get to your helicopter ~15 minutes early. Plus you then have to get from Blade JFK to your terminal via car which Blade says will take 15 minutes (have you seen the construction lately at JFK...). Add all that up and...
I mean, @DMoney already provided you with the answer, but just to get to a blade heliport from midtown is going to take you ~20 minutes in traffic. You're probably going to want to get to your helicopter ~15 minutes early. Plus you then have to get from Blade JFK to your terminal via car which Blade says will take 15 minutes (have you seen the construction lately at JFK...). Add all that up and that's what, 50 minutes? An hour? And the helicopter flights are scheduled every 45 minutes or so... and they don't leave every 5-10 minutes like the LIRR does.
Or you walk over to Grand Central (Madison) and take the LIRR to the Airtrain to the terminal. That's 45 minutes max.
Or if you are a corporate executive you're doing neither of those things, you're taking a black car, and who cares if it takes over an hour because you're probably taking a conference call from the car anyway, which is something that is annoying to do from the train and improbable to do from a helicopter.
Meanwhile, NYC to Hamptons @yolo is more than a lifestyle image. It's literally how P1s join their P2s/kids for weekends over the summer. And while you can take the LIRR for 2.5-3 hours to do that, if you want to "be away from the poors" and get there a lot faster (~45 minutes?) you take the seaplane (Blade or whomever). That's actually a valuable time saver (~2 hours saved) but also actually expensive. So for a certain type of social climbing NYC executive, getting the Bilt card to save $350 off that service 2x a year might actually be appealing.
Meanwhile, @1990 is clearly forgetting about the free LGA Link! Just, uh walk to Jackson Heights with your luggage and take the $0 bus! Free is free!
So this is one of those businesses that really only exists on this scale in New York City and I've never lived there, but is Blade popular? Do people actually use it?
I know you think I'm not 'real' and 'don't travel much,' but I am based in NYC, and, yes, it's a thing in NYC, for helicopter flights to and from Manhattan-JFK/EWR. (You don't have to believe me.)
no I think you're real, I just have suspicions around what you say you've done. And don't ask me to prove a gut feeling bc it's just a gut feeling
Gut health is important. Did you eat some of that *explosive diarrhea* lettuce?
thank christ... if this didn't happen p2 and i were going to probably have multiple hundreds of credits expire
Same here. Just 7 months after the first "Coming Soon" was announced. Glad they got this done, eventually, but, sheesh.
bummer that it (seems to?) burn $350 of cash regardless of the seat price, but there's nothing else i could practicably redeem bilt cash for except the occasional hotel, which is itself convoluted and full of asterisks
Listen, I value BILT Cash at somewhere between zero and $0.25, so better than nothing. At this rate, might as well just use two of these for a joy-ride from Manhattan to JFK and back. On a clear, of course. And with a maxed out life insurance, as one does. (Look out fo’yo beneficiaries, dawg!)
What's a p2?
Chris, 'P2,' as-in, 'player two,' like, on video games, but, also, a cute way to refer to a partner/spouse, etc., within the credit card games, SUBs (sign up bonuses), referral bonuses, etc.
A little disappointed that extra luggage cannot be covered by the credit, but not all that surprised. I flew on BLADE at the beginning of the year and I enjoyed it (more for the skyline views of Manhattan than for the actual transport it provided), but 25lb max for luggage is only good enough for someone on a day trip to NYC.
RIP 1990!!!! what are you going to post every day now?!?!?!?!
No, no... RESURRECTION. I'm very pleased by this. It'll suck up B$700 of my expiring corporate psuedo-currency. I honestly thought they'd never go 'live' on this one. (Well, not before January 2027.) Still waiting on Blacklane, but this is a fantastic update. (Take the win!) Now, can someone please convince Ankur to remove the 5x cap on the Accelerators?