Bilt Rewards is the loyalty program of the no annual fee Bilt Mastercard® (review), which is quite lucrative. This is a proper transferable points currency, allowing 1:1 transfers to a variety of partners. Bilt Rewards has just announced its newest transfer partner, which is an interesting one. I want to take a look at the details in this post…
In this post:
Transfer Bilt Rewards points to Southwest Rapid Rewards
As of April 24, 2025, Southwest Rapid Rewards has been added as a 1:1 transfer partner of Bilt Rewards, making it the program’s 19th transfer partner.
Initially, transfers won’t be instant, but still instead be processed in batches twice per day, once in the morning, and once in the evening. However, the programs are working toward a real-time points transfer solution in the near future.
Perhaps what makes this development most interesting is that Chase and Southwest have an exclusive co-brand card portfolio, so historically, Rapid Rewards hasn’t partnered with any other major points currencies, presumably due to some exclusivity clause.
However, just as World of Hyatt partners with Bilt Rewards, we’re now seeing the same for Southwest Rapid Rewards. Clearly Bilt is able to pitch itself as being a unique partner that doesn’t pose a threat to those relationships.
Is transferring Bilt points to Southwest worth it?
Southwest is of course a massive airline, and Rapid Rewards is a revenue based program, allowing travelers to redeem points for any seat on a Southwest flight. We’re currently seeing Southwest undergoing major changes, to basically change everything that makes the airline unique.
Among those updates is that Southwest is changing how award redemptions work. Historically, each point got you roughly the same value toward a redemption, somewhere around 1.3-1.4 cents. However, with the changes, we’re seeing a greater change in terms of redemption values.
Each point is worth more on a low demand flight in a more basic fare bundle, rather than on a high demand flight in a more premium fare bundle. Nowadays we’re seeing Rapid Rewards points get you somewhere around 1.1-1.5 cents of value each, depending on the exact flight.
So, is it worth moving Bilt Rewards points to Southwest Rapid Rewards?
- If you want to book flights on Southwest, you’ll get more value this way than just outright cashing out your points
- However, I consider Bilt points to be worth quite a bit, and personally I’d rather transfer them to World of Hyatt, or wait for a lucrative transfer bonus to another program
Bottom line
Bilt Rewards has added Southwest Rapid Rewards as its newest transfer partner, and points transfer at a 1:1 ratio. It’s interesting to see Southwest get a second transfer partner beyond Chase Ultimate Rewards. Still, for those looking to maximize value, this wouldn’t be my preferred way to redeem Bilt points. The flexibility is useful, though.
What do you make of this Bilt Rewards adding Southwest Rapid Rewards as a partner?
BILT’s now got a better line up of transfer partners than Chase.
The only Chase partner that BILT doesn’t have is Singapore.
And BILT has (and Chase lacks) Avianca, Cathay, Alaska, Hilton & Turkish.
Ben, if you could add one more transfer partner to Bilt, which would it be?
JAL is added as well. Looking forward to 2x transfer bonus for 5/1 and elite status offer for both airlines
What is your valuation of Bilt points?
@ kris -- I'd say they're worth around 1.7 cents each, like I value other transferable points currencies. Of course the big transfer bonuses can add value, but they're not quite as consistent as in the past, and Bilt elite status is harder to earn (and that's required to unlock the biggest bonuses).