The rent check is likely your big expense each month. For the majority of renters, it is lost on a monthly basis, and that's it. That's what Bilt Rewards has been striving to do and its new joint effort with Air France KLM certainly made things far more interesting for those who love Flying Blue.

As of now, all U.S. Air France KLM World Elite Visa Signature cardholders will be granted 3 Flying Blue miles per dollar spent on rent payments made through the Bilt platform. It's a decent rate for something that most loyalty programs have overlooked until now and for renters who have accumulated Flying Blue miles to a premium cabin redemption, it could actually shorten the time to their cabin.

What is the Partnership How it works

The mechanics are simple. If you have the United States Air France KLM World Elite Visa Signature card, you can log it into your Bilt Wallet and pay rent with it through Bilt Rewards. The 3x earning rate kicks in automatically on rentals that meet the criteria, with no monthly enrollments, codes to punch or anything else other than the initial setup.

The 3x rate is applied to $50,000 in annual rent payments (about $4,166 in monthly rents).This earns the 3x rate up to $50,000 in annual rent payments (which works out to about $4,166 in monthly rents). The $50,000 cap will not be a problem for most renters since the reduced rate on top of that is only 1.5x that's still a way to earn miles that you would not have before the trip.

Currently, the benefit is only applicable to rent payments. Under this scheme, mortgage repayments are not covered, and as such, there is no use case for card or platform even for homeowners.

The fee that you need to consider first

That is where the truth in math outweighs the hype. Third party cards (cards not issued by Bilt) are available on the Bilt platform at a 3% service fee per transaction.

That alters the maths a lot, depending on the value of the Flying Blue mile. The 3% fee would cost you $60 per month for your rent and give you 6,000 Flying Blue miles per month. So it's all about how valuable those miles are to you.

The strategy makes the most sense when:

• You have certain Flying Blue redemption(s) to work towards and need to make up some points in a hurry.
• You've entered the welcome bonus spending period for the Air France KLM credit card, and you'd like to make your way faster via a big regular purchase.
• You frequently use Flying Blue miles to fly in business class on Air France, KLM or SkyTeam, where redemption values are often over 2 cents per mile, so the 3% fee is not as significant.
• You are currently a Bilt Platinum member and want to start earning flying blue gold by transferring Bilt points to flying blue.

‍The reasons why it is worth pursuing Flying Blue Miles right now

The partnership loyalty scheme, Flying Blue, launched by Air France and KLM, is one of the more interesting loyalty schemes in the transatlantic world, especially to Europe for those looking to redeem their premium cabin miles. It offers regular Promo Rewards that offer a massive reduction on the business class award pricing on a rotating routing, making a lie-flat seat to Paris, Amsterdam or anywhere in the world a reality at point costs that don't require years of saving.

Flying Blue also has a wide selection of Sky Team carriers with its miles beyond Air France and KLM metal. The Air France KLM cardholders who would like to transfer their existing Bilt balances into the program, not earn them on the card, are already able to do this: And Bilt Rewards already transfers to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio.

Bilt's Growing Airline Partnership Ecosystem

This Flying Blue integration isn't occurring on its own. Bilt has been systematically expanding its co-branded airline card alliances, enabling renters to accumulate carrier-specific miles on housing payments an area where tens of thousands of dollars a year are spent by most city dwellers.

Already, Alaska Airlines cardholders of the Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards can earn miles on rent, and United Airlines MileagePlus cardholders can earn miles on United's co-branded United cards. The same value calculation is used for all of these arrangements and the 3% transaction fee is the same for each arrangement, so the value calculation is consistent for each arrangement that you're optimizing for.

This is a trend of larger magnitude. Bilt has made it possible for the airlines to compete within this one category of expense that's traditionally been impenetrable for points earning. If they are convinced of a program, the ability to add a monthly accumulation lever, even with a fee, provides an additional reason to do so that wasn't present two years ago for renters.

Who owns the Air France KLM World Elite Card?

The U.S. Air France KLM Visa Signature card is offered by Bank of America and generates Flying Blue miles on regular transactions. A card that tends to resonate with a certain type of user: Air France or KLM passengers who fly a fair amount and appreciate the benefits the Sky Team alliance provides, and prefer a co-branded card where points earned are directly linked to their travel habits with one airline, instead of transferable points currency.

The card has a higher earning rate on Air France and KLM purchases, and a regular earning rate on spending. If you already have a card and pay the rent, the Bilt partnership simply opens up a new “earning category” to a card that was previously less aggressive at earning miles from non-travel spending.

‍The Bottom Line

The alliance between Bilt and Air France KLM Flying Blue is a good one for the right renter: First, that's someone who already has a redemptions goal for their Flying Blue miles, and second, someone who values the co-branded card and isn't deterred by the 3% transaction fee. The person who's paying the monthly rent will find it a sound investment to use a monthly cost that was previously producing no value that he can convert into miles to use on a flight.

If you are not among the few, you need to do some math. Three percent of rent is real money and it only makes sense if the miles you're earning are worth more than the fee you're paying to earn them. That is when flying Blue's Promo Rewards promotions most closely align with the cardholder's best interests, as the business class redemption to Europe promotions have emerged regularly.

If your next travel plans involve taking a business class trip to Paris or Amsterdam, and you're looking for a way to top up your Flying Blue score, this is one of the more interesting ways to do so without adding an extra cost to your monthly budget.