Manifesto Episode 28: Bilt Rewards with Richard Kerr

Today's Podcast comes to you from Gideon The Freequent Flyer who has a companion piece to this podcast on his site. Hello and welcome to The Manifesto with Gideon the Free-quent Flyer on the Milenomics Podcast Network. I am Gideon the Free-quent Flyer and I’m joined today by the Director of Travel Rewards at Bilt Rewards, Richard Kerr. Richard, welcome to the Manifesto. [0:30] Plugs Social: @KerrPoints everywhere Bilt Rewards: https://www.biltrewards.com/ [2:35] Background What was your path into the rewards industry? Did you start as a travel hacker, as a writer, or on the business side? What was your biggest score/favorite play, on the earnings or redemption side? What do you like most these days in terms of rewards programs? [8:25] Bilt Rewards - overview 3 legged stool: partner rewards, landlords, credit cardLoyalty programs: 1:1 transfer to American Airlines AAdvantage, Air Canada’s Aeroplan, Emirates Skywards, FlyingBlue, Turkish Miles &amp; Smiles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, HawaiianMiles, World of Hyatt, IHG RewardsCredit card: white label MasterCard issued by Evolve Bank &amp; Trust, earns 2x on rent payments, 1x everywhere elseLandlords: “Bilt Rewards Alliance,” 24 large residential real estate holding companies, plus option to mail check to any landlord. [12:10] Bilt Rewards - news Annual cap of 50k rent points instead of monthly 4k cap0-1-2-3$0 annual fee1x on rent (up to 50k annually)1x on everyday spend2x on travel3x on diningUncapped earning on all non-rent spendIHG added 9/21 [18:07] Bilt Rewards - partner rewards My understanding was that loyalty programs had pretty exclusive relationships, i.e. Chase will bail out United by buying a billion United miles, American Express will buy a billion Delta miles, Citi and Barclay a billion American miles, then they dribble them out to customers. As a young company, how do you come in and make them an offer that even gets their attention?How much do you pay for points? During promotions you can buy Hyatt points for 1.8 cents, maybe a little less using a shopping portal, is that the right order of magnitude for what Bilt is paying? Do you pay more for the first member of an alliance to set a ceiling, or have alliance members bid each other down to participate?What do you think your highest value transfer partner is? Hyatt seems the most obvious but do you have a favorite redemption buried in the other award charts?AA: business travel to Europe, South America, web specialsEmirates: JFK-Milan, 50k roundtrip in businessHawaiian: west coast to Hawaii / upgrade from economy to first for 25kAeroplan: stopoversFlying Blue: 11.5k domestic Delta (21+ days out)Turkish: 33,800 business class to Istanbul, 7,500/15,000 to Hawaii on United&nbsp;Virgin: Delta/ANA/upgrading paid Virgin ticketsHyatt: great value everywhereIHG: Holiday Inn ExpressDo you have any favorite non-travel redemptions, anything Bilt got a killer deal on that you can pass on to members?Bilt Rewards AppChampagne Sabre [32:21] Bilt Rewards - landlords <