NEW Amex Credit and Benefits + Bilt ADDS New Partner

In this video, I want to talk about three things. Built just added its 27th transfer partner, one version of the Amex Platinum, just added over 20 new lounges and a new $500 credit. And then lastly, we have a huge 300,000 point welcome bonus on a certain Capital One credit card. Hey, credit warriors, welcome to the show. My name is Ben Hedges, aka The Credit Shufu, and on this channel, we cover US credit cards, personal finance, and luxury travel. If you like the sound of that, please subscribe, but let's get into it. All right. So Bilt, the very popular rewards program that lets you earn points on rent payments, but also has a dining program and a load of other opportunities to earn rewards, as well as three credit cards, has just launched its 27th transfer partner. And that is JetBlue. Bilt and JetBlue even made a launch video to celebrate the new partnership. And from that video, you can see that it will be a one to one transfer ratio. And that is significant because with American Express, it's a five to four transfer ratio. So you can see in this screenshot, 250 Amex points equals 200 JetBlue points. So they beat Amex. Yay. And this is live in Bilt accounts already, by the way. So if you log in, go to your dashboard, click transfer, and then you will see JetBlue. And you can see it's a one-to-one transfer ratio. So 1,000 Bilt points equals 1,000 JetBlue points. And if you haven't linked your JetBlue account yet, you can link it here as well. Now, what are JetBlue points worth and what can you do with them? Well, The Points Guy values JetBlue points at 1.35 cents each. The points usually are a little more valuable when used to book economy, about 1.5 cents per point, according to Ben Schlappig at One Mile at a Time, and about 1.26 cents per point when used to book JetBlue's Mint Business Class. I took JetBlue's Mint Business Class from New York to London a few years ago, and it's a great product. Just a shame it doesn't get you the most value for your points. When I went, it was actually a business trip with the client paying, so the booking was made with cash, not points. But still, this could be a great way to fly domestically around the US in economy for about 1.5 cents per point. On flights less than three hours, you really don't need a full flat bed or even meals or whatever. There are also some partners that you can redeem points with, for example, Qatar Airways, and these have the potential to offer better value if you can find the award availability. But anyway, that's Bilt's new transfer partner, and it is live now. Like we said, I think it will be great for some people, particularly domestic US economy travelers, and not so great for others it really depends on your travel habits if you're not a Bilt member i do really recommend signing up you don't need to apply for their credit cards but you can just sign up for the rewards program and then immediately be part of their dining program where you earn an average of three points per dollar extra using your linked card so it works great with say the Chase Freedom Flex which this quarter is earning seven points per dollar on dining so you'd get a total of 10 points per dollar seven from Chase three from Built or you could use it with the Amex Gold, which is four points per dollar on dining. So you'd get four from Amex and three from Built for a total of seven. You can also earn one extra point per dollar at Walgreens using your linked card. You can link your Lyft account to earn extra Built points on Lyft if you want. And you can also explore paying rent and mortgages through Built as well. Click my link below to sign up. It's totally free. Just remember to link the cards in your wallet so you can actually earn points. All right, let's now move on to our next story, new lounges that some Amex members will have access to. So American Express has just announced a new benefit for the Amex Business Platinum Card. And this one includes access to a whole new network of lounges, plus an additional $500 in statement credits. So starting October 22nd, Business Platinum Card holders will receive a complimentary membership of ZO or ZIO, I don't know, ZO or ZIO by Tishman Speyer. Let's just say ZO. Now, if you've never heard of ZO, it's basically a network of luxury lounges and co-working spaces located in some of America's biggest cities. And no, these aren't airport lounges. They're located in office buildings, so you can actually use them while you're going about your day. There are more than 25 participating locations across six cities, okay? New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. And there are two different types of facilities. First, you have ZO clubhouses, which are lounge-style spaces where you can relax, get some work done or meet with clients like this one in New York City or this one on the 33rd floor of Rockefeller Center in New York. Amex Business Platinum card holders get unlimited access to participating clubhouses, plus four guest day passes every week. So you can bring a client or a colleague along without having to awkwardly explain that they're not allowed in. There are also Zo Studios, which are more traditional co-working spaces with desks, Wi-Fi, meeting facilities and sometimes complimentary coffee and tea. You get four free studio passes every month and considering that day passes at some locations normally cost around $50 each, that's potentially $200 in value every month or $2,400 a year if you actually use all of them. But that's not all. American Express is also adding a new $500 statement credit. Now before you get too excited, this isn't $500 that you can spend on anything at these lounges. The credit can only be used for eligible event space bookings at Zo clubhouses or studios, or for purchasing a qualifying Zo dining club membership. So unfortunately, you can't just walk in order $500 worth of food and drinks and expect Amex to pick up the bill. And event space rentals can be pretty expensive. So this credit is definitely more useful for businesses that regularly organize meetings or events. To activate the benefit, you don't need to enroll through Amex, you simply activate your complimentary Zo membership through the Zo website or app, and studio visits must be reserved in advance. If you live in New York or one of the other cities that have lounges, or you regularly travel there for business, unlimited lounge access could actually be very useful. But if you live somewhere without a Zo location, well, this is basically another perk that looks great on Amex's marketing materials, but doesn't do much for you. And as for that $500 credit, I certainly wouldn't value it at the full $500 unless you already have a reason to spend money on those services. Still, it's nice to see Amex adding a benefit without increasing the annual fee for once. So let me know in the comments, would you actually use these new Amex lounges or is this just another credit that's gonna go unused? All right, let's move on to our final story of the day, a crazy 300,000 point welcome bonus from Capital One. Capital One has just launched a massive new 300,000 mile welcome bonus on the VentureX business credit card and they're throwing in an additional $1,000 travel credit. Now, 300,000 Capital One miles are worth at least $3,000 when redeemed towards travel. So combine that with $1,000 credit, we're talking about $4,000 in travel rewards, and potentially even more if you transfer those miles to airline partners. But there's a catch, and actually it's a pretty enormous catch. To earn the first 150,000 miles, you need to spend $40,000 in the first four months, okay? That's not the catch, okay? Wait till you hear the next bit. To unlock the remaining 150,000 miles to get you up to that 300,000 figure plus the $1,000 Capital One Business Travel Credit, you need to spend $120,000 total in those same four months. That's $30,000 a month. So unless your business is buying a small yacht every quarter, this probably isn't a bonus that you're going to earn with your morning Starbucks purchases. Now, the card has a $395 annual fee, but you do get a $300 annual Capital One business travel credit, airport lounge access, and unlimited 2X miles on everyday purchases. Basically, it's the business version of the Venture X card, which is a really popular card. And remember, the $1,000 bonus travel credit is separate from the regular $300 annual travel credit. The bonus travel credit must be used through Capital One business travel and expires 16 months after account opening. So my verdict for businesses already spending $120,000 in four months, this is a fantastic opportunity, but I certainly wouldn't recommend spending extra money just to reach that threshold. Let me know in the comments, is this an incredible welcome bonus or has Capital One just gone completely crazy with the spending requirement? All right, guys, that's the video for today. Don't forget to sign up for Built in the links down below. Link your card so that you can use the dining program and also link your Lyft account so that you can earn extra points on Lyft rides. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe if you're new. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.