FlyHomes Will Give You Frequent Flyer Miles When You Buy a House
FlyHomes brings a fairly unique approach to real estate transactions — the company will give you frequent flyer miles when you purchase a home, at no extra cost. Recently launched in the greater Seattle area, FlyHomes provides home buyers with up to one frequent flyer mile for every dollar spent on the final purchase price of a new home. Since FlyHomes purchases the miles being given to the home buyer at its own cost by using portions of the commission it receives from a seller, potential home buyers will not incur any additional charges for using the service.
The FlyHomes platform allows you to search for homes for sale in your area. From there, you can choose to have an agent walk you through the process step by step, or you can go through the process alone and FlyHomes will simply unlock the door for you when you want to tour a property. FlyHomes' staff consists of MBA graduates for negotiating prices, data scientists for analytics and lawyers for reviewing contracts. In addition to Seattle, the new real estate company is currently beta testing in the Boston area and intends to launch in San Francisco soon.
As of now, you can only receive miles with Alaska Airlines, with the goal to expand to more rewards programs in the future. TPG considers Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan miles to be a top choice for redemptions, with reasonably priced options around the globe. Since there is no exact dollar-to-mile ratio that applies to every home, it's hard to pinpoint the precise number of miles you'll get for your home purchase. However, in some cases, the ratio is 1:1 — if your house costs $400,000, FlyHomes will give you 400,000 Alaska miles, which is enough for, say, 16 round-trip domestic flights or almost three round-trip first-class flights to Asia. If you purchase through FlyHomes, you'll have a new house as well as a sizable number of miles to use to explore the world.
Once you've purchased your home and are looking to sign up for utilities services, remember to use your Chase Ink Plus Business Card, which offers 5x points on cellular phone, internet and cable TV purchases.
TPG featured card
at Bilt's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 1X | Choose to earn up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee |
| 2X | Earn 2X points + the option to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases |
Pros
- Choice to earn up to 1 Bilt Point per dollar spent on rent and mortgage payments
- Elevated everyday earnings with both Bilt Points and the option to earn Bilt Cash
- $400 Bilt Travel Portal hotel credit per year (up to $200 biannually)
- $200 Bilt Cash annually
- Priority Pass membership
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Moderate annual fee
- Designed primarily for members seeking a premium, all-in-one card
- Earn points on housing with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 2X points on everyday spend
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash.
- Priority Pass ($469/year value). See Guide to Benefits.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.