The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card stands out for its impressive 3x points earning on everyday purchases including restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, and travel. While its redemption options might not match competitors like Chase or Amex, you’ll still get solid value through airline transfer partners and travel bookings.
This credit card review will cover everything you need to know about this card to determine if you should add this card or a different card to your wallet. Let’s dive right in.
- 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.
- 3x Points for Flights, Hotels, Gas Stations, EV Charging, Supermarkets, and Restaurants. hotels, gas stations, EV charging, supermarkets, and restaurants.
- $100 Annual Hotel Credit
- $95 Annual Fee
Welcome Bonus
The Citi Strata Premier Card currently offers an impressive 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.
Keep in mind that the bonus isn’t available if you’ve received a welcome offer from either the Citi Premier or Citi Strata Premier in the past 48 months. Citi clearly spells out this restriction, so you’ll want to check your records before applying.
Earning Points
The Citi Strata Premier truly shines due to its exceptional earning structure. This card offers an impressive array of bonus categories that can quickly accelerate your point accumulation:
- 10 ThankYou points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal.
- 3 ThankYou points per dollar spent on airfare, including tickets purchased directly from airlines or through travel agencies.
- 3 ThankYou points per dollar on hotel stays, whether you book directly with the hotel or through a travel agency.
- 3 ThankYou points per dollar at gas stations nationwide.
- 3 ThankYou points per dollar when charging your electric vehicle at EV charging stations.
- 3 ThankYou points per dollar at supermarkets.
- 3 ThankYou points per dollar at restaurants, including dine-in, takeout, and delivery.
- 1 ThankYou point per dollar on all other eligible spending.
This card stands out for its impressive range of bonus categories that cover major everyday spending areas. You’ll earn strong rewards on both travel purchases and daily necessities like groceries, gas, and dining – making it versatile for both frequent travelers and regular spenders.
The 10x earnings through the travel portal can provide exceptional value, though you’ll want to weigh the tradeoffs of booking through third parties.
When paired with the Citi® Double Cash Card, you can create a powerful earning combination that maximizes rewards across virtually all spending categories.
Annual Fee
The Citi Strata Premier has a reasonable $95 annual fee, and you can get solid value from benefits like the $100 annual hotel credit for stays of $500+ booked through the Citi travel portal. The card’s impressive 3x points earning structure on travel, dining, gas, and groceries helps make the annual fee worthwhile.
Additional authorized users can be added at no extra cost.
Card Benefits
The Citi Strata Premier offers all of these benefits and perks:
$100 Annual Hotel Benefit: Each calendar year, receive a $100 credit when booking a hotel stay of $500 or more through the Citi Travel portal. This valuable perk helps offset the card’s cost and gives you extra savings on your vacation expenses.
World Elite Benefits: This card is a World Elite Mastercard, which gets you access to these special benefits and discounts: DoorDash ($5 off your first DoorDash order each month), Lyft (Take 3 rides in one month and earn a $5 Lyft credit), Shoprunner (free two-day shipping), and Fandango (spend $20 and get $5 back).
No Foreign Transaction Fees: You’ll save money on every purchase while traveling internationally since this card doesn’t add the typical 3% surcharge that many other cards impose.
Trip Cancellation & Interruption Insurance: This protection reimburses you for non-refundable, prepaid travel expenses if you need to cancel before departure or cut your trip short due to covered situations like severe illness or weather events. Coverage activates when you pay for your trip with the card, but it’s important to note that reimbursement only applies for specific covered reasons rather than any cancellation.
Trip Delay Insurance: When your trip is significantly delayed due to covered reasons like equipment failures or severe weather, this protection reimburses you for reasonable expenses including lodging, meals, toiletries, and medication. The coverage activates when you pay for travel with your card and extends to family members on the same itinerary, though you’ll need to seek reimbursement from the travel carrier first.
Secondary Rental Car Insurance: This card provides backup protection for rental car damage or theft when you charge the full rental to your card.
Lost Luggage Reimbursement: Your checked luggage gets extra protection against loss, theft, or damage beyond the basic compensation offered by carriers when you pay for travel with this card.
Citi Entertainment: Citi Strata Premier cardholders can take advantage of Citi Entertainment, a program that provides special access to presale tickets for a wide variety of events, including concerts, sporting events, and theater performances. With this benefit, you can secure your tickets before they become available to the general public, ensuring you don’t miss out on your favorite entertainment experiences.
Redeeming Points
Citi ThankYou points offer a versatile range of redemption options, with transferring to airline and hotel partners generally providing the best value. The program boasts 14 airline and 4 hotel transfer partners, most at a 1:1 ratio. Top airline partners include Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, Emirates Skywards, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
For transatlantic travel, Flying Blue often offers competitive rates, with business class awards starting around 50,000 miles one-way. Avianca LifeMiles is excellent for Star Alliance redemptions without fuel surcharges, offering business class to Europe from 63,000 miles. Emirates Skywards allows access to their renowned first-class product, including shower suites on select aircraft.
EVA Air’s program provides enhanced award availability for its own flights, with transpacific business class awards from 75,000-80,000 miles. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is crucial for booking their premium cabins, which are often restricted to their own members.
On the hotel side, transfers to Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards can yield good value, especially for stays during peak periods or in expensive locations. Choice offers awards from 6,000 to 35,000 points per night in most regions, while Wyndham has a simple three-tier structure of 7,500, 15,000, or 30,000 points per night.
To maximize value, aim for redemptions yielding more than 1.8 cents per point. While other redemption options exist, such as gift cards or travel portal bookings, these typically provide lower value and should be avoided if possible.
Citi ThankYou Partners
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Accor
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AeroMexico
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Avianca LifeMiles
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Air France/KLM Flying Blue
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Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
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Choice Privileges (1 to 2)
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Emirates Skywards
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Etihad Guest
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EVA Air
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JetBlue TrueBlue
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Leaders Club (5 to 1)
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Qantas
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Qatar Airways
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Singapore KrisFlyer
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Shop Your Way (1 to 10)
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Thai Airways
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Turkish Airlines
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Virgin Atlantic
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Wyndham Rewards
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Pros and Cons
Here are the advantages and disadvantages of this card:
Pros:
Excellent Earning Structure: The card offers an impressive 3x points on travel, dining, gas stations, EV charging, and supermarkets – making it one of the best earners in its price range for everyday spending categories.
Reasonable Annual Fee: At $95, the annual fee is easily offset by the benefits and earning potential. You’ll get solid value without breaking the bank on premium card fees.
Transfer Partner Flexibility: You can transfer points to 21 airline and hotel partners, providing excellent flexibility for award travel redemptions, particularly for international premium cabin flights.
Portal Bonus Earning: The 10x points earning on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi’s travel portal provides exceptional returns for those willing to book through Citi’s platform.
Cons:
Limited Premium Benefits: Beyond the $100 annual hotel credit, the card lacks premium perks like extensive lounge access or meaningful travel credits that competing cards offer.
No Major Domestic Transfer Partners: Unlike Chase and Amex, Citi lacks partnerships with major U.S. airlines, which can make redemptions more complex for domestic travel.
Portal Restrictions: The best earning rates require booking through Citi’s travel portal, which may mean forfeiting hotel points and elite benefits when staying at major chains.
Alternatives to the Citi Stata Premier
Now that you know about this credit card’s various benefits and pros and cons, it’s time to see its alternatives.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) is one of the most popular travel rewards cards because it offers nice welcome bonus and extra points on travel and dining, which can be transferred to airline and hotel partners or redeemed directly for travel at a rate of 1.25 cents per point through Chase Travel℠. The Sapphire Preferred also offers great travel and purchase protections for a card with a $95 annual fee. Welcome Bonus: bonus_miles_full Earning Rewards: 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3x points on dining, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2x points on all other travel purchases, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. Card Benefits: Ability to transfer to airline and hotel partners, 25% bonus when redeeming points through Chase Travel, $50 annual hotel stay credit via Chase Travel, 10% anniversary points bonus, no foreign transaction fees, primary rental car insurance, trip delay insurance, trip cancellation insurance, baggage delay insurance, purchase protection, and extended warranty. Transfer Partners: Aer Lingus, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways, Emirates, Air France KLM Flying Blue, Hyatt, IHG, Iberia, JetBlue, Marriott, Singapore KrisFlyer, Southwest, United, and Virgin Atlantic.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) delivers both everyday value with unlimited 2x miles on purchases and premium comfort through comprehensive airport lounge access for you upon enrollment. You’ll also receive $300 in annual travel credits plus 10,000 anniversary bonus miles, creating substantial ongoing value. Welcome Bonus: bonus_miles_full Earning Rewards: 10x miles on hotels and rental cars and 5x miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel; 2x miles on all other purchases. Card Benefits: $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary, airport lounge access (Capital One and Priority Pass) upon enrollment, Global Entry / TSA PreCheck credit, Hertz President’s Circle elite status, primary rental car insurance, trip delay insurance, trip cancellation insurance, and cell phone protection. Transfer Partners: Accor (2 to 1), Aeromexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Choice Privileges, Emirates, Etihad, Finnair, I Prefer Hotels (1 to 2), Japan Airlines(2 to 1.5), JetBlue (5 to 3), Qantas, Qatar, Singapore KrisFlyer, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Red, and Wyndham Rewards.
Is the Citi Strata Premier Card Worth It?
The Citi Strata Premier is a solid mid-tier card that earns 3x points on travel, dining, gas stations, EV charging, and supermarkets for a modest $95 annual fee.
The $100 hotel credit can help offset the fee but requires booking through Citi’s portal, which might not always give you the best rates or let you earn hotel points.
The card’s main strength is its broad range of bonus categories for everyday spending, making it easy to build up your points balance.
While Citi’s transfer partners aren’t as user-friendly as Chase or Amex, you can still find good value through programs like Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. For those who want to earn travel rewards without a high annual fee, this card provides good earning potential, though you’ll want to carefully compare the benefits and transfer partners to other options in this price range.
