Citi Strata Elite^SM Card (See rates and fees.)

Blog readers have shared great approval experiences with the Citi Strata Elite^SM Card. Honestly that’s long been my experience with Citibank. If you’re eligible for a card – you meet income and credit requirements, you haven’t earned the initial bonus offer too recently or applied for too many Citi cards recently – I think you have better odds with them than many issuers.

I’ve never been turned down for a Citibank card, and my wife was approved for the Citi® / AAdvantage Business^TM World Elite Mastercard® [See rates and fees] with a very, very small business. Readers share similar stories.

The card has a bonus that they advertise as limited time to earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.

And it’s packed with benefits: Up to $300 Annual Hotel Benefit each calendar year off a hotel stay of two nights or more when booked through cititravel.com; up to $200 annual splurge credit (valid with merchants like American Airlines, and available each calendar year so potentially twice in your first cardmember year); $100 Blacklane credit twice annually (once in the first half of the year and once in the back half).

It also offers a Priority Pass Select card for airport lounge access and four American Airlines Admirals Club passes each calendar year.

Valuing the points at 1.5 cents apiece and realizing the hotel credit and splurge credits twice in the first cardmember year (because the benefits are timed to calendar year) that’s at least $2,400 in year one value… without putting a price on the Admirals Club passes or Priority Pass benefit.

Still, there ar some things to know:

• Approval frequency: Generally Citibank won’t approve more than one new card every 8 days. You can’t just apply for two at the same time and get approved. And at most they’ll generally approve no more than two inside of 65 days. So if you want a third, you need to wait at least 65 days from the first card’s approval before applying.

• 48-month rule: To be eligible for a bonus from the Citi Strata Elite^SM Card you cannot have received one for that card in the psat 48 months. That’s not a big limitation, since card is brand new.

• Each product is separate: What’s notable is that the limitation applies specifically to this card, not to the family of cards. That means earning the bonus for a Citi Strata Premier® Card (See rates and fees.) does not stand in the way from earning one for Strata Elite (and current Strata Premier cardholders are eligible for Strata Elite).

I received instant approval for the Citi Strata Elite^SM Card – as soon as I hit apply. That surprised me, since Citi already extends me quite a lot of credit.

Citi’s new premium card is pretty incredible in the first year, not just because of the strong initial bonus but also because of credits that are timed to calendar year rather than cardmember year. (Calendar year credits can be claimed twice in cardmember year one.)

They’ve constructed a card that is a no-brainer to get. There’s just so much value to the customer up front. I’m not sure if it’ll be a keeper long-term or a card that’s best for your everyday spend (although it is very good).

My take: apply for this card, reap the maximum benefits in year one, and then consider whether it’s right for you in the long-term.