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Citi Strata PremierSM Card (See rates and fees.)
Citi introduced the new “Strata” card. It’s a rebranded Citi Premier Card with some minor improvements, but the big effort behind it is important. It tells me that there’s real life in the Citi ThankYou Rewards travel portfolio.
Citi Premier is no longer available, and existing cardmembers get switched to this new card. They aren’t losing anything. These are the same cards, more or less, which is why having had Premier counts as the same card (or card family) for purposes of new cardmember bonus eligibility.
- Initial bonus: For a limited time, earn 75,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $750 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
- Earn: 10 points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on CitiTravel.com; 3 points per $1 on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases, at Restaurants, Supermarkets, Gas and EV Charging Stations; 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Annual fee: $95
- Additional benefits: $100 hotel credit on stay of $500 or more booked through the Citi Travel portal, once per calendar year.
EV charging earn is new, and 10x on eligible spend through the travel portal becomes a benefit of the card (it was previously deemed a limited-time offer). They’ve also added several travel protections to the card, rolling back a previous elimination, recognizing that they – like other issuers – went too far with cuts in the past.
Points can be transferred to a variety of frequent flyer programs, including:
- SkyTeam: Aeromexico Club Premier, Air France KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- oneworld: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Star Alliance: Avianca LifeMiles, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
- Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, JetBlue TrueBlue,
In some ways I wanted something more revolutionary, rather than modest changes and a rebrand of Premier. But the effort behind this card says they’re still interested in investing in marketing a travel card with transferable points and that’s really great.
This is one of the few cards that extends warranties by 2 years – so you end up with a total 3 year warranty where the manufacturer’s warranty is 1 year. Alot can go wrong in the third year of ownership. I buy all my electronics with this card, and the warranty is the only reason I keep it.
After they killed the once wonderful Citi Prestige most Citicard’s have been a big yawn
Costco visa is ok I suppose and Citi Cashback card ditto
Wait for Citi Strata Elite.
Citi premiere is the only cc I’ve ever been rejected for … twice! Maybe third time’s the charm lol.
If Citi adds AA as a partner, then we’re talking… the other 2 US carriers partner with their banks so why not Citi just finally allow AA to be a permanent transfer?
If only I could get approved for this – like Jake said above – this is the only card I’ve been rejected for in quite awhile
I’m surprised that Citi doesn’t have a Thank You points business card.
How are the rates on the Citi travel portal? The Chase one is awful, always quoting much higher rates than one can get almost anywhere else.
@GREGG there is a $100 rebate for $500 of hotel spend booked through the Citi portal. Have never used it as I can always make up the $100 by booking direct. So at least for hotels the rates are no bueno.
I hope they put the travel protection back on the Citi Prestige. I’m using it only for restaurant spend since they cut the travel protection. I would use it for air and hotels again.
What is the value proposition for keeping this card in the wallet beyond the SUB?
I keep it for 3x Grocery but that is tenuous if you hold Amex Gold (4x). And Chase Freedom Unlimited offers 3x Dining with $0 AF.
The hotel credit is not particularly useful as I tend to value my elite perks and rarely spend $500 at a non-branded property.
@Boraxo,
For people like my wife the benefit is one card that gets 3x at places she frequently spends a lot: groceries, dining, gas, and travel. She only wants to use 1-2 cards so this plus a 2x everywhere card like capital one is a solid approach.
For myself it’s similar in that I don’t have to bounce between 3&4 different cards every day. Also, I’ve found Chase transfer partners to be no better than Citi and with the exception of Hyatt arguably worse than what Citi has to offer.
I’ve never found an acceptable rate on a hotel in CitiTravel. So I have to ignore the 10x, ignore the $100 credit. I keep this card for transfers to Leaders Club, transfers to EVA, consistent category bonus earn abroad.
Thanks for the detailed overview of the new Citi Strata Premier Card! The bonus offer is certainly enticing, but I agree that it would be great to see more benefits added. It will be interesting to see how it compares to other cards in the market once more details emerge.
What features do you think are most important for a card like this?
@DenB. Identical reasons for me. But I also find value in transferring to Choice for Preferred hotel redemptions.
I quit using the Citi Premier for travel when they eliminated the travel protections and only use it for groceries. Sometimes I might use it for gas but Sam’s Club offers % back at any gas station, so that’s a better deal as well. Chase Ink Business offers 3X for travel, including hotels and air etc plus all kinds of travel benefits. I like Citi, I just value the protection offered by Chase more.