Is Citibank Launching Its Own Airport Lounges To Compete With Amex, Chase, And Capital One?

by Gary Leff

Doctor of Credit posted and then deleted a note that Citibank had trademarked STRATA LOUNGE.

They rebranded ThankYou Premier under the Strata name and are expected to introduced a premium version of the card. Could this just be something along the lines of Citigold lounges, or are they planning to get into the airport lounge game the way that American Express, Chase, and Capital One have?

Actually there is a small international airport lounge footprint for Citi to begin with, like the Citibank lounge in terminal 2 of the Jakarta airport.

I’d be surprised to see this if it comes to fruition. Citibank hasn’t been nearly as aggressive in travel rewards cards (or consumer cards generally) in quite some time. Since losing their shared Hilton co-brand to American Express they haven’t added other partners. The relaunch of ThankYou Premier as Strata didn’t contain as much differentiation as I expected. And I’ve wondered whether consumer card would be on Jane Fraser’s chopping block, possibly even selling the business? But then again there’s word of gaining exclusivity with their American Airlines co-brand relationship.

Airport lounges take a long time, and the biggest challenge is finding the space. More competition is certainly a good thing. American Express and then others coming into the space have upped the game not just for the U.S. airport lounge scene, but spurred real improvements in airline lounge food and beverage offerings as well.

Of course, the downside is that credit card access has meant too many passengers chasing too little space. So while card issuer lounges are really quite nice, managing the crowds has made them less so in practice much of the time.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  2. Doctor of Credit is one of the best sites in this community. Of course, thank you for what you do, Gary, and also the guys over at DoC, William and Chuck. You all have saved us, many times over.

  3. I think it would make more sense for Citi to do joint venture lounges with AA. Perhaps co-sponsor larger AA admirals clubs to take some pressure off AA at a lower cost then full fledged stand alone clubs. Perhaps offer a new card that offers limited club access at a more competitive price point for those that fly 6 to 10 times per year?

  4. I think it would make sense for Citi to have a premium Thank You Points card again and them not offering a business TYP card is a huge miss for them.

  5. Please put the money into more lucrative earning on the cards and transfer bonuses to partners, not more lounges. or better access to existing priority pass lounges.

  7. Amex was the first to market with their lounges, and was the only game in town for a decade. Chase and Capital One Lounges are still an afterthought for most people. Citi would start from even further behind.

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