Link: Learn more about the Citi Strata Premier® Card
The Citi Strata Premier® Card (review) is one of the most rewarding mid-range credit cards on the market, and it’s often overlooked, with people instead considering competing cards from issuers like American Express and Chase. In this post, I’d like to share seven reasons you should consider getting the Citi Strata Premier, if you don’t yet have it. In no particular order…
60,000 Citi ThankYou bonus points bonus
The Citi Strata Premier Card offers a welcome bonus of 60,000 ThankYou points after spending $4,000 within three months. Personally, I value ThankYou points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that bonus is worth $1,020, making it one of the better credit card bonuses out there.
Since a lot of people don’t have this card, these are some easy rewards points to rack up. Those 60,000 points can earn you at least $600 in rewards, or can be converted into airline miles or hotel points with ThankYou partners, mostly at a 1:1 ratio. Let me mention that we’ve sometimes seen bigger offers on the card in the past, so if you’re just looking for the biggest bonus, it could be worth waiting.
Fortunately eligibility for this card (including the bonus) is unrelated to whether you have other Citi Strata products, including the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review) and Citi Strata℠ Card (review). Keep in mind Citi’s general application restrictions, including Citi’s 48-month rule.
Reasonable $95 annual fee
We’ve seen quite a bit of inflation when it comes to credit card annual fees in recent years, as credit cards have continued to become more rewarding. It’s noteworthy that the Citi Strata Premier Card has an annual fee of just $95 per year, and there’s no cost to add additional authorized users.
There’s a lot of value in having a premium credit card, so paying a fee of under $100 per year is very reasonable, considering how much value you can get with the card.
The best 3x ThankYou points bonus categories
Among credit cards with annual fees of under $100, the Citi Strata Premier Card almost unarguably offers the best bonus categories. The Citi Strata Premier offers 3x ThankYou points in the following categories:
- Airfare
- Dining
- Gas and EV charging stations
- Supermarkets
- Hotels
Of particular note is earning 3x points on dining, gas, and supermarkets, which for many people covers most everyday expenses. The card also doesn’t have foreign transaction fees, making it a great card for purchases abroad.
10x ThankYou points on Citi Travel bookings
The Citi Strata Premier Card gives you a major incentive to book travel through the Citi Travel portal. You can earn 10x ThankYou points for hotels, rental cars, and attractions, booked through cititravel.com. Based on my valuation of points, that’s like a 17% return on that spending.
Now, it’s worth emphasizing that this won’t be for everyone. If you’re staying at a major hotel chain, you typically won’t earn points or receive elite perks on third party bookings. However, for someone who isn’t terribly brand loyal, or if you’re staying at an independent hotel, this could be very rewarding.
Annual $100 hotel credit off $500+ stay
Once every calendar year, the Citi Strata Premier Card offers $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees. This is valid when booking through the Citi Travel portal. While there may be an opportunity cost to booking this way, many people will find this valuable, and in those cases, this alone can more than justify the annual fee.
Great Citi ThankYou transfer partners
The Citi Strata Premier Card is ideal if you want to earn points that can be transferred to airline and hotel partners. Citi ThankYou points are incredibly valuable, hold their value well, and offer all kinds of amazing redemption opportunities.
For example, Citi ThankYou points can be transferred to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, American AAdvantage, Avianca Lifemiles, Etihad Guest, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and many more. The opportunities to redeem these points for premium travel are endless.
I want to specifically emphasize the value of having American AAdvantage as a transfer partner, since I’d argue it’s the most valuable of the “big three” US carrier frequent flyer programs, and Citi ThankYou is the only transferable points currency that allows these transfers. So there’s a case to be made for using Citi ThankYou cards over American AAdvantage cards.
Another thing worth keeping in mind is that if you have Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, there is some overlap between partners. In many cases, you can transfer points to the same partners from multiple programs.
Maximize the value of the Citi Double Cash
This is arguably the most compelling reason to get the Citi Strata Premier Card. The no annual fee Citi Double Cash® Card (review) is one of the best cards for everyday, non-bonused spending. The card offers 1x ThankYou points when you make a purchase, and 1x ThankYou points when you pay for that purchase, meaning you can earn up to 2x ThankYou points.
Rewards can be combined with those earned on the Citi Strata Premier Card, and you could then transfer those rewards to ThankYou transfer partners. If you have the Citi Strata Premier and Citi Double Cash you’d pay a single $95 annual fee, and you’d earn:
- 3x points on airfare
- 3x points on dining
- 3x points on gas
- 3x points at supermarkets
- 3x points on hotels
- 2x points on all other purchases
That’s incredible, and makes this one of the best credit card duos out there.
Bottom line
The Citi Strata Premier Card is an excellent credit card that’s all too often overlooked by people. The card has a big welcome bonus, offers some of the best 3x points categories of any card, and perhaps most exciting of all is that this card allows you to really maximize the no annual fee Citi Double Cash Card, which is one of the best cards for everyday spending.
The Citi Strata Premier and Citi Double Cash are one of the best card duos out there. With American AAdvantage now being a transfer partner, I’d argue there’s more value to this arrangement than ever before.
If you have the Citi Strata Premier, what has your experience been with the card?
