Compare the Features and Benefits of Citi Strata℠ Card and
Capital One Venture Business

As a no-annual-fee card, the Citi Strata℠ Card doesn’t come with a ton of additional benefits. However, the primary thing to note before applying is the impressive earning potential. As we’ve already mentioned, you’ll earn 3 points per $1 at supermarkets and on gas purchases. You’ll earn 2 points per $1 at restaurants, and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.

In addition, you have the opportunity to self-select a 3X earning category from a list of options: fitness clubs, select streaming services, live entertainment, cosmetic stores/barber shops/hair salons, and pet supply stores. Sure, it would be nice to see travel listed as a self-select option, but we can’t have it all. The ability to personalize your earning potential is fantastic.

If you subscribe to every streaming service out there, you can earn a solid chunk of points each month. If you have a pricey gym membership, you might as well earn as much as possible while you’re working out. And if you love going to concerts, live entertainment is your best option.

You’ll also earn 5 points per $1 on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through cititravel.com. If you prefer to book directly with the provider, this won’t do you much good. However, you can try to book your attractions through the portal when you go on vacation to maximize your earning potential.

The welcome bonus, although not extremely high, is easily accessible for most people. You can spend your bonus points by booking travel through Citi Travel at a flat rate of 1 cent per point. Or, you can stretch your points farther by taking advantage of Citi’s comprehensive list of transfer partners — which includes American Airlines. Although you’ll transfer at a lower ratio than if you held the Citi Strata Elite℠ or the Citi Strata Premier®, having access to American Airlines is phenomenal.

Unfortunately, cardholders won’t be able to take advantage of any statement credits or be covered by things like trip cancellation coverage or cell phone insurance. Still, the Citi Strata℠ Card is worth considering.

💳 This card earns Capital One Miles. Capital One often runs transfer bonuses where you can get even more points when you transfer to airline or hotel partners at designated times. Transfer bonuses are awesome. Get 20%, 30%, 40% or more bonus miles when you transfer points at the right times. But they are easy to miss!

You can see all past Transfer Bonuses from Capital One Miles here.

Even better? Get notified when a new transfer bonus comes out and again before it ends (either or both, your choice). Sign up for free alerts right here. 🔔

The Capital One Venture Business card is a uniquely simple small business credit card.

With 2X Capital One Miles earned per dollar spent on all eligible purchases (plus the option to earn 5X miles on hotels, rental cars, and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel), you can really rack up the miles fast.

And while Capital One Miles used to simply be worth a penny each towards travel, that’s changed entirely since Capital One made their miles transferable.

Many small business owners don’t worry about bonus categories, but they do want as many rewards points for their business spend as possible. And they want, on top of that simplicity, to know they are getting a top end rate of return on spend.

The Capital One Venture Business accomplishes both goals. 2X miles on everything with no limit is among the best options among all small business credit cards. While the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express also earns 2X points on purchases, it is capped at $50,000 in spend per year whereas the Capital One Venture Business has no limit.

And then for redeeming your points, you can simply spend them for travel at a penny a point, or you can use the airline and hotel transfer partners which have really expanded to include some great transfer partners like JAL Mileage Bank.

As an additional bonus, this low annual fee business card comes with up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® every four years.

Overall, it’s a super simple card that is an excellent choice for small business owners that love to travel on their time off.

Need to Know: Capital One generally will make a credit inquiry with all three credit bureaus. For new Venture Business customers, Capital One will not report to personal credit bureaus as long as an account remains in good standing. This card is on our list of credit cards that do not report the credit line to your personal credit profile.