Compare the Features and Benefits of IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card and
Citi Strata Elite℠

The IHG Premier Credit Card can justify its place in any traveler’s wallet. After earning the excellent sign-up bonus, cardholders continue to be rewarded with IHG Platinum Elite status, an annual free night award, a reward night free on a reward stay of four or more consecutive nights, $50 per calendar year (two $25 credits per half year) in United TravelBank Cash, and a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/NEXUS application fee credit.

Those perks easily justify the $99 annual fee, even if you use a more rewarding card for everyday spending.

Cardholders earn bonus points in a variety of categories, including 10X IHG points on eligible purchases at IHG hotel brands and 5X points on travel, at gas stations, and on dining. All other purchases earn 3X points.

MilesTalk values IHG Rewards points at 0.4 cents each. That means IHG Premier Card cardholders can expect an approximate return of around 4% on spending at IHG Hotels and 1.2% on other purchases.

For those unfamiliar with IHG Rewards, the IHG Rewards program includes hotel brands like InterContinental Hotels, Six Senses, Kimpton, and Hotel Indigo on the luxury end and Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, and Staybridge Suites for more practical stays.

Thanks to the Platinum Elite status that comes as a benefit on the IHG Premier Card, cardholders will earn 60% bonus points on stays, get complimentary room upgrades, and receive welcome bonus points when staying at participating IHG hotels.

For travelers that generally stay at least four nights, the IHG Premier Card’s fourth-night free benefit can save you a bunch of points. All you need to do is book at least four consecutive nights at an IHG hotel using your IHG Rewards points. And IHG will automatically discount one night to zero points — giving you a free reward night.

You’ll get this perk whether you’re staying at a practical Holiday Inn or staying at ultra-luxurious InterContinental Hotels.

The Citi Strata Elite℠ is a premium level card that will make a ton of sense for some, and not as much for others.

If you already tend to book using travel portals (this could be Expedia, Booking.com, or Agoda, for example), then you are in luck as the 6X on airfare and 12X on hotels, car rentals and experiences when booking via the Citi Travel portal is massive. The Citi Travel portal is powered by Agoda so it will look familiar.

You can get the annual fee back, and then some, based on how easy the credits are for you to use (i.e. are you spending where you wouldn’t have already or just shifting spend?). If you book via travel portals anyway, the $300 hotel credit will be an easy one. And that’s just over half the annual fee alone.

If you value AA Admiral’s Club passes and would have paid $79 a pop, then that actually takes care of the rest of the annual fee. And that $200 annual Splurge credit isn’t too hard to use either – you can use it (on up to two of these merchants maximum, per year) at 1stDibs, American Airlines (exclusions apply), Best Buy^®, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation (exclusions apply).

Or you might use that $200 ($100 each half year) Blacklane credit. And of course if you don’t already have Priority Pass via another premium card, then there is definite value there as well.

So there are several ways to recoup the annual fees.

You’ll also get the best transfer rates (1:1 in most cases) to Citi’s wide range of airline and hotel partners that now includes American Airlines AAdvantage®, which is a huge win for Citi in that it was previously lacking a US airline partner beyond JetBlue.

But the crux of this card, in our opinion, comes down to those 6X and 12X multipliers for booking via the Citi Travel portal. If you do, you’ll really clean up earning ThankYou points. If you don’t, you may want to look at a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® which gives 4X points on airfare and hotels booked directly.