Key facts
The Citi Strata Premier® card isn’t a card you should sleep on. While it may not have the cache or travel protections of its competitors (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred), this Citi ThankYou® points-earning travel rewards card is well-rounded and affordable.
Annual Fee:
$95Min. Credit Score for Approval:
670-739 * GoodOngoing APR:
20.24%-28.24% VariableBalance transfer fees
Balance transfer fee applies with this offer; 5% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum.Foreign Transaction Fee:
0%With a low $95 annual fee, 3X points per dollar spent on five distinct spending categories, and the ability to transfer Citi ThankYou® points to hotel and airline partners, the Citi Strata Premier card is worth considering if you’re in the market for a travel credit card.
This transfer bonus is being run on the Qatar side, so you will not see the bonus offer on the Citi ThankYou website.
Per the promotional page on the Qatar website:
For a limited time only, you will collect 30% bonus Avios when converting reward points from participating partners into Avios by 31 May 2025.* The more reward points you convert, greater are your reward possibilities with Privilege Club.
IMPORTANT: Bonus Avios earned as part of this campaign will be credited to a Member’s Privilege Club account by 30th June 2025.
So, you may not get those bonus Avios for 1-2 months! This is a big difference between when the US bank offers a transfer bonus (bonus points are credited with the transfer) and when it’s run by the airline. I’ve seen both Qatar and Cathay Pacific specify delayed posting of the bonus which (I think) kind of ruins the deal since we never advise stockpiling – that said, you can still move these to other Avios programs later.
Remember that Qatar Avios has become competitive and inline with other Avois partners. It’s always worth checking whether one or another Avois partner (i.e. British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, or Aer Lingus) has a better redemption price since you can freely move between them. You can even connect your British Airways account directly inside Qatar’s website for easy and instant transfer.
SECOND IMPORTANT NOTE: Qatar has devalued their own program twice in recent months, first significantly raising the pricing for AA and Alaska awards, then by adding significant new surcharges on long haul premium awards by almost 200%. I wouldn’t transfer speculatively myself, but an Avios pro user with lots of ThankYou points might.
NOTES: Virgin Flying Club has moved to a dynamic pricing for awards. In some cases we are seeing extreme value like 29,000 point Business Class awards from the US to London. In other cases, the prices have risen dramatically. Run some searches before transferring.
It’s also worth Virgin Atlantic transfer bonuses are fairly frequent between various programs. See historical transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic here. This is the 9th transfer bonus in the last year from a bank program to Virgin Atlantic. As you can see, it’s nearly always 30% with unicorns for 40%.
If we isolate to just Citi ThankYou to Virgin Atlantic Transfer Bonuses, it’s always 30%.
Best Uses of Virgin Flying Club points:
Two great uses are domestically on Delta within the US or US-Mexico/Canada and for economy flights to/from Europe that are as few as 12,000 miles each way on partners such as KLM or Delta.
If you could actually find a Delta One award FROM Europe to the US, it would be just 50,000 points. Availability is a unicorn. Unfortunately, awards TO Europe on Delta now cost more and have $1,000 + surcharges). Virgin Atlantic can also book Air France and KLM flights as well as other SkyTeam alliance airlines.
The other, well known, “best use” is to book ANA First and Business class awards:
- First Class to/from Japan from West Coast: 145,000 points Round Trip
- First Class to/from Japan from East Coast: 170,000 points Round Trip
- Business Class to/from Japan from West Coast: 105,000 points Round Trip
- Business Class to/from Japan from East Coast: 120,000 points Round Trip
Note that you can also book these ANA awards as one way for half the points. Search on United and then call Virgin to book.
Reward multipliers
You’ll earn 3X points per dollar on a whopping five spending categories: Air travel, hotels, gas stations + EV charging stations, supermarkets, and restaurants.
Earn 1X points per dollar on all other eligible everyday spending.
Note: You will also earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on Hotel, Car Rentals and Attractions booked through CitiTravel.com.
Earns bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Estimated Rewards Value: 4.8%
Estimated Rewards Value: 4.8%
Estimated Rewards Value: 4.8%
Estimated Rewards Value: 4.8%
Estimated Rewards Value: 4.8%
Estimated Rewards Value: 4.8%
Estimated Rewards Value: 1.6%
ALREADY HAVE THIS CARD?
Pair another card and boost your rewards
In some cases, adding cards from the same points system will increase your rewards by unlocking a higher point value based on the ability to transfer points to air or hotel partners. In other cases, the cards simply work together to earn more points with one bank or diversify your bonus category rewards across banks.
Key features
Unique Card Benefits
Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
Citi Strata Premier® cardholders can use a yearly hotel credit of $100 when booking through Citi’s Travel℠ portal. A minimum purchase of $500 is required in order for this perk to kick in. While the benefit offsets the $95 annual fee, remember that you will likely not be able to use privileges associated with hotel loyalty programs or status when booking through a third party, such as through the ThankYou® program.
Citi Entertainment® and Priceless Experiences
As a Citi Strata Premier cardholder, you’ll get access to special events (such as live concerts, dining experiences, and sporting events) with the Citi Entertainment® platform. In addition, cardholders get access to Mastercard’s Priceless experiences with the ability to purchase items like a round of golf with a legendary player or a virtual cooking class with a celebrity chef.
Select Partner Benefits: DoorDash, Lyft, Fandango
As a World Elite Mastercard, you’ll get a variety of merchant-specific perks. If you take three rides with Lyft in a month, you’ll get a $5 credit once per month to put towards your next ride. DoorDash users get three free months of a DashPass membership (offering a $0 delivery fee, reduced service charges, etc.) and $5 off their first order per month. With Fandango, spend $20 on movie tickets and get a $5 Fandango Reward.
Mastercard Golf
With Citi Strata Premier, get exclusive PGA tour experiences and golf benefits with Mastercard’s Golf Concierge Service. (Fees apply.)
Share ThankYou® Points Between Accounts
Unlike many other credit card and travel programs that either charge a fee to share points between accounts or don’t allow it at all, the Citi ThankYou® program permits up to 100,000 points to be shared (and 100,000 points to be received) in a calendar year. Best of all, there are no fees to share ThankYou® points between accounts. This perk is ideal for redeeming Citi ThankYou® points for travel. Points expire 90 days after they are received.
Earns Transferable Points
With the Citi Strata Premier card, you’ll earn points that can be redeemed for a variety of purposes, like gift cards and charity donations, but often the most optimal way is to redeem via Citi’s transfer partners for travel.
This includes more than a dozen participating airline loyalty programs and two hotel programs
| Citi ThankYou Transfer Partners | Transfer Ratio | Approximate Transfer Time * |
|---|---|---|
| AeroMexico | 1:1 | Generally instant |
| Air France Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 | Instant. |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates | 1:! | Instant |
| Eva Air | 1:1 | ~1-3 days |
| Jet Airways InterMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | 1:1 | ~1-7 days |
| Qantas | 1:1 | Instant to 1 day |
| Qatar Privilege Club | 1:1 | ~2 days |
| Singapore Airlines | 1:1 | ~1-2 days |
| Thai Orchid Plus | 1:1 | ~3-7 days |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Virgin Atlantic | 1:1 | Instant to 2 days |
| Hotels | ||
| Choice Hotels | 1:2 (Citi Prestige / Premier / Chairman cards) 1:1.5 (No fee Citi ThankYou cards) | Instant |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 (Citi Prestige / Premier / Chairman cards) 1:0.8 (No fee Citi ThankYou cards) | TBD |
| Leaders Club | 5:1 | TBD |
| Preferred Hotels and Resorts "I Prefer" | 1:4 | TBD |
| Accor Live Limitless | 1:0.5 | TBD |
Extended Warranty
Another perk of the Citi Strata Premier Card is the ability to extend the manufacturer’s warranty of an item if it is five years or less. Citi will extend that warranty for 24 months (an industry-leading amount of time), but there is a $10,000 limit per item.
Purchase Protection
For Citi Strata Premier cardholders that purchase an item that is then damaged or stolen within 90 days of the purchase date, you can receive up to $10,000 per incident with a maximum of $50,000 per year.
Trip Protections
- Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption
You may be eligible for reimbursement for the nonrefundable amounts, up to $5,000 per covered trip, paid to a common carrier with your covered card. Covered losses may include sudden illness (including COVID-19) or injury to an eligible traveler.
- Trip Delay
From meals to hotel rooms, you may be covered for expenses, up to $500 per covered trip, that you incur because of the delay when you pay for your trip on a common carrier with your covered card or in combination with your covered card and accumulated points on your eligible account or redeemable certificates, vouchers, coupons, or discounts awarded from a frequent flyer program or similar program and you’re delayed more than 6 hours.
- Lost or Damaged Luggage
This benefit may provide coverage for loss or damage to your checked or carry-on luggage and personal property contained therein. An eligible person must charge the full amount of the cost of transportation by common carrier to your Citi Card or in combination with your card and accumulated points on your eligible account.
Secondary Car Rental CDW Waiver
MasterRental Coverage (Secondary Car Rental CDW) is once again a benefit of this card since the transition from Citi Premier to Citi Strata Premier.
- Coverage is secondary within the eligible renter’s country of residence. Secondary coverage means that this benefit supplements and applies in excess of any valid and collectible insurance or reimbursement from any source, including the eligible renter’s personal auto insurance, employer’s insurance, or any other valid and collectible reimbursement.
- The eligible renter must pay the entire cost of the rental vehicle (tax, gasoline, and airport fees are not considered rental charges) with your covered card or in combination with your covered card and accumulated points on your eligible account.
- An eligible renter’s coverage is limited to rentals which neither exceed nor are intended to exceed thirty-one (31) consecutive days.
Concierge Services
As one of the Citi cards with a World Elite Mastercard designation, Citi Strata Premier cardholders get access to a 24/7 concierge service, including helping to plan reservations and other purchases or book tickets to events.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
The Citi Strata Premier card does not charge foreign transaction fees when using the card abroad.
Earn more rewards by combining credit cards
Pros & cons
- The $95 annual fee can be completely offset by the $100 hotel credit
- Redeem Citi ThankYou® points for a variety of travel, including the ability to transfer points to more than 15 airline and hotel programs
- Trip Protection benefits
- Citi ThankYou® points can only be transferred to airline programs (no hotels) and of them, the partners are more obscure international airlines
- Weaker on travel perks, with no airport lounge access or TSA PreCheck/Global Entry reimbursement
- No domestic airline transfer partners
Our review
💳 This card earns Citi ThankYou points. Citi 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 Citi ThankYou points 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. 🔔
Thanks to its long list of bonus categories and a generous sign-up bonus, the Citi Strata Premier® is one of the most lucrative points-earning cards at the $95 price point.
You can earn ThankYou® points through a variety of means, but one of the best aspects of the Premier is the broad array of bonus categories. You’ll get 3X points on five categories including air travel and hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations + EV charging stations.
On the redemption side, the airline and hotel travel partners can unlock some incredible opportunities. One such sweet spot is redeeming Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points for partners such as Delta or ANA (although that latter redemption isn’t as good as it once was).
Two of the Citi Strata Premier card’s main competitors include the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Those cards also offer transferable points — Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One Miles — as well as the same $95 annual fee.
Double up by Transferring Points from the Citi Double Cash Card to the Citi Strata Premier Card
The single biggest “weak spot” with the Citi Strata Premier Credit Card is that certain non-bonus categories only earn one point per dollar spent. The best credit cards give you two points per dollar spent in any category. Citi recently responded to the complaints by allowing customers to transfer points from the Citi® Double Cash Card to their ThankYou® Point balances.
What is the Citi Double Cash Card?
The Citi Double Cash Card is possibly the most user-friendly credit card out there. The Double Cash earns two ThankYou® points per dollar spent on every purchase, one cent when you make a purchase and another when you pay for the purchase.
There is no annual fee and no sign-up bonus for the Double Cash. It was created to be simple.
These points can be easily setup to be in the same ThankYou® account as your Premier card.
How To Double Up With Citi Double Cash and Citi Strata Premier
The “double up” is easy. All you need is a Citi Double Cash Card and a Citi Strata Premier card. Since the Double Cash has no annual fee, there’s no downside to having it.
Remember, the Citi Strara Premier Card pays 3X in certain categories (Air/Hotel, Gas, Restaurants and Supermarkets) and 1X in everything else. The Citi Double Cash card pays 2X on everything.
If your purchase is in a Citi Strata Premier card bonus category, go ahead and make the purchase with your Citi Strata Premier card.
If it’s in any other category, make the purchase with your Double Cash card. That way, you’ll get one percent when you make the purchase and another percent when you pay it.
The Citi Trifecta: Add a Citi Rewards+ Card for a 10% Points Rebate
If you want to take full advantage of the Citicards family, add in a no-annual fee Citi Rewards+ card. While the 15,000 ThankYou® Points that you’ll receive when you sign up (and spend $1,000 in the first three months) are nice, the real bonus comes from the redemption discount.
Every calendar year, Citi will rebate 10% of the first 100,000 ThankYou® Points that you spend. It’s a 10,000 annual TYP bonus! Best of all, you don’t ever need to spend on the card. Just having it in your profile and linked to the same ThankYou® account will ensure that you get the rebate.
Alternate Citi Trifecta
Add a Citi Custom Cash card, which earns 5% on your top bonus category each month, up to $500 in spend, and features some unique bonus categories like Home Improvement Stores, Drugstores, and Live Entertainment (Concerts and Shows). It also comes with a 20,000 point signup bonus worth at least $200.
Citi Application Limits (a.k.a. Citi Velocity Rules)
Citi will not approve more than two cards in a 60-day period, although we recommend 65 days, just to be safe. So if you want a Citi Strata Premier, Double Cash and Rewards+ card, you’ll have to pick one to wait and apply for on Day 66. We’d recommend waiting on the Rewards+, since the benefits are back-ended.
Each of these cards are limited to one signup bonus per 48 months.
Note: This card was recently rebranded from the Citi Premier® to the Citi Strata Premier®. You will be eligible for a signup bonus only if you have not received a signup bonus on either the Citi Premier® or the Citi Strata Premier® in the last 48 months.
Best Ways to Use Citi ThankYou® Points
There are several ways to redeem your Citi ThankYou® Points and, not surprisingly, some are better than others. Here are the most popular options.
Best: Transfer Points to an Airline Partner
The best use of ThankYou® Points is to transfer them to one of Citi’s airline or hotel partners.
| Citi ThankYou Transfer Partners | Transfer Ratio | Approximate Transfer Time * |
|---|---|---|
| AeroMexico | 1:1 | Generally instant |
| Air France Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 | Instant. |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates | 1:! | Instant |
| Eva Air | 1:1 | ~1-3 days |
| Jet Airways InterMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | 1:1 | ~1-7 days |
| Qantas | 1:1 | Instant to 1 day |
| Qatar Privilege Club | 1:1 | ~2 days |
| Singapore Airlines | 1:1 | ~1-2 days |
| Thai Orchid Plus | 1:1 | ~3-7 days |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Virgin Atlantic | 1:1 | Instant to 2 days |
| Hotels | ||
| Choice Hotels | 1:2 (Citi Prestige / Premier / Chairman cards) 1:1.5 (No fee Citi ThankYou cards) | Instant |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 (Citi Prestige / Premier / Chairman cards) 1:0.8 (No fee Citi ThankYou cards) | TBD |
| Leaders Club | 5:1 | TBD |
| Preferred Hotels and Resorts "I Prefer" | 1:4 | TBD |
| Accor Live Limitless | 1:0.5 | TBD |
All points transfer at a rate of 1:1 from ThankYou® Points into the partner miles. ThankYou® Points are particularly useful for international travel, since many of the partners are non-US airlines. You can, of course, use international airline miles to fly on domestic partners.
Some examples include: transfering to Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program to fly their famous Singapore Suites, transferring to Turkish Miles&Smiles to get the absolute best award pricing for Star Alliance flights (hello, 7,500 mile one way flights from the mainland to Hawaii!), transferring to Virgin Atlantic for deals on flights from the US to Europe on Delta-metal and flights within North America on Delta as well as great rates on ANA flights to Japan and beyond.
Prefer spending points for hotels?
Citi transfers to Choice Hotels where some amazing bargains lie, especially at premium hotels.
If you have a Citi Strata Premier or Citi Prestige, you will get 2 Choice Privileges points per 1 Citi ThankYou® point transferred.
You can use this to book Choice Hotels properties, which include Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, EconoLodge, Rodeway Inn, Ascend, and Cambria, among others. And there is solid value on the discount side of its hotel offerings.
But if you like a bit more upscale…. that is where the Choice Hotels partnership with Preferred Hotels and Resorts comes into play.
You can search the above link to see all of the options, but here’s one example.
The Excelsior Palace Hotel on the Portofino Coast in Italy can easily exceed 400 Euros per night. Or it can be booked for 55,000 Choice Privileges points equal to is just 27,500 Citi ThankYou points. That’s ~ 2 cents per point in value.
Use for Travel or Gift Cards
It’s not our preferred way to use ThankYou® points, but if you don’t want to transfer your points to miles, you have the option to use them for gift cards. Citi offers gift card rewards from more than 100 partners, so you’re not going to be at a loss for options.
You can also book travel through Citi’s dedicated Travel℠ portal. There’s no real advantage in doing it this way other than that you can use your points to do so.
The downside to these options is that the per point value is not particularly good. You’ll receive a penny per point, which is generally less than the value of a mile in the “best use” scenario above.
Summary
We are big fans of the Citi Strata Premier. For a while, it lacked travel protections, but those are once again a feature of this card so on top of 3X bonus categories covering most categories a frequent traveler needs, it also has a range of trip protections.
3X ThankYou points on air travel and hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations + EV charging stations is quite a generous range of bonus categories. for such a.minimal annual fee And as we mention above, it pairs well with other ThankYou-earning cards like the Citi Couble Cash, Citi Custom Cash, and the Citi Rewards+.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Citi Strata Premier Card have an annual fee?
Yes, the card’s annual fee is $95.
Does the Citi Strata Premier Card get you into airport lounges?
No, the Citi Strata Premier card does not get you into airport lounges. Use our Card Explorer to find all credit cards with airport lounge access.
Is it worth getting the Citi Strata Premier Card?
If you’re comfortable with the idea of transferring points (or want to learn) from the Citi ThankYou® program, the Citi Strata Premier card is a well-rounded card option for travel rewards enthusiasts. With a robust array of travel partners, triple points on five spending categories, and a $100 hotel credit on the Citi Travel℠ portal, the Premier is a solid choice. One major consideration, however, is the lack of included travel protections should things go wrong.
Can I earn the Citi Strata Premier card ThankYou points bonus if I have a Citi card already?
Yes, as long as you haven’t received a new account bonus on the Citi Strata Premier or Citi Premier® in the last 48 months.
How do I earn points with the Citi Strata Premier Card?
You can earn a large sign-up bonus, in the form of ThankYou® points, by hitting the minimum spending requirements after account opening. In addition, you can earn points through everyday and travel purchases.
This includes 3X ThankYou points per dollar spent on air travel and hotels, 3X ThankYou® points at gas stations / EV charging stations, restaurants, and supermarkets, and 1X points on all other purchases.
Also earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on Hotel, Car Rentals and Attractions booked through CitiTravel.com.
Is there a better credit card than the Citi Strata Premier Card?
While the Citi Strata Premier card is a solid travel rewards product, it may make sense to consider other $95-per-year offerings, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
How does the Citi Strata Premier card compare to the Chase Sapphire Preferred?
How does the Citi Strata Premier compare to the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card?
How does the Citi Strata Premier card compare to the Citi Double Cash?
How does the Citi Strata Premier card compare to the Citi Custom Cash?
Does the Citi Strata Premier Card charge foreign transaction fees?
No, the Citi Strata Premier card does not charge foreign transaction fees.
Does the Citi Strata Premier Card have car rental coverage?
Yes, the Citi Strata Premier has secondart car rental CDW.
Does the Citi Strata Premier come with any Elite Status?
No, the Citi Strata Premier card does not come with any elite status perks.
Does the Citi Strata Premier offer extended warranty?
Yes, there is extended warranty coverage, up to 24 additional months (which is industry leading).
Does the Citi Strata Premier Card offer purchase protection?
Yes, there is purchase protection. Cardholders that purchase an item that is then damaged or stolen within 90 days of the purchase date can receive up to $10,000 per incident with a maximum of $50,000 per year.
Does the Citi Strata Premier Credit Card offer trip protections?
Yes, the Citi Strata Premier brought back trip protections:
- Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption (Common Carrier)
- Trip Delay
- Lost or Damaged Luggage
- MasterRental Coverage (Secondary Car Rental CDW)
What credit score do I need to get the Citi Strata Premier Card?
The Citi Strata Premier, like any other Citi card, doesn’t publish the exact credit scores you may need to be approved. However, your approval odds should be high if you have good to excellent credit, as with most other mid-tier travel rewards cards.
What can I do with the points earned for spending on the Citi Strata Premier card?
You can redeem ThankYou points earned for travel purchases directly on the Citi Travel℠ portal (this works similarly to any other online travel agency), use them for gift cards or charity donations, and much more. However, the most optimal way to redeem points is to transfer ThankYou® points to certain airline loyalty programs and hotel programs, such as Virgin Atlantic Flying Club or Avianca LifeMiles.
Does the Citi Strata Premier card have Cell Phone Protection?
No, although this is a World Elite Mastercard that offers this perk, Citi cards do not have cell phone protection as a benefit.
