Citi Launches Strata Premier℠ Card to Replace the Premier Card

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Citibank has announced the new Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, a refreshed version of the now-discontinued Citi Premier® Card.

The new Strata Premier Card is nearly identical to its predecessor (with the same annual fee of $95) with three key differences:

• The limited-time 10X earning rate on hotels, rental cars and attractions booked via Citi Travel is now permanent.
• The Strata Premier Card includes significant travel protections.
• The Strata Premier Card offers 3X points at EV charging stations.

The Citi Strata Premier Card launched with a higher welcome bonus for new card members. Historically, the Citi Premier Card offered a welcome bonus of 60,000 points. So, if you’re interested in signing up for this card, you may be able to earn some extra ThankYou Points by acting quickly.

Here’s the most up-to-date welcome offer from the Citi Strata Premier Card:

With the addition of travel protection benefits and increased spending bonuses, the Citi Strata Premier card is now a much more legitimate competitor to other travel-focused credit cards in its price range, such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Let’s examine how the new Citi Strata Premier Card differs from its predecessor, the new card’s different features, who this card appeals to and how the Strata Premier Card stacks up against other similar cards from different issuers.

Citi Strata Premier℠ Card Overview

Most of the features of the Citi Strata Premier Card are identical to the previous version of this card: the Citi Premier Card, which is now discontinued. The table below includes the main features of the Citi Strata Premier card and any features that are different from the former Citi Premier card have been bolded:

*Whereas this was a limited-time benefit with the former Citi Premier Card (available through June 30, 2024), this is now an ongoing benefit with the new Citi Strata Premier card.

As shown above, in addition to earning 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com, the Strata Premier Card earns 3X points in several other categories, including flights, other hotel purchases, restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations and EV charging stations.

In terms of benefits, the Citi Strata Premier Card includes the $100 hotel credit benefit that was included with the former Premier card. Unfortunately, to take advantage of this benefit, you’ll have to spend $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) on a single hotel stay through the Citi Travel portal. This means you’ll have to spend at least $400 out of pocket, which can be difficult for those who prefer to travel on a budget.

Unlike its predecessor, the Citi Strata Premier Card includes travel protection benefits, such as common carrier trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay protection, lost or damaged luggage insurance and MasterRental auto rental collision damage waiver coverage. While many credit card users tend to glance over these benefits, they can actually save you hundreds or thousands of dollars if you find yourself in an unfortunate situation while traveling (such as having your flight canceled or getting into a collision in a rental car).

Here are the coverage limitations for these travel protection benefits:

• Common carrier trip cancellation and interruption insurance
  • $1,500 per trip; or
  • $5,000 per 12-month period; or
  • The original cost of the common carrier ticket for the trip
• Lost or damaged luggage insurance
  • The actual cost, up to $1,500 per incident of repairing or replacing your checked and/or carry-on luggage and any other personal property placed inside
• MasterRental auto rental collision damage waiver coverage
  • The lesser of the following:
    • The actual repair amount
    • Wholesale market value less salvage and depreciation
    • The rental agencies purchase invoice less salvage and depreciation
    • $50,000
  • Coverage is limited to $500 per incident for reasonable loss of use charges imposed by the vehicle rental company.
  • Vehicles with an MSRP exceeding $50,000 and vehicles with fewer than four wheels (including motorcycles and motorbikes) are not eligible for coverage.

These benefits are provided through Mastercard, and if you want to learn more about them, you can check out the Mastercard website or read the Guide to Protection benefits that you’ll receive when you open the Citi Strata Premier Card.

Citi ThankYou Transfer Partners

While there are many ways to redeem Citi ThankYou Points—from booking hotel stays to trading them in for cash back—the best way to maximize the value of your rewards is to transfer them to one of Citi’s partner airline or hotel loyalty programs.

Through these programs, you can find redemptions that offer value far exceeding 1 cent per point (which is the maximum amount of value that you can get by redeeming ThankYou Points through Citi’s travel portal with the Strata Premier Card).

The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has 18 transfer partners (14 airline partners and four hotel partners), which offer differing transfer ratios.

Here’s a list of all of Citi’s current transfer partners and their respective transfer ratios:

• Aeroméxico Rewards – 1:1
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue – 1:1
• ALL – Accor Live Limitless – 2:1
• Avianca LifeMiles – 1:1
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles – 1:1
• Choice Privileges – 1:2 transfer ratio for the Strata Premier, the Citi Prestige and the AT&T Access More cardmembers
• Emirates Skywards – 1:1
• Etihad Guest – 1:1
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands – 1:1
• JetBlue TrueBlue – 1:1 transfer ratio for the Strata Premier, the Citi Prestige and the AT&T Access More cardmembers
• Leaders Club – 5:1
• Qantas Frequent Flyer – 1:1
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club – 1:1
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer – 1:1
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus – 1:1
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles – 1:1
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – 1:1
• Wyndham Rewards – 1:1 transfer ratio for the Strata Premier, the Citi Prestige and the AT&T Access More cardmembers

As you can see, Choice Privileges, JetBlue TrueBlue and Wyndham Rewards offer transfer ratios that are available only to cardholders of the Strata Premier, the Citi Prestige and the AT&T Access More cards. If you have any other Citi ThankYou credit cards, you’ll receive a worse transfer ratio with these partners.

In terms of which Citi ThankYou transfer partners offer the best value, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Avianca LifeMiles are all great options for booking flights. If you’re looking to book a hotel stay with Citi ThankYou Points, you can find excellent redemptions through Wyndham Rewards.

Other Cards to Consider

Now that you’re familiar with all of the different features of the Citi Strata Premier Card, let’s look at how this card compares to other travel rewards credit cards in its price range.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Just like the Citi Strata Premier Card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card also has an annual fee of $95 and has been a popular travel rewards credit card in this price range. The following table shows the main features of the Citi Strata Premier Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card side by side.

When comparing the spending bonuses offered by the Citi Strata Premier Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, we can first look at the bonuses you’ll earn for travel purchases through each issuer’s travel portal. While the Strata Premier Card offers a higher spending bonus of 10X points on hotels, rental cars and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com, this excludes flights. By comparison, the Sapphire Preferred Card offers 5X points on all travel purchases through the Chase Travel portal.

In terms of other spending bonuses, both cards earn 3X points on dining. Although the Citi Strata Premier Card offers 3X points on all grocery purchases, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers 3X points only on online grocery purchases (excluding purchases from Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).

The Sapphire Preferred offers 3X points on select streaming services whereas the Strata Premier does not. However, the Strata Premier Card offers 3X points on gas stations and EV purchases whereas the Sapphire Preferred does not. For most people, gas is a much larger expense than streaming services. So, we’d say that the Strata Premier probably has the advantage in regards to continuous non-travel spending bonuses.

However, the Sapphire Preferred Card does offer some limited-time spending bonuses that shouldn’t be ignored. The ability to earn 5X points on Lyft rides (available through  September 30, 2027) can be extremely lucrative for those who use ride-hailing apps often. And the 5X points earnings on Peloton purchases over $150 is great for those who are thinking about buying a Peloton bike.

When it comes to benefits, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers $50 in statement credits toward hotel bookings made through Chase Travel℠ portal whereas the Citi Strata Premier offers $100 in statement credits toward hotel bookings through CitiTravel.com.

However, to trigger the statement credit from the Strata Premier Card, you need to spend $500 or more on a single hotel booking through Citi Travel. On the other hand, the statement credit from the Sapphire Preferred can be applied to any hotel booking made through Chase Travel. So, in our opinion, the $50 credit from the Sapphire Preferred is the better benefit.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred also offers several other benefits that are unmatched by the Citi Strata Premier, including the 25% points value boost through Chase Travel℠ portal as well as limited-time benefits, such as the quarterly statement credits toward Instacart and complimentary memberships to Instacart+ and DoorDash DashPass.

Ultimately, whether the Sapphire Preferred or the Strata Premier is the better card for your wallet depends on your individual spending patterns. If you think you’ll spend a lot on hotels and rental cars through Citi Travel, then the 10X points offered by the Strata Premier Card is a great reason to get this card. The Strata Premier is probably also better for those who spend a lot at gas stations or EV charging stations.

On the other hand, if you don’t want to bother with transferring points to transfer partners, then the 25% value boost through Chase Travel℠ is a huge advantage for the Sapphire Preferred Card. Additionally, the Sapphire Preferred also offers a better hotel statement credit benefit and a better spending bonus for streaming services.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

A more recent addition to the available options for travel-focused credit cards in the $95 annual fee range, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has quickly gained popularity for its simplicity and impressive benefits. The following table shows the features of the Citi Strata Premier Card and the Capital One Venture Card side by side.

First of all, the Citi Strata Premier Card offers all-around better spending bonuses in travel than the Capital One Venture card does. The Strata Premier offers 10X points on hotels and rental cars through Citi’s travel portal whereas the Venture card earns just 5X miles on hotels and rental cars through Capital One Travel. Additionally, the Strata Premier earns 3X points on flights whereas the Venture card earns just 2X miles.

The Strata Premier card also earns 3X points on everyday spending categories, including restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations and EV charging stations, whereas the Venture Card earns 2X miles on the same purchases.

However, the Capital One Venture Card is a favorite among those who don’t want to pay attention to spending bonus categories as this card offers a baseline of 2X miles on all purchases (whereas the Strata Premier Card earns a baseline of 1X points). Thus, with the Venture Card, you can rest assured that you’ll earn solid spending bonuses on all purchases without having to think about it.

When it comes to benefits, the Venture Card is probably at an advantage. For one, if you’re willing to book hotel stays with the Lifestyle Collection (an exclusive portfolio of hotels available to book through the Capital One Travel portal), you can get access to amazing benefits, such as a $50 experience credit, free Wi-Fi, complimentary space-available room upgrades and more. There’s no limit to how many times you can use this benefit.

In our opinion, this is a much better benefit than the $100 statement credit offered by the Strata Premier Card, which is available once per year for Citi Travel hotel bookings over $500.

The Venture Card also includes a reimbursement credit for the application fee for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, which is available every four years and is worth up to $120. No such credit is available with the Strata Premier Card.

Finally, the Venture Card includes automatic Hertz Five Star elite status (enrollment required), which includes complimentary space-available vehicle upgrades, bonus Hertz points on rentals and access to a wider range of vehicles. The Strata Premier Card offers no such benefit.

So, when it comes to spending bonuses, you can potentially earn far more points with the Strata Premier Card if you’re willing to target your spending toward travel through CitiTravel.com as well as toward restaurants, gas stations, EV charging stations and groceries.

However, if you don’t want to pay attention to spending bonus categories and you’d rather have a card with solid baseline points earnings, then the Venture Card’s baseline of 2X miles on all purchases may be more appealing.

In terms of benefits, the Venture Card has more to offer for most consumers. The Lifestyle Collection benefits are potentially worth hundreds of dollars per year if you book several Lifestyle Collection hotel stays. Plus, reimbursement credit for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry and the ability to get complimentary Hertz Five Star status add even more value to the Venture Card.

The Bottom Line

The newly refreshed version of the former Citi Premier Card, the Citi Strata Premier Card, includes several new features that have made it a stronger competitor in the world of mid-tier travel rewards credit cards.

The Strata Premier Card, which has a $95 annual fee, now offers travel protections, such as trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay insurance, lost or damaged luggage insurance, and auto rental collision damage waiver coverage. Although these benefits are often overlooked, they could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars if something unfortunate happens to you during your travels.

The Strata Premier is now permanently offering 10X points on hotel and rental car purchases made through CitiTravel.com (whereas this was a limited-time offer with the Citi Premier Card) and 3X points at EV charging stations.

These changes have made the Citi Strata Premier Card a more formidable competitor for cards from other issuers that have historically dominated the $95 price range, such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

However, for those looking for a card with good spending bonuses at gas stations and EV charging stations as well as on travel, the Strata Premier probably beats out the Sapphire Preferred. And, for those who are willing to target spending categories rather than using a card that offers flat-rate spending bonuses, the Strata Premier beats out the Venture Card.

Of course, before you decide to open any of these cards, it’s important that you examine your spending patterns as well as the features of each card to make an educated decision as to which card option will be best for your wallet.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.