Citi Strata Premier℠ Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Citi Strata Premier℠ Card are heavyweights when it comes to balancing perks and fees.

For an annual fee of $95, both cards offer competitive bonus spending categories, robust travel insurance protections, a lucrative list of transfer partners and additional cardholder perks. With that in mind, which is better suited to your spending habits and travel goals?

Let’s examine the Citi Strata Premier vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, and then take a look at some alternative card choices.

Citi Strata Premier vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred: Overview

Before we jump into the details, here’s an overview of the Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Citi Strata Premier, side-by-side.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Welcome Offer

At time of writing, the typical Chase Sapphire Preferred welcome offer is between 60,000 and 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after you spend up to $5,000 within the first three months of card membership.

Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders are able to redeem their points through Chase Travel℠ at a fixed rate of 1.25 cents apiece. That makes the welcome offer worth at least $750 to $1,250, assuming you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Hitting $5,000 worth of spending across three months should be manageable for the average American household. And even if you’re a lower than average spender, you can get creative to hit that minimum spending threshold, without overspending.

Citi Strata Premier Card Welcome Offer

Right now, the Citi Strata Premier Card has a typical welcome offer of 60,000 to 80,000 Citi ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 within the first three months of card membership.

You can redeem your ThankYou points through the Citi Travel portal for 1 cent apiece, making the welcome offer worth at least $600 to $800. If you transfer your points to one of Citi’s airline or hotel partners, you could get even more value for your points.

Welcome Offer Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred

While both cards have similar welcome offers with identical minimum spending thresholds, the Sapphire Preferred marginally outpaces the Strata Premier.

Not only has the welcome offer on the Sapphire Preferred gone as high as 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points, but you can also redeem your points for a higher fixed rate of 1.25 cents apiece through Chase Travel℠ compared to the standard 1 cents apiece offered through Citi Travel.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Program

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program offers diverse opportunities for award travel.

Chase partners with 14 airlines and hotels to whom you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio. These include:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt

This diverse range of partners ensures maximum flexibility when it comes time to redeem your points.

If you hold other Chase cashback cards—such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Chase Freedom Flex®—you can transfer your earnings to your Sapphire Preferred account to then redeem them as Ultimate Rewards points. Given that you can redeem your Ultimate Rewards points for 1.25 cents apiece through Chase Travel℠, you effectively boost the value of your points by 25% when you transfer them to your Sapphire Preferred account.

Citi ThankYou Rewards Program

The Citi ThankYou Rewards program enables you to redeem your points at 1 cents apiece for Citi Travel portal redemptions. However, the more lucrative option is to transfer your points to one of Citi’s 17 hotel and airline partners. Citi’s partners include the following loyalty programs:

• Accor Live Limitless (ALL)
• Aeroméxico Club Premier
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Wyndham Rewards

You can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to these partners at a 1:1 ratio, with the exception of Accor Live Limitless (1:0.5) and Choice Privileges (1:2). This wide range of travel partners covers all three airline alliances, giving you maximum flexibility when it comes to award travel redemptions.

Holding the Citi Strata Premier Card will also allow you to combine points earned on any of Citi’s cashback cards that you simultaneously hold, enabling you to use these points for transfers to any of Citi’s partners. This can be a lucrative two-card combo strategy, enabling you to use your earnings on a $0 annual fee card toward point transfers.

Rewards Program Winner: Tie

Both Citi ThankYou Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards are two solid rewards programs, giving you maximum flexibility when it comes time to redeem your hard-earned points.

While Citi has a slightly longer list of transfer partners, Chase enables fixed rate redemptions of 1.25 cents apiece through Chase Travel℠. The question of which rewards program is better ultimately depends on your travel goals and how you can best leverage the program to achieve these goals.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Bonus Categories

One of the standout benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is its competitive bonus spending categories.

The card comes with the following bonus spending categories:

• 5X points on travel purchased and booked through Chase Travel℠ (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 annual hotel credit)
• 3X points on dining, including eligible takeout, delivery services and dining out
• 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs)
• 3X points on select streaming services
• 2X points on all other travel purchases
• 1X point on all other purchases

These categories give you a wide range of opportunities to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. You’ll earn 3X Ultimate Rewards points for every dollar spent on dining and online grocery shopping purchases, making it easy to earn on your everyday spending.

When it comes to travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, you’ll earn 5X points per dollar spent, making cash bookings a lucrative way to rack up points. On travel purchased outside of the Chase Travel℠ portal, you’ll earn 2X points per dollar spent.

Chase has a broad definition of travel, which gives you plenty of opportunities to earn 2X points on everyday spending, whether it’s a taxi, train, toll bridge or bus. This definition of travel includes the following merchants:

• Airlines
• Buses
• Campgrounds
• Car rental agencies
• Cruise lines
• Discount travel sites
• Ferries
• Highways
• Hotels
• Limousines
• Motels
• Parking lots and garages
• Passenger trains
• Taxis
• Timeshares
• Toll bridges
• Travel agencies

Overall, the Sapphire Preferred’s wide range of bonus spending categories makes it easy to offset the card’s annual fee through regular spending and enables you to accumulate a significant stock of Ultimate Rewards points.

Citi Strata Premier Card Bonus Categories

Just like the Sapphire Preferred, the Citi Strata Premier Card currently offers a wide array of bonus spending categories to help you earn points on everyday spending.

It offers the following bonus spending categories:

• 10X points on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
• 3X points on air travel and other hotel purchases
• 3X points restaurants
• 3X points on supermarkets
• 3X points on gas stations and EV charging stations
• 1X points on all other purchases

If you can use the Citi Travel portal to book hotels, car rentals or attractions, a return of 10X points per dollar spent is highly lucrative. For instance, if you spent $1,000 on a family vacation, you’ll receive 10,000 Citi ThankYou points—enough for a domestic award return-trip ticket.

Likewise, the ability to earn 3X points across a range of everyday categories—from restaurants and supermarkets to gas and EV charging stations—makes offsetting the Strata Premier’s annual fee easier and enables you to rack up points in the long run.

Bonus Spending Categories Winner: Citi Strata Premier Card

The utility of bonus spending categories is highly dependent on your individual spending habits.

That said, the Citi Strata Premier is marginally better when it comes to earning points on everyday spending as well as on travel booked through its portal.

Compared to the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Citi Strata Premier’s inclusion of supermarkets instead of online grocery purchases makes it arguably easier for the typical spender to earn points. The inclusion of 3X points per dollar spent on gas and EV charging stations is a great way to boost your earnings on a weekly expense.

If you tend to book through the card issuer’s portal often, you’ll earn twice the number of points on the same spending with the Citi Strata Premier Card (10X points) compared to the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (5X points).

Nevertheless, if you happen to spend a lot on select streaming service purchases or online grocery shopping, the Sapphire Preferred could serve you better than the Strata Premier.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Perks

Let’s review each of the Chase Sapphire Preferred’s cardholder perks in detail.

Annual $50 Hotel Credit

Each card anniversary, you’ll receive a $50 statement credit for hotel stays when you purchase them through Chase Travel℠.

While that might not cover the cost of a full night, it definitely helps to cut the costs of a cash booking. And by ensuring you use this perk every year, you’ll cut $50 off the annual fee, making it even easier to offset.

Annual 10% Points Bonus

As a Sapphire Preferred cardholder, you’ll receive an annual 10% points boost, equivalent to your total expenditure in the previous year. For instance, if you spent a total of $10,000 on the card within a year, you’d receive a bonus point boost of 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points.

This perk helps to give you an end-of-year boost which could be the difference between making an award booking or not.

Complimentary One-Year DoorDash DashPass Membership

Sapphire Preferred cardholders can enjoy a complimentary one-year DashPass membership. This unlocks waived delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible Caviar and DoorDash orders.

DoorDash members also enjoy a discount of up to $10 off every month on non-restaurant orders.

To be eligible for this benefit, you’ll need to activate it by Dec. 31, 2027.

Bonus Points with Lyft

As a Sapphire Preferred cardholder, you can earn 5X points per dollar spent on Lyft purchases, through September 30, 2027.

Bonus Points with Peloton

You can also earn 5X points on equipment and accessory purchases over $150 with Peloton, with a maximum of 25,000 total points, through March 31, 2025.

Citi Strata Premier Card Perks

Let’s now turn to the perks offered by the Citi Strata Premier Card.

$100 Hotel Benefit

When you book a hotel stay worth $500 or more through the Citi Travel portal, you’ll receive a statement credit toward the booking of up to $100.

To be eligible, you’ll need to prepay the entire stay using your Citi Strata Premier Card. The $100 statement credit will be applied to your reservation at the time of booking.

World Elite Mastercard Benefits

The Citi Strata Premier Card is a World Elite Mastercard. This gives you automatic access to a wide range of benefits, such as:

• 50% off Alo Moves membership when you pay using your World Elite Mastercard, plus 300 bonus points for Alo Access (offer expires Sep. 30, 2025)
• Up to 7% off on prepaid stays with Booking.com (offer expires Sep. 30, 2025)
• Receive a HealthLock for Mastercard® Medical Claim Monitor complimentary membership plus a 90-day upgrade to all HealthLock services
• Receive two months worth of free deliveries with Instacart+ as well as $10 off your second order every month (offer expires March 31, 2025)
• Receive a $5 credit when you take three or more rides with Lyft in a month
• Save 10% on all scheduled rides to U.S. airports when you pay with your World Elite Mastercard (offer expires Sep. 30, 2025)
• Receive a $3 discount on Peacock Premium or $5 off Peacock Premium Plus every month when you pay your subscription using your World Elite Mastercard (offer expires March 31, 2025)
• Receive a $30 statement credit when you make a booking of $200 or more with ResortPass
• Receive a complimentary ShopRunner membership unlocking two-day shipping and free returns at multiple participating stores (offer expires Sep. 30, 2025)
• 24/7 World Elite Concierge service

If these are perks you can take advantage of, this makes the Citi Strata Premier significantly more valuable.

Cardholder Perks Winner: Tie

Both cards have many advantageous benefits for cardholders.

The Citi Strata Premier enables you to offset its annual fee through its $100 hotel credit and offers a wide array of partner perks through its status as a World Elite Mastercard.

On the other hand, the Chase Sapphire Preferred gives you an annual 10% points boost, in addition to a $50 hotel statement credit, making for equally lucrative potential.

Overall, the card that offers the better perks depends on which benefits you value the most. Therefore, neither card takes the lead over the over in this respect.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Travel Insurance Protections

The Sapphire Preferred is a workhorse when it comes to protecting you during your travels. Let’s run through its travel insurance protections.

Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver

As a Sapphire Preferred cardholder, you can decline the rental car company’s collision damage waiver (CDW) next time you’re at the rental counter. As long as you charge the entire rental car cost to your Sapphire Card, you’ll receive primary coverage for up to 31 days at home and abroad.

You’ll also receive coverage up to the actual cash value of the car in cases of collision damage, theft, towing and loss-of-use charges.

Baggage Delay Insurance

If the baggage of you or your immediate family is delayed while traveling with a common carrier, you can receive reimbursement for essential item purchases.

You’ll receive up to $100 per day in reimbursement for a maximum of five days when your baggage is delayed for six hours or more.

To be eligible for coverage, you’ll need to cover the cost of your common carrier fare to your Sapphire Preferred card.

Lost Baggage Reimbursement

In the event that you or a family member loses a bag while traveling with a common carrier, the Sapphire Preferred will provide you with reimbursement.

You’re also eligible for reimbursement up to $3,000 per person per covered trip with a sub-limit of up to $500 for jewelry and watches and a second sub-limit of up to $500 for cameras and other electronics.

Just make sure to cover your common carrier fare with your Sapphire Preferred card, so that you’re eligible for coverage.

Travel Accident Insurance

If you or your immediate family have an accident while traveling, the Sapphire Preferred will give you coverage.

You can receive up to $500,000 in common carrier insurance and $100,000 in 24-hour travel accident insurance for accidental loss of life, limb, sight, speech or hearing.

Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance

If a covered reason disrupts or cancels your trip, you and your immediate family members can be reimbursed by up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses paid for with your Sapphire Preferred Card.

Covered reasons include accidental bodily injury, severe weather, terrorism and organized strikes, among other events.

Trip Delay Insurance

If your flight or other common carrier is delayed by more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your immediate family members can be reimbursed for eligible expenses incurred, up to a maximum of $500 per ticket.

You’ll receive reimbursement for the cost of accommodation, transportation, meals, toiletries and medication costs, among other essential purchases.

As long as your common carrier fare is charged to your Sapphire Preferred Card, you’ll receive coverage.

Citi Strata Premier Travel Insurance Protections

The Strata Premier comes with a great many travel insurance perks, offering a competitive range of protections. Let’s compare these perks to those offered by the Sapphire Preferred.

Trip cancellation and interruption insurance

If your trip is canceled or cut short by an unforeseen, covered reason, the Citi Strata Premier has your back. You can be reimbursed by up to $5,000 per trip and a maximum of $10,000 per calendar year, in the event of a canceled or interrupted trip.

As long as you pay for your common carrier fare using your card, you’ll be covered.

Trip delay reimbursement

If a covered reason results in your trip being delayed, the Strata Premier will reimburse you up to $500 per trip. This covers the cost of unforeseen expenses such as lodging, meals, medication, toiletries and more.

As long as you pay for your common carrier fare using your card, you’ll be covered.

Lost or damaged luggage

If your luggage becomes lost or damaged when traveling with a common carrier, you can be reimbursed up to $3,000.

You’ll be reimbursed up to the actual cash value of the items lost or the cost to replace them, whichever is less.

As long as you pay for your common carrier fare using your card, you’ll be covered.

MasterRental coverage

When you decline a rental car company’s collision damage waiver (CDW) and charge the rental car cost to your Strata Premier Card, you’ll receive secondary coverage.

You’ll be insured up to the actual cash value of the car in the event of collision damage, theft, vandalism or any other sort of physical damage to the car. You’ll also be reimbursed up to $500 for loss-of-use charges and have the cost of two tows to the nearest repair facility covered.

Travel Protections Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred

Overall, the Chase Sapphire Preferred wins when it comes to travel protections.

It offers a slightly wider range of protection benefits with often higher limits than the Strata Premier. It also offers primary car rental insurance while the Strata Premier offers only secondary coverage.

Citi Strata Premier vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred Fees

Both the Citi Strata Premier and Chase Sapphire Preferred have annual fees of $95.

This is a low-tier annual fee, which makes their benefits—particularly their extensive travel protections and competitive bonus spending categories—significantly valuable.

Similarly, both the Strata Premier and Sapphire Preferred are free of foreign transaction fees, making them perfect for spending and earning points while abroad.

Fees Winner: Tie

Both cards have the same annual fee and are free of foreign transaction fees.

More important than the cards’ fees is the degree to which you can offset their annual fees through spending and perk maximization.

Citi Strata Premier vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred: Which Card Wins?

The Citi Strata Premier and Chase Sapphire Preferred have more in common than you might initially think.

They come with similar bonus categories, they both boast a long list of transfer partners and they offer a limited range of cardholder perks.

The statement credit perks offered by each card are somewhat restrictive and nuanced, making them slightly trickier to use. However, most people looking at these cards aren’t here for the statement credits, but rather for the bonus spending categories, travel insurance perks and extensive transfer partner list.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred takes the lead when it comes to travel insurance protections, offering higher limits and a wider range of coverage. It also offers a higher fixed redemption rate of 1.25 cents per point through Chase Travel℠.

Both cards can play a key role in a two-card combo strategy, whether it’s the Strata Premier and Citi Double Cash Card or the Sapphire Preferred and a Chase Freedom card.

The card that will reap you the most benefits depends on your wider credit card strategy, travel goals and spending habits.

Card Alternatives to the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Citi Strata Premier

If neither the Sapphire Preferred nor the Strata Premier fit your credit card strategy, don’t worry—there are many other credit cards which may fit your spending profile far better.

If you want the ultimate when it comes to luxury travel, consider The Platinum Card® from American Express. For an annual fee of $695 (see rates and fees), you’ll receive the following benefits:

• 5X points on eligible flights booked with American Express Travel or directly with the airline (on up to $500,000 in charges per calendar year)
• 5X points on eligible prepaid hotel reservations when booked with Amex Travel
• Complimentary premium status for a range of car rental companies (enrollment required)
• Access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, with 1,400+ lounges across 140 countries (including Airspace Lounge, The Centurion Lounge, Delta Sky Club, Escape Lounges, Lufthansa Business and Senator Lounges, Plaza Premium and Priority Pass Select)
• Digital entertainment credit of up to $240, issued in $20 monthly statement credits for eligible purchases on Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock and the New York Times (enrollment required)
• Up to $200 hotel credit on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection (a minimum two-night stay is required) bookings through American Express Travel
• Equinox credit of up to $300, issued as statement credits
• Up to $199 per year in statement credits toward a CLEAR Plus membership
• Airline incidental fee credit of up to $200, issued as statement credits
• Up to $200 Uber Cash, issued in increments of $15 per month with a bonus $20 in December. Effective 11/8/24 an Amex card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit.
• Either a $120 statement credit every four years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck application fee (when applying through a TSA official enrollment provider) when charged to your American Express Card. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• Access to the Fine Hotels and Resort Collection for bookings made through American Express Travel
• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite and Hilton Honors Gold status (enrollment required)

On the other hand, if you want the best return possible when it comes to dining and grocery shopping, the American Express® Gold Card offers the following benefits, for an annual fee of $395 (see rates and fees):

• 4X points at restaurants worldwide on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points thereafter
• 4X points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1X points thereafter
• 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
• 1X points on all other purchases.
• $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and each month automatically get $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S., totaling up to $120 per year. Effective 11/8/2024, an Amex Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit.
• Up to $120 annual dining credit, issued in $10 monthly statement credits, when you pay with your card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys (enrollment required)
• Receive a $100 experience credit at The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property. Mminimum stay of two nights required when you book The Hotel Collection through American Express Travel.

Alternatively, if you’re considering a different credit card in the same annual fee class as the Sapphire Preferred and Strata Premier, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers simple earnings combined with lucrative transfer partners. It comes with the following benefits:

• 5X miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• 2X miles per dollar spent on all other purchases
• Up to $120 statement credit for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee, every four years
• Complimentary Hertz Five Star® status
• Up to 18 airline and hotel transfer partners

If a card with annual fees is off the table, consider the Citi Double Cash Card which earns 2% cash back on every purchase (1% when you buy and 1% when you pay) or the Chase Freedom Unlimited which earns 1.5% cash back on every purchase.

Final Thoughts

If you’re starting out in the world of points and miles, you couldn’t go wrong with the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Citi Strata Premier Card. For a reasonable annual fee of $95, you’ll enjoy competitive bonus spending categories, a range of transfer partners and solid travel insurance protections. Likewise, both cards can be used to leverage a two-card combo strategy.

If you can take advantage of portal bookings or want a card that earns a competitive return on supermarket spending, gas and EV charging stations, the Citi Strata Premier Card takes the lead.

Alternatively, if you want the strongest travel protection perks, bonus points on select streaming service purchases and online grocery shopping, as well as a higher fixed point-redemption rate through Chase Travel℠, the Chase Sapphire Preferred will be the better option to go for.