Is the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card Worth Its Annual Fee?

The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card replaced the Citi Premier® Card in summer 2024, offering nearly all the same benefits with a few additional ones. The Strata Premier is a points-earning powerhouse for everyday spending. When the time comes to redeem these points, you’ll have a large choice of transfer partners to maximize your redemption value.

But is the Citi Strata Premier Card worth it? Or are there other travel rewards cards you should consider that offer more value for the same price?

Let’s tackle the ins and outs of the Citi Strata Premier Card and see if it’s the perfect match for you.

What Makes the Citi Strata Premier Card Stand Out

Let’s first consider some of the standout benefits of the Citi Strata Premier Card.

Travel Perks with Citi Strata Premier

If you prepay for an entire hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) with your credit card through thankyou.com, you’ll receive a discount of $100. This savings benefit will be applied at the time of booking and is available once per calendar year.

Citi ThankYou points can be transferred to up to 18 airline and hotel transfer partners, including:

This extensive range of partners includes airlines from all three alliances, giving you maximum flexibility when redeeming your Citi ThankYou points for air travel.

You can transfer your points to all partners at 1:1 ratios, except for Accor Live Limitless (1:0.5), Choice Privileges (1:2) and Leaders Club (1:0.2).

Earning Points with Every Purchase

The Citi Strata Premier Card earns 3X points on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, hotels and EV charging stations.

These bonus categories cover a wide range of typical purchases, enabling you to earn points on everyday expenses as well as on air travel and hotels.

Aside from this, the Strata Premier credit card earns 1X points on all other purchases, meaning no purchase goes unused.

The Strata Premier also allows you to earn 10X points per dollar spent on hotel, car rental and attractions booked through Citi Travel. This benefit was a limited time offer with the original Citi Premier Card but is permanent with the Strata Premier Card.

Unlike with some credit card bonus categories, there are no caps for earning points, meaning you have total freedom to earn.

Exclusive Dining Benefits

As previously mentioned, the Citi Strata Premier Card earns 3X points on restaurant purchases.

The average American household spends $3,369 on food purchases outside their home, which would equal 10,107 points if charged to a Citi Strata Premier Card. Given that Citi ThankYou points are worth at least 1 cent per point, you could easily offset the Citi Strata Premier annual fee through dining purchases alone.

How Citi defines “restaurants” includes bars, lounges, cafes and fast-food chains. However, the restaurant category excludes purchases made at restaurants located inside another institution (for example, within a hotel or grocery store), bakeries, caterers and any other type of third-party dining delivery service.

As a Citi Strata Premier cardholder, you can also take advantage of Citi Merchant Offers as well as Citi Entertainment® for dining benefits.

Citi Merchant Offers is a cashback rebate program that enables you to earn cash back on dining, in addition to many other purchase categories. Offers change from time to time and feature many local dining options, instead of just chains. You’ll need to enroll in the specific offer for it to apply to your spending. Once you charge the purchase to your card, you’ll receive cash back as a statement credit.

Citi Entertainment also offers exclusive access to cultural events, including dining experiences.

Citi Strata Premier’s Shopping Privileges

You can use your Citi Strata Premier Card to Shop with Points. The following participating partners enable you to use Citi points for eligible purchases:

• 1-800-Flowers
• Amazon
• Best Buy
• BP/Amoco
• CVS
• Dollar General
• PayPal
• Shell
• Walgreens
• Walmart

You can use your Citi points either to cover the full cost of the purchase, part of the cost or to have the purchase reimbursed as a statement credit.

Citi Merchant Offers also has frequent limited-time offers that you can activate on your card, earning you cash back with certain retailers.

Does the Citi Strata Premier Card’s Annual Fee Pay Off?

As with all credit cards, an annual fee should never be taken at face value. Instead, you need to consider the degree to which you could offset the annual fee through spending and card benefit utilization.

So, how easy is it to offset the annual fee of the Citi Strata Premier Card?

Detailing the Annual Fee

For starters, the annual fee to hold the Citi Strata Premier Card is $95.

During your first year of card membership, you can easily offset the Citi Strata Premier annual fee through the card’s welcome bonus alone. The typical welcome bonus for the Citi Strata Premier Card is between 60,000 and 80,000 points, with a minimum spending requirement of $4,000 within the first three months of card membership. See below for the current welcome offer.

One Citi ThankYou point has a value of 1 cent when redeemed through its travel portal, so that makes the welcome bonus worth at least $600 to $800, depending on how you redeem your points. Therefore, assuming you earn the card’s welcome bonus, you effectively offset the annual fee six to eight times over (depending on the welcome bonus at the time you apply).

Putting the welcome bonus aside, how much spending would you have to charge on the card to make it worth it?

Assuming a redemption value of 1 cent per point, you’d need to spend $264 per month across the card’s 3X bonus spending categories to offset the annual fee. This would be more than manageable for households with more than one occupant, such as married couples and those with children.

And even if we were to take spending out of the equation, the annual $100 discount on hotel stays greater than $500 booked through thankyou.com offsets the annual fee by $5 every year.

All in all, when you put point-earning rates, the welcome bonus and annual hotel credit together, the Citi Strata Premier Card offsets its annual fee by a significant amount, year after year.

Using Card Benefits in Real Life

While it’s easy to offset the Citi Strata Premier Card annual fee, it won’t happen magically. Rather, you’ll need to ensure you utilize the card benefits to reap a return value exceeding the annual fee.

If you manage to use the $100 hotel discount every year, that’ll be sufficient to offset the annual fee. If not, you’ll need to make sure you keep the card at the front of your wallet when it comes to spending on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels.

The Citi Strata Premier also offers competitive purchase protection and extended warranty coverage.

When you purchase an item with your Citi Strata Premier Card, you automatically get some coverage if something goes wrong. If the item is stolen or damaged within 90 days of purchase, Citi will pay to repair or replace it (up to the amount you paid with your card or ThankYou points), up to $10,000 per covered incident and $50,000 per year.

For anything you buy that has a manufacturer’s warranty of five years or less, Citi will add 24 months of coverage–even if the original warranty was only for 30 days.

Comparing Credit Cards with Similar Fees

If you’re shopping for a card in the $95 annual fee range, your choice isn’t limited to the Citi Strata Premier Card alone.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is an alternative option that contends with the Citi Strata Premier Card.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers the following bonus spending categories:

• 5X points on travel purchases made through Chase Travel℠, (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 annual hotel credit)
• 2X points on other travel purchases
• 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 certain streaming services
• 1X point on all other purchases

The card also comes with $50 worth of statement credits per account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel℠. Additionally, it’s free of foreign transaction fees and offers a robust set of travel insurances.

Chase only has 14 transfer partners compared to Citi’s 18, but you can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards for 1.25 cents per point through Chase’s Travel. While Citi points can be redeemed for similar values through partner transfers, you’re stuck with 1 cent per point redemptions through Citi’s travel portal.

For the everyday spender and occasional traveler, the Citi Strata Premier Card will likely offer more value due to its higher bonus category spending rates and a wider variety of transfer partners. But for more frequent travelers, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card will likely be the better choice, especially given Chase’s generous definition of travel purchases.

Another contender for first place is the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. If you value the Citi Strata Premier Card for its rewards on everyday spending, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express may be an even better alternative.

For an annual fee of $95 (see rates & fees), the card has the following bonus cashback spending categories:

• 6% cash back on up to $6,000 per year in purchases at U.S. supermarkets; 1% thereafter
• 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming service subscription purchases
• 3% cash back on transit purchases including taxis, rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more
• 3% cash back on gas at U.S. gas stations
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.

You’ll also receive an $84 annual statement credit, issued in $7 monthly credits, after using your card to spend $9.99 or more per month on a subscription to the Disney Bundle (valid only at DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com or Plus.espn.com in the U.S.).

If taking advantage of transfer partners isn’t in your plan, the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express could be a better fit for offsetting the upfront cost of daily spending. However, if you’re looking for a card that can save you money on travel while earning on daily spending, then the Citi Strata Premier Card remains to be the better option.

Understanding the Rewards Program in Depth

To estimate the value of a credit card, it’s crucial to understand its point system in depth, as well as how you can best redeem its points for maximum value.

Let’s look at how the Citi ThankYou rewards program works and how best to redeem Citi points.

Breaking Down the Points System

Citi points can be redeemed for cash back (at a value of 1 cent per point), gift cards or travel purchases. They can also be transferred to partner airlines and hotels.
However, while Citi has an extensive range of 18 hotel and airline transfer partners, not every Citi credit card gives you access to them. In fact, the Citi Strata Premier Card and Citi Prestige Card are the only cards that give you full access to all 18 partners.

Considering that the Citi Prestige Card is no longer available to new applicants, that leaves the Citi Strata Premier Card as the sole card to gain full access to all transfer partners.

All other Citi cards have access to three transfer partners only, those being Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges and JetBlue TrueBlue. However, these cards also come with different point transfer ratios than the Citi Strata Premier Card, those being:

• 1:1.5 for Choice Privileges, instead of 1:2 for Citi Strata Premier cardholders
• 1:0.8 for Wyndham Rewards, instead of 1:1 for Citi Strata Premier cardholders
• 1:0.8 for JetBlue TrueBlue, instead of 1:1 for Citi Strata Premier cardholders

For this reason, the Citi Strata Premier Card is one of the most valuable of all Citi cards to hold. Even if you already hold another Citi card, such as the Citi Double Cash® Card or Citi Rewards+® Card, it can make a lot of sense to hold the Citi Strata Premier Card to access all available transfer partners. Likewise, when you have a Premier Card, you can pool your Citi ThankYou points across all Citi cards into your account and use them for transfers to all available partners.

Best Practices for Maximizing Point Value

You can redeem your Citi ThankYou points through Citi’s travel portal for a value of 1 cent per point. While this value isn’t as much as you’d get by redeeming directly through some of Citi’s transfer partners, it does come with the advantage of convenience. Namely, you can book multiple elements of your trip such as car rental, flights and hotel stays all through the portal using the same rewards currency, rather than having to book individually with each provider.

However, if you want to squeeze the maximum value possible out of your Citi points, then you should look to partner transfers.

Transferring your Citi points to Avianca LifeMiles is one of the best redemption options available. Avianca LifeMiles can be redeemed for Star Alliance member airlines such as United Airlines and Air Canada. Taxes and fees tend to be low, free of carrier surcharges and you can book mixed-cabin tickets.

You can also transfer your points to the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for sweet-spot redemptions. Flights operated by Delta Air Lines between the U.S. and Europe, as well as ANA-operated flights between the U.S. and Japan, are some of the best redemption opportunities to look out for.

Similarly, if you take advantage of award seat discounts offered by KrisFlyer’s Spontaneous Escapes program, you can receive excellent redemption value for your points when transferring to Singapore Airlines. This could significantly reduce the cost of a flight to South-East Asia.

Who Would Consider the Citi Strata Premier Card a Good Investment?

Is the Citi Strata Premier Card the best choice for you? Let’s find out.

Situational Recommendations

If you want to earn an unlimited number of points on your daily expenses, with the option to transfer these to up to 18 hotel and airline transfer partners, the Citi Strata Premier Card could be the right card for you.

With a low annual fee and lower earnings on specific travel purchases, this card is best for the infrequent traveler.

It can also be an excellent option (and arguably a must) if you already hold another Citi card. That way, you’ll be able to pool your existing points together and have full freedom to transfer them to all 18 transfer partners.

Alternative Options

If travel is a larger part of your life, then the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card would be a better choice for the same annual fee. With robust travel insurances, strong earnings on travel purchased through Chase and solid transfer partners, you’ll be better equipped with a Sapphire Preferred at the front of your wallet.

Alternatively, if travel isn’t on the agenda at all, the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express will enable you to offset the upfront cost of everyday spending through competitive cashback earnings.

Security Features of the Citi Strata Premier Card

Let’s take a look at the security features of the Citi Strata Premier Card.

Protecting Your Financial Information

Citi takes a range of procedures to ensure your financial information is protected at all times.

One of their standout card security features is the ability to create virtual account numbers when shopping online. This protects your financial information, preventing future cases of fraud.

Dealing with Fraud and Unauthorized Use

As with most credit card issuers, the Citi Strata Premier Card comes with $0 fraud liability protection. That means in the case of unauthorized, fraudulent charges made with your credit card, you won’t be required to pay anything.

You can also use Citi Quick Lock to temporarily block any new purchases charged to your card in the event you lose it.

Citi Strata Premier Card’s Global Acceptance

How does the Citi Strata Premier Card fare when abroad?

Using the Card Internationally

The Citi Strata Premier Card is a World Elite Mastercard. Both Visa and Mastercard have the highest global acceptance rates, putting them ahead of American Express and Discover.

This means you’ll be as well-equipped as possible when traveling abroad with a Citi Strata Premier Card in your pocket.

Zero Foreign Transaction Fees

If you’re a frequent traveler and prospective Citi Strata Premier cardholder, you’ll be happy to know that it charges zero foreign transaction fees.

That means you can continue to use your Citi Strata Premier Card while abroad, enabling you to earn bonus points on a range of spending categories.

This makes the Citi Strata Premier Card a reliable travel companion.

10xTravel’s Personal Review

Let’s get down to what we love and what we don’t love so much about the Citi Strata Premier Card.

What We Love About the Citi Strata Premier Credit Card

The Citi Strata Premier Card is simply a solid jack-of-all-trades credit card to have in your wallet. It’ll reward most of your everyday spending and its points give you excellent flexibility when it comes to redemptions.

For an annual fee of $95, which can easily be offset, it’s a reliable card for the semi-frequent traveler. Its rewards structure is also simple, which makes it an easy one to continue to hold and benefit from, year after year.

What We Don’t Love About the Citi Strata Premier Credit Card

Compared to other travel rewards credit cards in its price range, the Citi Strata Premier Card has some lackluster perks and missing benefits.

For example, although the $100 annual hotel discount could help you to offset the annual fee, it’s not the easiest to use. Put it this way: how likely are you to book a single hotel stay of more than $500 every year, exclusively through Citi Travel?

Likewise, it lacks many travel protections and insurances that could massively increase its value.

This is where the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers significant value for the frequent traveler, outpacing the Citi Strata Premier Card.

User Testimonials and Experiences

Overall, people tend to be satisfied with the Citi Strata Premier Card’s low annual fee and competitive point earning rates.

However, some Citi Strata Premier Card holders lament some of the benefits that had been removed from the original Citi Premier Card in recent years, such as annual flight credits.

How the Citi Strata Premier Stacks Up Against Competitors

The Citi Strata Premier Card stands strong among its competitors as a mid-tier travel rewards credit card. Whether it’s of value to you will depend on how far you swing in the direction of travel-related benefits.

Making the Call: Is the Citi Strata Premier Card a Smart Choice?

If you want to strike a balance between earning points on everyday spending and being able to use your points for lucrative travel redemptions, the Citi Strata Premier Card could be exactly what you’re looking for.

However, if you want a card with a greater range of travel-related perks for the same annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred will likely be of greater value to you and your goals.

For more card reviews and insider tips, keep up with the latest posts from 10xTravel.