Citi Strata Elite $300 Hotel Credit
Like me, you probably have access to a wild number of hotel credits through your credit card portfolio. The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card offers yet another one of them. Cardholders can access a credit of up to $300 each calendar year on qualifying stays of two nights or more. To use the perk, the hotel must be booked through Citi Travel. The credit also functions a little differently than those you get via the premium hotel programs from American Express and Chase. Let’s take a look at how to use the Citi Strata Elite $300 hotel credit.
How to Use the Hotel Credit
Follow these steps to receive the Citi Strata Elite $300 hotel credit:
- Search for and book a qualifying hotel stay via the Citi Travel portal or by calling 1-833-737-1288 (TTY: 711). The travel portal displays a banner indicating how much of the credit you have remaining.
- The stay must be for at least two nights.
- You need to prepay for the entire stay using your Citi Strata Elite Card.
- You can also choose to combine your booking with ThankYou® Points, if desired.
- Up to $300 will be applied at the time of booking. This makes it super easy to see exactly how much your reservation will cost. Any unused portion will remain available for the rest of the calendar year to use on another reservation.
Other Terms of the Hotel Credit
Here are some other things to keep in mind about the Citi Strata Elite $300 hotel credit:
Can you make cancellations and changes?
If you cancel a refundable booking, the terms say the benefit amount used will be returned to your account after the cancellation is processed. But keep in mind that the benefit can only be used during the same calendar year in which it was originally available. (So, if you cancel a reservation now that used your 2025 credit, you wouldn't get it back.) If you cancel a non-refundable booking, you won't be refunded or have the credit returned, but the $300 credit will still offset the original charge. All changes and cancellations must be processed through Citi Travel.
Can you earn ThankYou Points for the booking?
You will not earn points on the portion of a hotel purchase covered by the $300 credit. Any amount paid beyond that credit, though, is eligible for the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card‘s 12x earnings on hotels booked through Citi Travel.
Other reminders
- A few booking exclusions: Package rates (including air + hotel and hotel + car rental packages) and reservations made through hotels, travel agencies, or any booking channel other than Citi Travel are ineligible.
- Combining benefits and promotions: If you have both this and the Citi Prestige Card, the Strata Elite's $300 Annual Hotel Benefit cannot be combined in the same transaction with the Prestige's complimentary fourth-night hotel benefit. The terms say it also cannot be combined with other promotions or discounts available through ThankYou.com. However, I've had good luck stacking it with some of the Citi Travel promos that are available from time to time, as seen in this test booking from earlier this year. So YMMV in practice.
- The terms say that the reservation must be made by the primary cardmember but can also be made in an authorized user’s name.
Citi Strata Elite $300 Hotel Credit: ToP Thoughts
Of course, our standard cautions about travel portal bookings apply. But I've found the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card‘s $300 hotel credit relatively easy to use. I've enjoyed it for cheap, one-off reservations, like a Disney World stay I booked for about $100 out of pocket. I also like it for saving on bookings I wouldn’t make with points anyway, like a stay I have planned for our Japan trip at the Muji Hotel Ginza. Have you used the Citi Strata Elite $300 hotel credit? Come over to our Facebook group and let us know.
