Citi Strata Elite℠ Card Review
Citi is finally back in the premium credit card game. It feels like a lifetime ago when they launched the Citi Prestige to so much miles and points fanfare that it made the Chase Sapphire Reserve launch look like child's play. It appears that the value proposition on that card was too hot for Citi to handle, since they slashed the tires on the card's perks a few months later. What does this newest iteration look like? Does it even surpass what was left of the Citi Prestige card when they stripped it for parts? We will take a look at all of that, and everything else, in this complete Citi Strata Elite℠ Card review.
Current Welcome Offer
First up in this Citi Strata Elite℠ card review is the welcome offer details. There are currently two offers, one for online and a different one for in branch. The downside is that Citi branches are mostly located on the coasts, so the higher offer won't be an option for many.
Online Offer
- Earn 75,000 Citi ThankYou points after spending $6,000 within 3 months of card membership
- The $595 annual fee is NOT waived
- Authorized users cost $75 per year
- Direct Link
Levels Of The Annual Fee
We should take a moment to discuss the annual fee. There are a couple of different scenarios for the Citi Strata Elite℠ card where you can lower the annual fee from the standard $595 level.
- Citi Gold
- $450 annual fee per year (a $145 rebate) for being a Citi Gold customer.
- Citi Private Client
- $0 annual fee the first year (a $595 rebate). Then a $450 annual fee per year after that (a $145 rebate) for being a Citi Private Client customer.
It is good to see them discount the annual fee for their most loyal clients. I wish more banks would do something like this. When they do, it is often for increased rewards instead, like the Bank of America set up. This is also similar to what they did for Citi Gold customers that had / have the Citi Prestige card.
Citi Application Rules
If you choose to apply for the card, remember that Citi has a few application rules to keep in mind. Citi will not approve you for more than one card every eight days, and two cards every 65 days. Citi also has the following application rules that are specific to the Strata Elite:
Bonus Points Offer Bonus ThankYou® Points are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi Strata Elite℠ account in the past 48 months or if you converted another Citi credit card account on which you earned a new account bonus in the last 48 months into a Citi Strata Elite.
That shouldn't be an issue for anyone at the time of launch. It also seems like you could get this card if you currently have the Citi Prestige – although I don't think you would want to.
Citi Strata Elite℠ Card Review: Earning Structure
The Citi Strata Elite℠ card earns ThankYou points at the following rates:
- 12x ThankYou Points for each $1 spent on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel®
- 6x ThankYou Points for each $1 spent on air travel booked through Citi Travel®
- 6x ThankYou Points for each $1 spent at restaurants, including restaurant delivery services, for purchases authorized between
- Friday 6:00 PM through Saturday 6:00 AM ET
- Saturday 6:00 PM through Sunday 6:00 AM ET
- 3x ThankYou Points for each $1 spent at restaurants all other times
- 1.5x ThankYou Points for each $1 spent on all other purchases
- Direct Link
My Thoughts On The Earning Structure
I think Citi is trying to get a little too cute with the 6x dining offer. While Friday and Saturday is the biggest dining spend nights for many, having it broken down by hours is kind of annoying. I also question how well Citi IT will be able to track it. The last thing I want to do is double check my points postings each and every month. Then, when you compare it to the 5x dining that the Citi Prestige offers (at a lower annual fee) I think this set up falls short. I bet that offering a set 4x on dining, at all times, would have been preferred by most potential cardhodlers.
Not offering bonus earning on travel bookings, outside of the Citi Travel portal at least, is another miss here. It is a premium travel card, which means it should code some bonus earning for travel booked directly. It is nice that the card offers a decent everyday spend earning rate. Having said that, you would be better off getting a Citi Double Cash to pair up with this card for 2x on everything earning.
Card Perks
Now to the most important part of any premium card review, the cardholder perks. How does the Citi Strata Elite℠ card stack up?
- $300 hotel credit each calendar year
- Must be booked through Citi Travel
- 2 nights or more stay required
- Sounds like a discount at the time of booking
- $200 Splurge Bonus each calendar year on your choice of up to 2 of the following brands (need to activate)
- 1stDibs
- American Airlines (exclusions apply)
- Best Buy®
- Future Personal Training
- Live Nation
- $200 Blacklane credit (an expensive chauffer service)
- Up to $100 from January through June
- Up to $100 July through December.
- Priority Pass Select Membership
- 2 free guests ($35 per guest above that)
- Does not include restaurant access
- Authorized users ($75 per year) get their own membership
- American Airlines Admirals Club Passes
- 4 passes each calendar year
- Access is good for 24 hours, and it can be used at multiple locations in that time frame
- Primary cardholder must use one of the passes
- Can bring up to 3 adult guests with them
- Up to 3 children under 18 years of age who are traveling with an adult who redeemed a Pass may also enter the lounge
- 4 passes each calendar year
- Up to $120 Global Entry® or TSA PreCheck® Application Fee Credit
- Available once every 4 years
- Direct Link
I think the splurge bonus and the 4 Admirals club passes are the best things here, for me at least. The required two night minimum on the hotel credit is a little annoying, especially since it is the largest “travel credit” the card has.
ToP Analysis
I had some thoughts before writing up this Citi Strata Elite℠ card review, but was holding off to deep dive everything before forming a solid opinion. I don't think this card will move the needle for most people when you compare it to the competition. Heck, I would take the Citi Strata Premier every day, and twice on Sunday over this card. The most damning thing to consider is that I don't think any Citi Prestige cardholder would be willing to give up their card for this one.
The card comes with an annual fee higher than the Capital One Venture X card, but doesn't offer anything wildly better. The perks, or coupons, fall short of the Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve card too – even after the refresh. Maybe the Amex Platinum will take up this bottom rung leader board with their upcoming refresh this fall though. To be fair to this card let's run through each area with my thoughts.
Welcome Offer
Offering 80,000 ThankYou points online at launch was pretty uninspiring. Especially when the competition has all offered 100K+ offers online, usually with another kicker mixed in there too. This card has sometimes offered an elevated 100K offer, which is a step in the right direction.
Earning Structure
While the low end earning of the card is better than the competition, at 1.5x earning, the lack of bonus earning in travel booked directly is a miss. Giving 3x earning on dining was exciting back in 2018, but it isn't anymore. The 6x earning is somewhat creative, but the weird timeframes puts a damper on what it could have been. It should have been Friday – Sunday all day if they wanted to go this route. I would have rather seen a 4x earning all the time though, which is still below the 5x you earn on dining with the Prestige.
Card Perks
I know we are in our coupon era right now, but these are some random ones. How many people have even heard of Blacklane by the way? Having a travel credit that is locked to hotels, through a portal only, is the worst travel credit on the market. Yeah, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has something similar, but they also have a $300 true travel credit too. The Platinum Card® From American Express has a $200 airline incidental credit to go along with their FHR credit.
I guess you could say the Splurge credit is their answer to this, but that doesn't feel like a travel credit to me. The fact that you can only select 2 of the options from the small list of available partners is another weird quirk. I assume most will select American Airlines and Best Buy anyway, with LiveNation in a distant third.
I think the flexibility of the American Airlines Admirals Club passes is a nice feature of that perk. Being able to get up to 3 kids into the lounge on the same pass will be a welcomed sight for many family travelers. When four airline lounge passes are one of your premium card's highlights – that is a problem.
The main bonus of these perks may be that many are based on calendar year. That could open up some triple dip opportunities.
Citi Strata Elite℠ Card Review: ToP Thoughts
The news of Citi adding American Airlines as a transfer partner feels like a bigger deal than the Citi Strata Elite℠ card launch. That was maybe an opportunity miss on their part, but good for us. Had the ability to transfer to American been locked to the Strata Elite and Prestige cards that would have added value here. Having said that, I love that the transfers are available on the Premier card because I think that is far and away the best product Citi offers.
That doesn't speak well for the Citi Strata Elite card. I guess you could probably tell that by this review. The card just lacks an earning structure or card perks to make this a card that we could widely recommend. It is a, no doubt about it, over 5/24 card – even if you are considering it. The card will be a little more interesting come the end of the year though. Share your thoughts after reading this Citi Strata Elite℠ Card review over in the ToP Facebook Group.
