Citi has joined in the ultra-premium rewards card category with the Citi Strata Elite credit card. As with similar cards, there are a lot of travel-related perks, some associated “lifestyle” perks, and a hefty annual fees. Yet our “lifestyle” is more about sneaking the 3rd kid into a Hampton Inn and booking affordable Airbnbs so we can hike in a national park with our free 4th grader pass.
I recently finished up the spending requirements for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, and I realized that while I will get a lot of first-year value out of the card, I will also leave many of the benefits completely unused. And that’s okay! I don’t want to spend $200+ on a fancy dinner only to then have to worry about it not being reimbursed and then spend additional time arguing with customer service about it. I will pick up the easy stuff, and move on. So that is the lens for this review, as I consider my next credit card.
(Side note: You can read about some the drama surrounding this card (WSJ gift article) during its initial launch. Not the best way to treat “premium” customers… I hope Citi has ironed out these kinks.)
Perk highlights:
- Limited-time offer: 100,000 ThankYou points after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months.
- $300 annual hotel credit for prepaid stays of at least two nights booked via Citi Travel portal.
- $200 annual “Splurge Credit” at select sites (includes Best Buy, Apple, Airbnb, American Airlines, Delta Airlines).
- $200 annual Blacklane chauffeur credit ($100 January–June, $100 July–December).
- Up to $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, once every 4 years.
- Priority Pass Select membership for access to 1,500+ airport lounges worldwide.
- 4 annual American Airlines Admirals Club lounge passes.
- Travel and purchase protections including trip cancellation/interruption, delay protection, lost/damaged luggage, MasterRental coverage, extended warranty, and purchase assurance.
- $595 annual fee.
Rewards structure highlights:
- 12X points hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal.
- 6X points on air travel booked through the Citi Travel portal.
- 6X points at restaurants (including delivery) every Friday and Saturday from 6p to 6a ET (“Citi Nights”).
- 3X points at restaurants otherwise.
- 1.5X points per dollar on all other purchases.
Getting low-effort value out of Citi ThankYou points. If you prefer “cash back” rewards, then you might already have the Citi Double Cash card as it allows you to earn a flat 2% cash back on all your purchases. (Notice the Double Cash still beats this fancy card for most purchases!) However, technically you earn 2X Citi ThankYou points on all your Double Cash purchases, which you are then allow to redeem at a rate of $0.01 per point. Therefore, if you have both this Strata Elite and the Double Cash, then you can combine the points and redeem that 100,000 ThankYou point bonus for $1,000 cash (statement credit). Without the Double Cash, you are only going to get 75% of that amount ($750 for 100,000 points.)
(My second-favorite option would probably be to transfer to American Airlines miles, which are probably the most flexible and valuable option for a US domestic traveler. You can use their “Cash + Miles” option when booking a flight and reliably get more than 1 cent per mile value without having to use them in huge blocks. Finally, you could wait to redeem for a gift card during a promo, or you can redeem ThankYou points at Amazon at 0.80 cents per point using their “Shop with Points” feature. 100,000 points = $800 to spend at Amazon.)
Getting low-effort value out of the $200 “Annual Splurge Credit”. Here’s their text:
Every calendar year, earn up to $200 in statement credits on your choice of up to 2 of the following brands: 1stDibs, American Airlines (exclusions apply), Best Buy®, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation (exclusions apply).
I would simply pick Best Buy as my option and then promptly buy an Amazon gift card from Best Buy for $200 and load it directly into my Amazon account balance. (Airbnb and Apple gift cards would be my next choices.) Easy. Done. Won’t forget to use up. Notice also that the credit is based on calendar year. If you apply for this card before the end of 2025, you can get $200 in 2025 and also $200 in 2026 during the first year of paying that huge $595 annual fee.
The rest is gravy on top. For example, I might use the annual hotel credit, but I also already have a ton of hotel points and not that much travel planned. I don’t want to spend $1,000 to “save” $300. I probably won’t use the Blacklane credit; I looked up my home/airport combo and it cost $165 vs under $50 for Uber/Lyft. The airport lounge access is nice but honestly most of these Priority Pass lounges are so crowded nowadays. I’ll probably use the $120 Global Entry credit depending on expiration timing, but won’t count it for now.
The main point is that you often still do well without maximizing every potential benefit. With just the easiest non-travel rewards listed above, I am already at $1,000 statement credit + $400 in Amazon gift cards – $600 annual fee = $800 net first-year value.