Rewards credit cards come and go, occasionally at the same time — and sometimes with no warning to card holders. As a long-time Citi Premier® Card
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The information for the Citi Premier® Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
holder, that’s the position I’m in; getting a card unwillingly yanked from my wallet. But I’m not mad about it, because the new card is better.
The roster of Citi credit cards has changed: The Citi Premier Card is gone, replaced with the new Citi Strata Premier℠ Card. It’s nearly identical to the old Citi Premier Card, but with a couple of important improvements. Here’s what you need to know about the Citi Strata Premier.
Citi Strata Premier welcome bonus
The Citi Strata Premier offers a limited-time welcome bonus of 75,000 ThankYou® points if you make $4,000 worth of purchases in your first three months with an account. That’s 15,000 points higher than the now-defunct Citi Premier Card’s previous bonus. You can exchange this bonus for $750 in cash — or, as you’ll see, potentially over $1,000 in travel.
Citi Strata Premier earning rates
The Citi Strata Premier comes with virtually the same earning rates as the Citi Premier Card (with a couple of additions). That’s a good thing, since the Citi Premier Card has long been one of the most well-rounded earners on the market.
Here’s what you’ll earn:
- 10 total Citi ThankYou points per dollar on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel (new-ish)
- 3 points per dollar on air travel
- 3 points per dollar on other hotel purchases
- 3 points per dollar at restaurants
- 3 points per dollar at supermarkets
- 3 points per dollar at gas stations
- 3 points per dollar at EV charging stations (new)
- 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases
The 3x return at EV charging stations is the only new category, and it’s a boring one. EV owners typically charge their cars at home, according to the Department of Energy — so this new category may only be marginally helpful for the odd road trip.
The better news is that the Citi Strata Premier now offers 10 total points per dollar on hotels, car rentals and attractions on an ongoing basis — whereas the Citi Premier Card was scheduled to lose this benefit on June 30, 2024.
Despite the lack of any real shake-up in the earning structure, several of these benefits have now become more useful thanks to some added travel protections.
Citi Strata Premier benefits
The Citi Strata Premier has carried over Citi Premier Card benefits, including purchase protection and extended warranty. But it’s made one major (and vital) improvement.
New travel protections
In 2019, Citi removed travel insurance benefits from the Citi Premier Card, which was a baffling move for a travel-focused credit card. Because of this, the card wasn’t a good choice for purchasing airfare, rental cars or hotel stays — despite its excellent return rate.
Credit card travel insurance is important. It has saved me thousands of dollars during a single trip. Forfeiting bonus points to use a card that grants travel protection is a no-brainer for a frequent traveler.
The Citi Strata Premier is correcting the omission of its predecessor. It comes with respectable travel insurance, in some cases industry-leading for a $95 annual fee credit card. When you use your card to purchase qualifying travel, you’ll get:
- Car rental insurance: When you pay for your eligible rental with the Citi Strata Premier and decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver, you’ll receive coverage against damage and theft. This rental car insurance is secondary in your country of residence, which means it only reimburses your deductible and other eligible amounts not covered by your own car insurance policy (if you have one). The best cards for rental car insurance provide primary coverage.
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance: You can receive up to $5,000 in per covered trip and up to $10,000 per account every 12 months to reimburse eligible nonrefundable travel bookings if you have to cancel or cut short your trip for a covered reason.
- Trip delay insurance: If your flight or other qualifying travel is delayed by six hours or more for a covered reason (such as severe weather or equipment failure), you could be reimbursed for reasonable expenses such as meals, toiletries or an overnight hotel stay up to $500 per covered trip and up to two claims per account every 12 months.
- Lost or damaged luggage insurance: If your checked or carry-on luggage is lost or damaged, you could be reimbursed up to $3,000 per covered trip (or up to $2,000 per bag per covered trip for New York residents), with a limit of two claims every 12 months.
These protections mean the card is once again a good payment option for travel expenses. As with other credit card travel insurance coverage, card holders should be sure to read the Citi Strata Premier benefits guide for details on restrictions and exclusions.
$100 annual hotel credit
The Citi Strata Premier still offers the annual $100 hotel credit included on the Citi Premier Card. You’ll receive $100 off a single hotel stay that costs $500 or more booked through Citi Travel (not including taxes and fees).
This benefit offsets the card’s $95 annual fee — if you can use it organically, and some travelers might not want to. That’s because you won’t typically earn hotel points or elite night credits when you book through Citi Travel. You likely also won’t be recognized as an elite member if you’ve got hotel status.
Transfer points to Citi airline and hotel partners
Citi partners with over a dozen travel loyalty programs, allowing you to convert your Citi ThankYou points into airline miles and hotel points. Here are the conversion rates from Citi ThankYou points to points or miles in each loyalty program:
- Accor Live Limitless (2:1)
- Aeromexico Rewards (1:1)
- Avianca LifeMiles (1:1)
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
- Choice Privileges (1:2)
- Emirates Skywards (1:1)
- Etihad Guest (1:1)
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (1:1)
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue (1:1)
- JetBlue TrueBlue (1:1)
- The Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club (5:1)
- Qantas Frequent Flyer (1:1)
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club (1:1)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
- Thai Royal Orchid Plus (1:1)
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles (1:1)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)
- Wyndham Rewards (1:1)
Transferring points to airline and hotel programs is the best way to use Citi ThankYou points. By using your rewards to book award flights and accommodation, you can often receive a value of over 1.5 cents each.
For example, you could transfer the Citi Strata Premier’s 75,000-point bonus to Singapore Airlines for two round-trip coach flights to Hawaii on Star Alliance partner United Airlines (potentially $1,000+ in value). Or, you could transfer it to Qatar Airways for a fancy lie-flat seat between the US and Doha on Qatar Airways (potentially $4,000+ in value).
Book through Citi Travel
You’ve also got the option to redeem Citi ThankYou points through Citi Travel to offset your bill for flights, hotel stays, rental cars and more. You’ll receive the same value per point as redeeming for cash: 1 cent.
This is not a good way to use your points because the Citi Strata Premier has high rewards rates on travel, but you don’t earn rewards on the portion of your bill you cover with points. Travel earns 3 or 10 points per dollar, depending on what you’re buying, so it’s better to simply purchase your travel with the Citi Strata Premier and then cash out your points to pay for the purchase later.
Is the Citi Strata Premier worth it?
The Citi Strata Premier makes sense for a lot of situations. With its broad bonus categories (restaurants, supermarkets, gas/EV charging stations, airfare and hotels), you could earn 3 points per dollar on many purchases.
However, this card is designed for travelers. Unless you spend a lot on the card each year, its earning rates alone likely won’t justify the $95 annual fee. You’ll need to make use of other card perks, such as its solid travel insurance or its yearly $100 hotel credit. Otherwise, you may do better with a no annual fee cash back credit card that earns 2% back on all purchases, such as the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card.
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Regular APR
20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR thereafter
How the Citi Strata Premier compares
The Citi Strata Premier brings no innovation to the travel credit cards space. Instead, it’s simply entered the arena of other popular $95 annual fee travel credit cards.
Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Citi Strata Premier
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers some of the best credit card travel insurance in the business. However, its trip delay insurance kicks in a full six hours after the Citi Strata Premier’s. It also doesn’t earn rewards as quickly for common purchases.
Still, its rental car insurance is primary, which bests the Citi Strata Premier’s rental car insurance. Both Citi ThankYou and Chase Ultimate Rewards® have proprietary travel portals, but Chase points are worth 1.25 cents each through Chase Travel℠, 25% more than Citi ThankYou points are worth in the Citi Travel portal. Also, while Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card’s up to $50 in statement credits for booking prepaid hotels through Chase Travel℠ is worth less than the Citi Strata Premier’s annual hotel credit, it’s much easier to use because you aren’t held to a $500 minimum spending requirement.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Regular APR
21.49% – 28.49% Variable
On Chase Bank USA, NA’s Secure Website
Capital One Venture vs. Citi Strata Premier
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
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The information for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
can’t keep pace with the Citi Strata Premier in most spending categories. It earns a flat 2 Capital One miles per dollar on most purchases (except hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel, which earn 5 miles per dollar) For purchases that don’t fall into a bonus category (think medical bills, home and auto repairs, and utilities), the Capital One Venture card is the winner.
The Capital One Venture card also comes with up to $100 in statement credits to cover the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every four years. These programs can save you many hours of standing in line each year.
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey vs. Citi Strata Premier
The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Visa® Card
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The information for the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Visa® Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
earns 5 points per dollar on hotel spending, 4 points per dollar on airline spending and 3 points per dollar for other travel and at restaurants. That’s extremely impressive, though the Citi Strata Premier’s rewards rates are comparable (higher for supermarkets and gas stations, and lower on airline and hotel spending not through Citi).
Beyond that, you’ll receive an annual $50 statement credit when you make a minimum purchase of $50 with an airline. Again, this isn’t as valuable as the Citi Strata Premier’s $100 credit, but it’s considerably easier to use.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
You’ll need to have at least a good credit score to be considered for the Citi Strata Premier. FICO defines a good credit score as 670 or above.
If you’re already a Citi Premier Card holder, you aren’t eligible to earn the welcome bonus on the Citi Strata Premier. You also won’t qualify if you earned a bonus for the Citi Premier Card in the past 48 months.
Your Citi Premier Card has automatically been converted to a Citi Strata Premier. You’ll see the changes if you log into your Citi online account.
The Citi Premier Card has disappeared entirely with the launch of the Citi Strata Premier. Going forward, Citi will only offer the one card.
To view rates and fees for Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
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The information for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
, please visit this page.
*The information for the following card(s) has been collected independently by CNN Underscored Money: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
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The information for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
and Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Visa® Card
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The information for the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Visa® Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however some of the offers mentioned may have expired.
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