Great Card If
- You want a premium card with airport lounge access
- Dining is one of your biggest expenses
- You’re a Citigold client
Don’t Get If
- You don’t dine out much and prefer to cook at home
- You want a card with a lower annual fee
- You prefer a card with more flexible travel bonus categories
Citi Strata Elite Card — Is It Worth It?
With the Citi Strata Elite card, you’ll get a combination of rewards, benefits, and credits that can make for a compelling combination, depending on your spending habits and travel preferences.
For starters, you’ll be able to earn 12x points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel, along with 6x points on flights booked through Citi Travel. For foodies that love dining out, you’ll earn 6x points at restaurants (including delivery services) every Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. ET, and 3x points any other time. You’ll also earn 1.5x points on all other purchases.
The Citi Strata Elite card does charge a high annual fee, but it offers solid credits and benefits to help you offset that, like airport lounge access, an annual hotel credit, an annual splurge credit, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, and more. Better yet, if you’re a Citigold or Citigold Private Client, you can receive a nice discount on the annual fee you’ll pay each year.
Put simply, if you’re already a fan of the Citi ThankYou Rewards ecosystem, the Citi Strata Elite card can be a worthwhile option.
Citi Strata Elite Card Top Benefits and Perks
Here is a full look at all of the benefits and perks you can expect to receive as a Citi Strata Elite cardmember:
- Priority Pass lounge access: Complimentary access to Priority Pass lounges for you and up to 2 guests.
- 4 American Airlines Admirals Club passes annually: Allows you to access nearly 50 American Airlines Admirals Club lounges up to 4 times each year.
- Up to $300 annual hotel benefit: Receive up to $300 off a hotel stay of 2 nights or more booked through Citi Travel.
- Up to $200 annual splurge credit: Earn up to $200 in statement credits on your choice of up to 2 of the following brands: 1stDibs, American Airlines, Best Buy, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation.
- Up to $200 annual Blacklane credit: Up to $200 in annual statement credits when booking with Blacklane (a global chauffeur service), with up to $100 from January through June, and up to $100 from July through December.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit: Up to $120 statement credit every four years for the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee.
- Access to The Reserve by Citi Travel: When you book at participating hotels on the Citi Travel platform, you’ll receive on-property benefits, including daily complimentary breakfast for 2, free Wi-Fi, a $100 experience credit (varies by property), early check-in, late checkout, and room upgrades (subject to availability).
- Access to Citi Entertainment: Receive special access to purchase tickets to thousands of events, including presale tickets and exclusive experiences for concerts, sporting events, arts, and dining experiences.
- No foreign transaction fees
- Citigold Private Client and Citigold Relationship Tier credit: Qualifying Citigold Private Clients receive a $595 first-year banking relationship credit and $145 annual credit each year thereafter, while standard Citigold clients receive a $145 credit toward their annual fee each year.
- Various Travel and Purchase Protections: Includes trip delay protection, enhanced trip cancellation and trip interruption protection, lost or damaged luggage protection, MasterRental coverage, extended warranty coverage, and purchase assurance plus.
Best Ways to Earn and Redeem Citi ThankYou Points
It should come as no surprise that the best way to earn more Citi ThankYou Points is to use your Citi Strata Elite card for as many purchases as you can, especially since you’ll earn at least 1.5x points on all eligible purchases. You can earn up to 6x points on dining purchases on Friday and Saturday nights, and even 12x points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel.
Once you’re ready to take advantage of all of the Citi ThankYou Points you’ve earned, you’ll find that you have lots of great ways to maximize Citi ThankYou Points through the Citi transfer partners, like American Airlines AAdvantage, ALL – Accor Live Limitless, Air France-KLM FlyingBlue, Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and more.
Alternative Cards to the Citi Strata Elite Card
If you’re looking for a high-end premium card that is loaded with benefits for frequent travelers, the Amex Platinum card is one you should consider.
Not only is it one of the best cards for airport lounges with access to Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges (enrollment required), 10 visits to Delta Sky Clubs when flying Delta same-day (ability to unlock unlimited visits with spending), Plaza Premium Lounges, and more, but it also offers hotel elite status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy (enrollment required).
To help offset the annual fee (rates & fees), it offers many statement credits toward things like airline incidentals, prepaid hotel bookings, and digital entertainment. Enrollment is required to receive certain credits.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is another option well worth considering for those in the market for a top-tier card. It earns 8x points on all Chase Travel purchases, 5x points on Lyft rides (through September 30, 2027), 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly, and 3x points on all dining purchases worldwide.
Like other premium cards, you’ll receive quite a few credits to help offset the annual fee you’ll pay (rates & fees), like a $300 annual travel credit, up to $500 annually for The Edit by Chase stays, up to $300 annually in dining credits, up to $300 annually in StubHub credits, up to $120 annually in Lyft credits (through September 30, 2027), and more.
Plus, you’ll receive perks like access to Chase Sapphire Lounges and Priority Pass lounges, along with IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status and excellent travel and purchase protections.
Those in the market for a premium travel rewards card, but at a lower annual fee than its competitors, might find that the Capital One Venture X card suits them well.
With it, you’ll earn 10x miles on hotels and rental cars purchased through Capital One Travel, 5x miles on flights and vacation rentals purchased through Capital One Travel, and an uncapped 2x miles on all other eligible purchases.
Plus, with its $300 annual travel credit on bookings made through Capital One Travel and 10,000 bonus miles awarded on your account anniversary each year, it is easy to offset the annual fee with just those 2 benefits alone. Not to mention, it also offers access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass lounges, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, and more.
