While we’ll mark this as “developing” for now, it sounds like Citi is planning on launching a new premium credit card in the near future…
In this post:
Citi Strata Elite Card launching Q3 2025
During its Q2 2025 earnings presentation, Citi revealed plans to launch a new premium credit card in Q3 2025 (so by September 30, 2025), which will be known as the Strata Elite.
The bank states that this product “rounds out our family of proprietary rewards cards designed to meet the evolving needs of affluent consumers.” Those are all the official details that we have as of now.
Of course premium credit cards are all the rage nowadays, with American Express, Capital One, and Chase, all having such products. In the Citi ThankYou ecosystem, the Citi Strata Premier Card is currently the mid-range product, so it sounds like this new product will be positioned above that.
Back in the day, there was the popular Citi Prestige Card, which was probably the closest competitor to the current premium cards on the market. That card closed to applicants back in 2021, though existing cardmembers continue to be able to use this card. We’ll see if the Citi Prestige Card ends up automatically being product changed to the new card, or how this plays out.
I’m curious to learn the details of this new product!
As of now, there’s just speculation out there about what kind of benefits this card will offer. In general, premium cards offer some sort of unique bonus categories on spending, some sort of lounge access perks, some number of credits to help offset the annual fee, etc.
I’m always happy to see more cards introduced, as it’s great for the competitive landscape. Unlike American Express, Capital One, and Chase, Citi doesn’t have its own proprietary lounges in the United States, so I’m curious to see how that’s handled.
Could Citi try to differentiate itself by including restaurant credits as part of the Priority Pass membership? Or could Citi work out some sort of a deal for American Admirals Club access? Keep in mind that American and Citi are strengthening their partnership, and the hope is that this will have significant upside for both parties.
It looks like American AAdvantage may eventually become a Citi ThankYou transfer partner, so thinking there might be a lounge tie-up doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch either. Funny enough, back in the day, the Citi Prestige offered Admirals Club access, so perhaps that can come full circle.
Bottom line
Citi is planning on launching the Strata Elite in Q3 2025. We don’t officially know anything beyond that, but presumably this is Citi’s long awaited new premium card offering, since the Citi Prestige closed to new applicants in 2021. I’m looking forward to learning the details, and here’s to hoping the card is worth applying for.
What would you like to see from the new Citi Strata Elite?
Obviously we have to wait for the official policies to be announced, but -- as others here have said -- if my Prestige card gets automatically converted, I'll close the account.
It will.
RIP grandfather.
RIP grandfather.
All hail World Legend.
None of the rumors/leaks tell us what the earn rate is on directly booked travel. Only via Citi Travel. The information is incomplete. Wait for the public release.
Long time Citi Prestige card holder. Even after they watered it down, the 4th night free hotel remains a huge benefit that has given me thousands of dollars over the years. Not difficult for me to use this on $1,000+/night hotels. I really hope they don't get rid of this. If they do, then the card becomes more like its competitors and so I'll have to reassess.
If those end up being the specifics of the card, I am PRAYING that they don't automatically move my Prestige card over to that. IMO, it is exponentially worse than the Prestige in almost all facets, with the exception of 1.5X on general spend.
Prestige gets me 5X on dining (no restrictions on day) and 5X on airfare purchased through the airline, not this portal bullshit. Prestige Priority Pass also still includes restaurants (great...
If those end up being the specifics of the card, I am PRAYING that they don't automatically move my Prestige card over to that. IMO, it is exponentially worse than the Prestige in almost all facets, with the exception of 1.5X on general spend.
Prestige gets me 5X on dining (no restrictions on day) and 5X on airfare purchased through the airline, not this portal bullshit. Prestige Priority Pass also still includes restaurants (great at SFO, for example).
If, indeed, they try to pull an automatic product switch, I will have no choice but to cancel. That would suck, as I love the Citi ecosystem, and losing Prestige would make it all fairly useless to me. I wonder if a downgrade to the mid-level Strat would work (presumably keeping partner transfers viable)?
Rumor is that they will
If they switch my Prestige to a product without 5x dining, there’s a 99% chance I cancel.
Current rumors are:
- AF of $595 or $650
- 12x TY points for hotels, car rentals and activities booked via Citi Travel
- 6x TY points for airfare booked via Citi Travel
- 3 x Dining (except for limited windows on Fridays and Saturdays where it will be 6x)
- 1.5x on everything else
- 4 AA lounge passes a year
- $240 annually of merchant coupons/credits
Launch bonus (in branch only) of 100,000 points after $4,000 spend in three months
Launching this weekend
That...would actually be pretty solid. Beats the pants out of CSR and even AmEx Plat in some ways IMO.
Hmm...
In what way? That 6x dining on weekends seems so restrictive and if the annual fee is $650, it would be right up against the current annual fee of amex platinum. However, current platinum gives way more than $240 in partner credits, 5x on all flights booked direct or through amex travel, 10 delta skyclub passes and centurion lounge access. I just don't see how this in any way competitive long term past the bonus.
Robin, this would be dead on arrival with that structure. They'll get some takers, sure, but not from anybody that knows what they're doing. If my Prestige gets converted, I'll have to cancel after holding for 10 years.
I dunno about CSR and AMEX Platinum, but this would seem much worse than the existing Citi Prestige.
- much higher annual fee
- much more restrictions on high points earnings categories by making you book through their portal or restricting dining top points to limited windows
- no 4th night free hotel???
- what of the Priority Pass?
- Amex and CSR have better points partners so it wouldn't be much of a push to get me to switch
Ofc it's gonna be worse than the Citi Prestige, if Citi liked the way the Prestige was working for them they would have kept it
I’ve had issues with receiving 6x with Bilt dining on Rent Day when the restaurant doesn’t run thru/posts the charge by midnight. If Citi seriously believes a several hour dining window for 6x isn’t also a recipe for disaster…
Ben, have you seen frequent miler's latest post on the updates? Curious to hear your takes on the potential benefits.