Citi Strata Card Review: A No Annual Fee Citi ThankYou No-Brainer

Arguably a better companion card to the Strata Elite or Strata Premier is the Double Cash card, which gives you 2% cash back (2x points) on all purchases. Most of the Strata's bonus categories are also had by the Strata premier, so you might get more mileage out of having a Double Cash.

Why not get all 3 for effectively $0 and hit the trifecta?

DoubleCash – $0 – 2x points on everything
Strata – $0 – 3x select transit, 3x selected bonus category (Fitness Clubs, Select Streaming Services, Live Entertainment, Cosmetic Stores/Barber Shops/Hair Salons, or Pet Supply Stores)​
Strata Premier – $95 (but effectively $0 if you use the $100 hotel credit on $500 spend) – 3x direct air, direct hotel, restaurants, supermarkets, EV charging, gas; 10x portal (hotel/car rental/attractions).

Would note that Strata (regular) at $0 is probably now the best card for transit spend at 3x (that CSR dropped). Could also get Custom Cash for transit but that maxes out at $500/month.

And Strata (regular) is equally good as Strata (Premier) on supermarkets! Would add that to your list from a few days ago.

Absolutely incredible value here from Citi on its non-Elite cards.

Should there be any thought given to the order applying for these cards in terms of sign up bonuses? I believe with Amex, you can't get a lower tier's card SUB once you have the higher tier card (so no SUB on a Green Card if you have Platinum).
Is there anything like that with Citi?

No way to combine points with Citi Prestige?

@ Luis -- Yes, you sure can! I just didn't mention it since the card is no longer open to new applicants, and I didn't want to confuse people.

@ DENDAVE -- Currently there are no such rules with this portfolio, so there's no need to consider that. That's not to say it won't happen in the future, but...

Thanks, Ben. We may need a little post to cover the best Citi bi/trifecta now that things have been shaken up so much.

I'm going to contact Citi today regarding product changes... but in some ways it might be better just to cancel a couple cards and apply for the new cards with SUBs, even with the credit knock.

Tough decisions.

Agreed. These changes are likely going to swing me away from WF ... at least until WF add a few more transfer partners.

Also, if 3x on pet supply includes Chewy, that's pretty awesome.

Hard to argue against this collection of cards, especially if you are in to AA miles. The only thing is it lacks on the hotel transfer front.

@ Anthony -- While it doesn't have World of Hyatt, arguably Citi ThankYou is pretty lucrative in that regard, between Choice Privileges and Leading Hotels of the World, for options on both ends of the spectrum. But yeah, I think the American AAdvantage miles angle is what's most interesting here.

@ Redacted -- Working on a post on that topic, thanks! Yeah, one of the things about product changing with Citi is that it often prevents you from getting a bonus on that card in the future, so there is something to be said for applying outright.

Rather than cancel, I would suggest product changing to multiple Citi Custom Cash cards. That way you can have multiple 5x cards for different categories up to $500 per month (travel, grocery, restaurant, etc). Those points add up quickly for me with 2 Custom Cash cards every month. I'm already looking forward to a third after I downgrade my new Strata Elite that I was just approved for!!!

@Ben I was wondering if you might consider a post on maintaining Thank Yous when canceling a card, I know with Citi it's more complicated than with other banks that can just be pooled. I am thinking of ditching the strate premier since I have the Strata and the Prestige but I don't want to lose those points ~do I keep them if I just product change?.

Thanks in Advance!

Choice Privileges?

Ben I'm sorry you have to be kidding me?

Want to stay at a Clarion next to a meth user and get woken up by police barging into that room at 3am? Be my guest and transfer your points to Choice!

@ mdande7 -- Excellent idea, thanks, because there is some nuance to it. Working on it, stay tuned! 🙂

Does Transit include Uber/Lyft? Doesn't look like it in the article. If it did, then it's a total no-brainer for me.

“Bonus ThankYou® Points are not available if you received a new account bonus for Citi Strata℠, Citi Strata Student, Citi Rewards+® or Citi Rewards+ Student 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℠, Citi Strata Student, Citi Rewards+® or Citi Rewards+ Student account”

Rewards+ of course no longer available but be aware of

Select Transit and Gas & EV Charging Stations
Select transit includes car rentals, ferries, commuter railways, subways, taxis/limousines/car services, passenger railways, bridge and road tolls, parking lots/garages, bus lines, and motor home and recreational vehicle rentals. Also includes merchants that sell electricity for charging an electric vehicle. Excludes bike/scooter rentals, auto clubs and insurance companies. Gas stations exclude gas purchases at warehouse clubs, wholesale stores, superstores, discount stores, department stores, convenience stores or other merchants that do not use the gas station merchant codes.

Anyone know if a current Rewards+ holder (no recent SUB, no product change, directly applied years ago) would be eligible for the Strata SUB? I heard something about forced Rewards+ to Strata conversions, ans was curious if/how that impacts Strara SUB eligibility.

Seems that this is worse than the Chase Freedom Unlimited or the Chase Preferred....

That only works if you have multiple cards. For example, I only had a Double Cash and Citi Strata Premier before applying for the Citi Strata Elite. I'll product change my Premier when the AF is up to a no AF Strata and then my tri-fecta will be Strata Elie, Strata and Double Cash. The reality is I will be invested in other card issuers and ecosystems nearly ALL of which have velocity limits (except Amex) based on how many new cards you've gotten over the past 24/36 months. I'm working on getting under 5/24 so I can churn a Chase Hyatt or Marriott card when they have the five free nights SUB and that's a hell a lot more valuable than the incremental earn of 5x vs 3x on say restaurants or groceries. Honestly the tri-fecta above will earn you 2x or above on EVERYTHING which is is great.

I'll continue to earn C1 Venture miles for access to Aeroplan and Avios programs, plus Membership Rewards so I can access more airlines and Hilton and Marriott (the latter to top off). The ecosystem I'm going abandon for now is Ultimate Rewards. I don't trust any of these transferable points ecosystems to put all my eggs in one basket due to devaluations. I also like accessing multiple programs.

Any card that charges 3% based on borders (and applies that 3% to the entire area of the world where 96% of the population lives) is an easy, no brainer: a HARD pass.

No thanks.

As long as the Strata (and Custom Cash) both have a FTF, they are not the best card for transit spend compared to the Autograph.

Choice points can be very useful. Ascend collection hotels are good as are hotels in Scandinavia. As well as a couple hundred I-Prefer hotels.
As always, don’t transfer until there is a redemption you want.
If a very good purchase offer comes up when you have a use for the points I would likely buy instead.