Citi Strata Elite Card $200 Annual Splurge Credit: Basically Good As Cash

I am splurging over the splurge credit…

Why did they have to call it splurge… it sounds so vial.

For those who are resistant to couponization, Citi is reasonably mild. As odd as the dining earn rate is, a skilled hobbyist should be able to take advantage of it. The card's real strength is 12X on Citi Travel bookings. Yes, there can be a pricing issue . . . but it's been competitive of late. Certainly, not all properties. As bank travel portals seem to be adopting NDC, the question is whether Citi Travel bookings will receive loyalty credit.

What is *vile* about the word "splurge?" "I'm going to splurge today and get two doughnuts instead of only one."

Selected AA, got a $200 AA gift card (from AA directly), waiting for my 'Splurge' credit.

Courtney must've been thinking of 'splooge'... naughty girlie.

Fred, let's be real, it's a great SUB at 100K, and yes, we'll use the coupon credits, but, they are a bit of a chore. Not sure I'm gonna keep this beyond the first year; probably will seek retention offers, downgrade to no-fee Strata. We'll see. I much prefer the original Prestige card with, of course, the 4th night free, and the standard 5x dining/airfare (no nonsense with 6x on Fridays and Saturdays, but time-limited.) Alas, Citi lost too much money on us back then, so less 'fun' this time, but we'll take 'em for another ride, anyway, you betcha!

You can get 10x MR points with Rakuten through Agoda very frequently (today it happens to be 8x, but it was at 10x for the past 10 days or so). Pair that with a card that earns 3x on travel (like the Strata Premier) and you've basically replicated the 12x (today it would be 11x, but a few days ago it would be 13x - YMMV but circling the same square). Other than through Rove, I have not heard anything about portal bookings receiving hotel loyalty credit.

I'll insert my usual plug for AA Hotels here as a portal booking that may provide outsized value beyond 12x points (especially if you have any AA status and the AA Exec card) but YMMV on that one as well.

So that you can alliteratively splurge with your Strata I suppose, which is an equally bad name for a credit card series?

I bought disney gift cards from best buy for the splurge credit.

I like that taxes on AA reward flights count towards the splurge. And no claw back if you cancel the flight.

Will try LiveNation or Ticketmaster soon to get either a NBA game or concert in the US.