Is The New Citi Strata Elite Card Worth It? 9 Reasons To Apply

Link: Apply now for the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card

The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review) is Citi’s newly introduced premium credit card, intended to be a more premium version of the Citi Strata Premier® Card (review). The card has a $595 annual fee, which is obviously on the steep side, so people will think twice about signing up.

However, I think there’s potentially a lot of merit to picking up this card, especially given the huge value offered the first year. In this post, I’d like to share nine reasons you should consider getting the Citi Strata Elite Card, if you don’t yet have it. In no particular order…

80,000 Citi ThankYou points welcome bonus

The Citi Strata Elite Card has an online welcome bonus of 80,000 ThankYou points after spending $4,000 within three months. Personally I value ThankYou points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that bonus is worth an impressive $1,360. Note that you can potentially get an even better bonus of 100,000 ThankYou points upon completing minimum spending if you apply in a Citi branch.

You’ll want to be aware of Citi’s general application restrictions, including the 48-month rule, plus the specific rules for the Citi Strata product lineup. Fortunately eligibility for the various Citi Strata products is considered independently, so lots of people should be eligible for this bonus.

Spending bonus categories of 1.5-12x points

While I wouldn’t say it’s earth shattering, I do think the Citi Strata Elite Card has an interesting rewards structure, as it offers the following:

• 12x ThankYou points when you book hotels, rental cars, and attractions through Citi Travel, and 6x ThankYou points when you book air travel through Citi Travel
• 6x ThankYou points on dining spending on Fridays and Saturdays between 6PM and 6AM ET, and 3x ThankYou points on dining during other times
• 1.5x ThankYou points on all other eligible purchases

Like I said, there’s nothing too exciting here, but I think there’s potentially a lot of upside to booking through Citi Travel, and the 6x ThankYou points for dining over select hours is pretty awesome as well.

Unlimited Priority Pass Select membership

The Citi Strata Elite Card offers a Priority Pass membership for the primary cardmember and authorized users. Authorized users can be added to the card for $75 each, so that can potentially be a lucrative way to grant others lounge access.

Priority Pass is the largest network of airport lounges, and the membership through this card gives you unlimited visits to these lounges with two guests, pending capacity controls.

Four annual American Admirals Club passes

The Citi Strata Elite Card offers four Admirals Club lounge passes every calendar year. Each pass is valid for 24 hours, so it can be used across multiple lounge visits. Each pass is valid for one adult plus accompanying children.

While this isn’t a replacement for a full Admirals Club membership, like what you might get with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (review), it’s useful for someone who flies American every once in a while.

Up to $300 annual hotel credit for two night stay

When it comes to credits that help offset the annual fee, the Citi Strata Elite Card offers up to a $300 hotel credit every calendar year. Specifically, you receive $300 off a hotel stay of two or more nights that’s booked through Citi Travel.

Of course this isn’t quite as straightforward as just an outright travel or hotel credit. However, I’d actually say it’s one of the more valuable portal-based credits. The way I view it, use this for the cheapest two night hotel stay of $150+ per night that you have over the course of a year. I wouldn’t consider this to be worth face value, but it could definitely still come in handy.

Up to $200 annual credit with select retailers

The Citi Strata Elite Card offers up to a $200 annual “Splurge Credit.” The way this works, each calendar year, you can receive up to $200 in credits for purchases with select businesses. This is valid with 1stDibs, American Airlines, Best Buy, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation. You need to register with merchants to do this, and you can register for up to two merchants at a time, at this link.

There are exclusions with each merchant, but for the most part, they’re pretty straightforward. American is the most interesting partner here, as ticket purchases can qualify for this credit. So as long as you’d ordinarily spend at least $200 per year on American flights, I’d consider this to be worth pretty close to face value.

Up to $200 annual Blacklane chauffeur credit

The Citi Strata Elite Card offers up to a $200 annual Blacklane credit. This is a semi-annual credit, so you receive a $100 credit in January through June, and a $100 credit in July through December. For those not familiar, Blacklane is a global chauffeur service that allows you to book rides in advance.

Blacklane isn’t cheap, but that’s because it’s a “real” pre-booked chauffeur service, rather than an on-demand rideshare service. I imagine that some people will value this pretty close to the retail value, but I think for most people, that won’t be the case.

Great Citi ThankYou transfer partners

The Citi Strata Elite Card allows you to maximize the value of points in the Citi ThankYou ecosystem. For example, Citi ThankYou points can be transferred to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, American AAdvantage, Avianca Lifemiles, Etihad Guest, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and many more. The opportunities to redeem these points for premium travel are endless.

Best of all, if you have Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, there is some overlap between partners. In many cases, you can transfer points to the same partners from multiple programs.

Maximize the value of the Citi Double Cash

If you ask me, one of the major reasons to get one of the two “premium” Citi ThankYou cards is to be able to maximize the value of the no annual fee Citi Double Cash® Card (review). I’d consider this to be one of the best cards for everyday, non-bonused spending. The card offers 1x ThankYou points when you make a purchase, and 1x ThankYou points when you pay for that purchase, meaning you can earn up to 2x ThankYou points.

Rewards can be combined with those earned on the Citi Strata Elite Card, and you could then transfer those rewards to ThankYou transfer partners at the best ratio possible.

Bottom line

The Citi Strata Elite Card is the most premium credit card in the Citi ThankYou ecosystem. It’s a unique card, and while it’s not a slam dunk for everyone, I think there’s a lot of value to be had. The card has a big bonus, some interesting bonus categories, and the credits and benefits can largely help offset the annual fee.

Bigger picture, I think there’s a lot of merit to embracing the Citi ThankYou ecosystem and building a portfolio of cards, especially with products like the no annual fee Citi Double Cash Card, which is one of the best cards for everyday spending.

What’s your take on the value proposition of the Citi Strata Elite?