Link: Apply now for the no annual fee Citi Strata℠ Card
It’s an interesting time for the Citi ThankYou ecosystem. Citi has just launched the new no annual fee Citi Strata℠ Card (review), which actually represents the rebranding of an existing card. This is in addition to Citi launching the new Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review), which is the new premium card in the portfolio.
In this post:
Details of the lucrative new Citi Strata Card
The new no annual fee Citi Strata Card has launched, with a welcome bonus of 30,000 ThankYou points after spending $1,000 within three months. Best of all, eligibility for the bonus is unrelated to whether you have another card in the Citi Strata portfolio, so lots of people should be eligible.
The card is described as being designed with simplicity, flexibility, and value, in mind. When it comes to the rewards structure, the Citi Strata Card offers the following (the card does have 3% foreign transaction fees, so I wouldn’t recommend using it for purchases in foreign currencies):
- 5x ThankYou points on hotels, rental cars, and attractions, booked through Citi Travel
- 3x ThankYou points at supermarkets, on select transit, and at gas and EV charging stations
- 3x ThankYou points on an eligible self-select category of your choice
- 2x ThankYou points at restaurants
- 1x ThankYou points on all other purchases
Regarding that 3x ThankYou points self-select category, the options include the following:
- Fitness clubs
- Select streaming services
- Live entertainment
- Pet supply stores
- Cosmetic stores, barber shops, and hair salons
These Citi ThankYou points can be transfered to the bulk of Citi ThankYou transfer partners, though if you only have this card, it’s typically not at a 1:1 ratio. However, in conjunction with a premium card, like the $95 annual fee Citi Strata Premier® Card (review), you can pool those points, and transfer at the better rate.
Note that this is a direct replacement of the Citi Rewards+ Card, which closed to applicants this spring. Existing Citi Rewards+ customers are being converted to this product.
It’s cool to see the Citi Strata card lineup
I’m delighted to see the general trend with the Citi Thank You ecosystem, as Citi is essentially creating a portfolio of cards at various price points, with different benefits.
Many people are familiar with the $95 annual fee Citi Strata Premier® Card (review), which was the current card in the Strata portfolio. There are lots of reasons to get this card, including excellent bonus categories.
Now we’ve seen both a no annual fee and more premium version introduced concurrently, and I think there could be merit to picking up the no annual fee Citi Strata Card, as a complement to the Citi Strata Premier Card or Citi Strata Elite Card, so that you can pool points, maximize bonus categories, and more.
Bottom line
We’ve just seen the launch of the new Citi Strata Card, which is Citi’s new no annual fee card in the ThankYou ecosystem. Citi now has three Strata cards, all at very different price points. This is actually a pretty compelling product, with some great bonus categories, especially since you can pool points between cards.
Between this and American AAdvantage being added as a ThankYou transfer partner, I think this points ecosystem is quickly becoming a lot more interesting to consumers.
What do you make of the new Citi Strata Card?
Having (and regularly using) the Citi Prestige card, as well as the Strata Premier card, I see no reason to get the Strata no fee card...UNLESS Citi "auto-converts" Prestige cards into their new Citi Strata Elite (which I don't find interesting or exciting at all). Originally, if that happened, I was going to downgrade the Elite card to something with no AF. Now, I might just cancel the card and apply for the Strata card in order to get the bonus.
Hard no.
3% junk fee for using it where 96% of the population of the world lives.
Now they need a business card lineup refresh so I don't go over 5/24
@ Nate -- Agree, I hope there's a business card lineup coming next!
This is the 4th product I have had with the same account.
I opened it in 2009 as the Citi Forward. It was a great card as I earned 5x on Dining and Bookstores (the largest spending outside of Tuition and Board as a student).
Then in ~2017, this product was discontinued, and they forced everyone to switch to the Citi Thankyou Preferred.
A few years later the Preferred was discontinued. While I think...
This is the 4th product I have had with the same account.
I opened it in 2009 as the Citi Forward. It was a great card as I earned 5x on Dining and Bookstores (the largest spending outside of Tuition and Board as a student).
Then in ~2017, this product was discontinued, and they forced everyone to switch to the Citi Thankyou Preferred.
A few years later the Preferred was discontinued. While I think I could have kept the card, the offer to switch to the Rewards+ just made sense, and it became my small purchase card (rounding up to 10 pts).
Now it’s the Strata (I noticed my Apple Pay design changed almost a week ago).
We will see how long this stays.
@ Andrew B -- Hah, too funny. It has definitely taken Citi some time to figure out its strategy. However, it seems they've now thought this through, with the whole concept behind the Strata lineup.
What about the Citi double cash? Could that be an everyday card paired with the Citi Stata Premier to get 2X points at a minimum? I normally use Venture X as everyday default card, but the AA transfer partner makes Citi points more interesting now. Still think Amex Gold has best dining/supermarket so these categories don't excitement me that much.
@ Alison -- Indeed, that works, and it's an exciting new option!
Wow. This one together with Strata Premier and Doublecash is quite the trifecta. If you value the $100 credit on the premier effectively $0 (or -$5) for great bonus categories. Elite is a letdown but this may well be quite the sweet spot.
It is a poorer transfer ratio to partners though. Instead of 1:1, it is 1:0.7.
My understanding is that if you have a Strata Premier, you can transfer points between that and the other TY point earning cards so you get the 1:1 ratio.
@ Peter -- That's correct, this gets you the better ratio.
Once you get the card is there a referral bonus for others? Thank you!
@ Ni -- There's not, at least not typically, sorry.
No bonus, however, if you got a SUB on a Rewards+ card in the last 4 years OR PC’d another card to a R+ card that earned a bonus in the last 4 years. I PC’d my R+ to another Custom Cash (before it became Strata last week), hoping to earn a SUB on a new Strata app, but my SUB on the R+ is only 2 yrs old.
I learned, too, the hard way that the 3x flex cat defaults to streaming svcs unless you manually go in & change the cat
Basically a 10% devaluation to Citi points for me due to the rebate going away.
So what is the transfer rate to AA for example?
@ GetToThePoints -- That's the one partner you can't transfer to directly from the card, unless you have a more premium card. You can find all the transfer ratios here:
https://www.thankyou.com/partnerProgramsListing.htm
IMO eliminating rounding up to 10 points and 10% return on redeemed points are a huge loss. Rewards+ was a logical addition to Premier for these exact reasons.
With the new card, I am struggling to understand its value as additional card and benefits are too weak for it to stand on its own...
I agree. I cancelled my rewards+ card after doing my 10% redemption. I don't see myself getting this card.
Can other Citi cards, like the Citi Custom cash or even various Citi AA cards, be converted to this product?
@ Anthony -- I haven't seen many firsthand reports yet, but I suspect that's likely possible.
I currently have the Citi (Strata) Premier card - the one with the $95 annual fee. Have had it for years, and find it moderately useful.
Am I eligible for the new no-annual-fee Strata card, too? If yes, and if I get it, would I also still be eligible for the signup bonus for the $595 AF Strata Elite card, too?
@ Darius Burbank -- Yep! Eligibility for all three Citi Strata products (including the bonuses) is considered independently, so you could pick up each of them. At least those are the rules as of now. :-)