Link: Apply now for the no annual fee Citi Strata℠ Card
We’ve just seen the launch of the Citi Strata℠ Card, an exciting new no annual fee product in the Citi ThankYou ecosystem, which replaces the old Citi Rewards+ Card. This card could prove lucrative independently, or could make a great complement to one of the more premium cards earning Citi ThankYou points, to really maximize your rewards.
In this post, I’d like to take an in-depth look at this card, as it’s a product that many people should consider picking up, especially as a complement to the Citi Strata Premier® Card (review) or Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review).
In this post:
Citi Strata Card welcome offer & no fee basics
For someone looking to earn Citi ThankYou points, the Citi Strata Card is a no-brainer, whether applying directly, or product changing to this card from another product, as a downgrade option. Let’s go over the details of the welcome offer, eligibility, and (lack of an) annual fee.
Welcome bonus of 30K ThankYou points
The Citi Strata Card has a welcome bonus of 30,000 ThankYou points after spending $1,000 within the first three months. This is being marketed as a limited time offer, though we don’t yet know when it will be pulled.
For a no annual fee card, I’d say that’s an excellent welcome offer. Assuming you have this card in conjunction with a card earning premium ThankYou points, I value those points at 1.7 cents each, meaning that to me, the points are worth $510.
Card eligibility restrictions & rules
The Citi Strata Card welcome bonus isn’t available to those who have received a new account bonus on the Citi Strata, Citi Strata Student, Citi Rewards+, or Citi Rewards+ Student, in the past 48 months. It’s also not available to those who have converted another Citi card to one of those four cards, in the past 48 months.
Beyond that, eligibility for this card (including the bonus) is unrelated to whether you have any other Citi ThankYou card. That means you’re eligible for the bonus on this card if you have the Citi Strata Premier® Card (review) or Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review).
Beyond that, Citi has fairly limited rules when it comes to getting approved for cards. The most important restriction to keep in mind is that you can typically only be approved for one Citi card every eight days, and at most two Citi cards every 65 days.
Card product change & downgrade potential
If you don’t want to apply outright for this card, it’s worth noting that Citi is generally pretty good about letting people downgrade and product change cards. So if you’ve had another Citi personal card for at least 12 months, you can phone up Citi and see if it’s possible to product change to this card.
Keep in mind that if you product change, you’re not eligible for the welcome offer, as that’s only open to those who apply outright. But I know some people might want to save their card applications for cards that have bigger welcome offers (and annual fees). Everyone has to decide for themselves.
No annual fee for primary & authorized users
The Citi Strata Card has no annual fee for the primary cardmember, or for authorized users. So this is a fantastic card in terms of being able to maximize value without having to pay an annual fee. Also keep in mind that holding onto cards can help your credit score in the long run.
Citi Strata Card points earning structure
What makes the no annual fee Citi Strata Card so valuable is the bonus categories that it offers on spending, which can help you supercharge the ThankYou points that you earn. In particular, the card is a great complement to products like the Citi Strata Premier® Card (review) or Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review).
The bonus categories include the following:
- 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
Do note that this card has 3% foreign transaction fees, so I’d generally avoid using this card for purchases in foreign currencies. Let’s take a closer look at how these bonus categories work.
5x ThankYou points with Citi Travel
The Citi Strata Card offers 5x ThankYou points when you book hotels, rental cars, and attractions, through Citi Travel, which is Citi’s travel portal. This could be a good deal, though I’d note that there’s often an opportunity cost to booking through a credit card portal.
For example, typically when you book a hotel through a credit card portal, you’re not going to earn loyalty points with the hotel program, if that’s something you care about. So this is the bonus category I’m least excited about, frankly.
3x ThankYou points at supermarkets
The Citi Strata Card offers 3x ThankYou points at supermarkets. You generally won’t earn bonus points for purchases made at general merchandise or discount stores, freezer or meat locker provisioners, dairy product stores, miscellaneous food and convenience stores, markets, drugstores, warehouse clubs, wholesale clubs, specialty vendors, bakeries, candy stores, nut stores, confectionary stories, and meal kit delivery services.
3x ThankYou points on select transit
The Citi Strata Card offers 3x ThankYou points on select transit purchases. This generally includes car rentals, ferries, commuter railways, subways, taxis, limousines, car services, passenger railways, bridge and road tolls, parking lots and garages, bus lines, and motor home and recreational vehicles.
3x ThankYou points on gas & EV charging
The Citi Strata Card offers 3x ThankYou points on gas and EV charging. The gas station category typically includes gas and other gas station purchases, while the EV charging category includes most places where you can charge your car. You generally won’t earn bonus points for gas and EV charging purchases at warehouse clubs, discount stores, department stores, convenience stores, or other merchants that aren’t classified as gas stations or EV charging.
3x ThankYou points on self-select categories
The Citi Strata Card offers 3x ThankYou points on an eligible self-select category of your choice, with the following options:
- Fitness clubs
- Select streaming services
- Live entertainment
- Pet supply stores
- Cosmetic stores, barber shops, and hair salons
How does this self-select category work, in practice? When you open your account, select streaming services will be the default. You can then change that through your account by following this link, and then you can activate the self-select category you prefer. You can change your self-select category once each calendar quarter.
2x ThankYou points at restaurants
The Citi Strata Card offers 2x ThankYou points on restaurant spending. This generally include cafes, bars, lounges, fast food restaurants, takeout, and delivery. You generally won’t earn bonus points for purchases made at bakeries, caterers, and restaurants in other establishments (like hotels, department stores, grocery stores, discount stores, convenience stores, and warehouse clubs).
Citi Strata Card points redemption options
How can you redeem the points earned on the Citi Strata Card? As is the case with all major transferable points currencies, there’s some nuance to this, as the maximum redemption value you’ll get depends on the most premium card you have.
Citi ThankYou points value with the Citi Strata Card
If you exclusively have the Citi Strata Card, you can expect that points can be redeemed for anywhere from 0.75-1.0 cents each, depending on whether you’re seeking cash back, gift cards, or travel. However, beyond that, you can transfer points to most Citi ThankYou airline and hotel transfer partners. There are two catches:
- American AAdvantage is the one transfer partner you can’t transfer to
- Transfers to most partners are at a reduced ratio, generally at a rate that’s roughly 30% less than on more premium cards
More specifically, here are the transfer rates if you exclusively have the Citi Strata Card:
- Transfer to Accor Live Limitless at a 1,000:350 ratio
- Transfer to Aeromexico Rewards at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Air France-KLM Flying Blue at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Avianca Lifemiles at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Cathay Pacific at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Choice Privileges at a 1,000:1,400 ratio
- Transfer to Emirates Skywards at a 1,000:560 ratio
- Transfer to Etihad Guest at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to JetBlue TrueBlue at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club at a 1,000:140 ratio
- Transfer to Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer at a 1,000:2,800 ratio
- Transfer to Qantas Frequent Flyer at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Qatar Airways Privilege Club at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at a 1,000:700 ratio
- Transfer to Wyndham Rewards at a 1,000:700 ratio
Citi ThankYou points value with more premium cards
There’s a trick to maximizing the value of the points earned on the Citi Strata Card. If you have the card in conjunction with either the Citi Strata Premier® Card (review) or Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review), then you can pool all your points, and redeem them at a better rate.
More specifically, here are the transfer rates for all of your points if you have one of the more premium cards:
- Transfer to Accor Live Limitless at a 1,000:500 ratio
- Transfer to Aeromexico Rewards at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Air France-KLM Flying Blue at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to American AAdvantage at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Avianca Lifemiles at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Cathay Pacific at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Choice Privileges at a 1,000:2,000 ratio
- Transfer to Emirates Skywards at a 1,000:800 ratio
- Transfer to Etihad Guest at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to JetBlue TrueBlue at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club at a 1,000:200 ratio
- Transfer to Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer at a 1,000:4,000 ratio
- Transfer to Qantas Frequent Flyer at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Qatar Airways Privilege Club at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Wyndham Rewards at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
Personally, I’d highly recommend thinking of the Citi Strata Card as a complement to one of the more premium cards. The good thing is that you can always pick up this card and start racking up points. As long as you pick up one of the other cards at a later point, you can redeem all your points at that higher rate. So it’s about the most premium card you have when you redeem points, and not when you accrue them.
Is the Citi Strata Card worth it?
The Citi Strata Card is a pretty compelling no annual fee card with some great category multipliers, and a solid welcome bonus.
If you ask me, though, this card is more interesting in the context of the overall Citi ThankYou ecosystem, and the ability to use this card in conjunction with other premium Citi ThankYou cards, to really maximize your rewards. In particular, think of this as a complement to the Citi Strata Premier® Card (review) or Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review).
For example, if you pick up the new Citi Strata Elite Card, there’s something to be said for picking up the Citi Strata Card, so that you can take advantage of 3x points at supermarkets, and on select transit, and at gas and EV charging stations. Then there’s also the 3x points on eligible self-select categories of your choice.
With this, Citi has really created the ability to set up a lucrative card ecosystem, where you can maximize your points. I should also mention that some people may want to consider the Citi Double Cash® Card (review), which earns 1x ThankYou points when you make a purchase, and 1x ThankYou points when you pay for a purchase. That’s pretty awesome, since you can essentially earn 2x transferable points (including American AAdvantage miles) with the card, in conjunction with another premium Citi card.
Bottom line
The Citi Strata Card is a compelling no annual fee card. It offers a solid welcome bonus, plus some lucrative bonus categories that could prove useful for those who are engaged in the Citi ThankYou ecosystem.
I’m delighted to see the overall improvements to the Citi ThankYou ecosystem, and I think the Citi Strata Card and/or the Citi Double Cash® Card (review) make great complements to the Citi Strata Premier® Card (review) and/or Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review).
If you want to learn more about the Citi Strata Card or want to apply, follow this link.
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.
Seems that this is worse than the Chase Freedom Unlimited or the Chase Preferred....
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.
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.
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...
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.
@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!
@ mdande7 -- Excellent idea, thanks, because there is some nuance to it. Working on it, stay tuned! :-)
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.
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!
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.
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.
Also, if 3x on pet supply includes Chewy, that's pretty awesome.
@ 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!!!
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...
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.
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.
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?
@ 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...
“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
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,...
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.
Agreed. These changes are likely going to swing me away from WF ... at least until WF add a few more transfer partners.
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.
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.