Citi Strata Premier
Citi’s probably the punchline more than any other big bank in our points and travel hobby. They seemingly bring the random, wacky, weird, and what-nobody-asked-for at a frequency Amex and Chase don’t match. Therefore, it’s natural that many are turned off by Citi, not having patience for their oddities, and quickly move to other banks’ products. But Citi also offers plenty of good along with their sometimes-bizarre. Perhaps my favorite is the Citi Strata Premier – still outstanding, and somehow still underrated after all these years. I’m appreciating it again today.
The Best All-Around Earner
In my view, the Citi Strata Premier is the best all-around bank point earning card in staple categories, especially at its modest annual fee. Citi structures Premier earning as follows:
- 3x at supermarkets
- 3x at gas and EV charging stations
- 3x on dining
- 3x on air travel and hotel purchases
- 10x on Citi Travel bookings
- 1x everywhere else
I can’t think of a wider-ranging card earning in bonus categories on staple spending than the Strata Premier at this price point. Plenty of cards have one, and some maybe two, but Citi has three – supermarkets, gas, and dining. Plus, many active travelers who pay in cash can consider air travel and hotels a fourth. Citi has slightly limited the previous, broader 3x travel category, but in general, the still-existing 3x air and hotel earnings are the biggest pieces of that pie.
The Most Rewarding AA Card?
This can lead some to easily consider the Citi Strata Premier to be the strongest card for obtaining American Airlines award flights. Given American’s relatively-recent addition as a permanent ThankYou point transfer partner, the Premier is now a 3x AA miles earner in attractive categories. Interestingly, the Premier’s overall AAdvantage redeemable mile earning easily bests the entire suite of AAdvantage cobranded cards, in my view.
So what are AAdvantage enthusiasts giving up by spending on the Premier rather than cobranded cards? In many situations, not much to absolutely nothing. Perhaps the biggest item missing is lack of 1x Loyalty Point base earning, how AAdvantage measures and grants elite status. But some care more about earning AA miles faster for award flights than pursuing AA status. Plenty of travelers book directly into premium class, use the currency for attractive partner awards, or both, which can easily supersede any elite status considerations.
A Clear Choice
I’m a big fan of the Choice Privileges program, particularly their Preferred Hotels partnership. Choice loyalists can jack up earning in ways simply not possible with the Wells Fargo cobranded cards. That’s thanks to what I consider one of the best transfer ratios in the entire travel partner space. Citi ThankYou points transfer to Choice Privileges at a 1:2 ratio. This means the Citi Strata Premier earns 6x Choice Privileges points in wide-spanning, quite-useful categories. That’s better than the 5x which the Choice Privileges Select card earns at gas stations and grocery stores. (But I still love this Wells Fargo product, including the other 5x categories of home improvement stores and phone services.)
Cashing Out at One Cent Per Point Survives
Last year, Citi slightly devalued the cash back angle to the Premier. Citi cardholders who solely hold the Premier can no longer cash out at one cent per point (cpp). Such individuals are now limited to a 0.75 cpp valuation for these redemptions. The good news here is that Citi customers who also hold the Double Cash and deposit rewards to the same TYP account can still effectively cash out points earned on the premier at one cpp. Of course, many prefer travel partner transfers, anyway, but those with higher-priority cash back goals can still do well with this card pair.
The Citi Strata Premier’s Still $95
All these years later, the Premier card’s annual fee is still only $95. In my view, the combination of bonus category earning and transfer partners (even just a few of them, actually) easily make this card worth paying $95 for annually in our situation. Even better, a signup bonus easily subsidizes the first cardmember year annual fee. Plus, there’s a chance a Citi welcome offer comes with a waived annual fee. Also, I’ve historically been able to receive attractive-enough retention offers which easily mitigate the fee.
Citi Strata Premier – Conclusion
The Citi Strata Premier isn’t perfect. Some may consider the travel transfer partners relatively niche compared to those from Chase and Amex. For instance, many Hyatt worshippers will bend over backwards to justify the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve over the Premier. Citi Strata Premier benefits are limited, and the $100 hotel credit on a $500 Citi Travel booking isn’t terribly useful.
But one often only needs to use a portion of the card’s benefits to make it easily worth the annual fee. In my view, the Citi Strata Premier is worth a long-term hold more than any other Amex or Chase card in its price range.
Are you a Citi Strata Premier fan? Why or why not?
