How LendingTree Rates Credit Cards?
Our experts rate credit cards based on several factors including card benefits, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers do not influence or have a say in our card ratings. Read our credit card methodology here.If you want to dabble with travel rewards but don’t do tons of traveling, the Citi Strata Premier® Card is well worth its $95 annual fee. That’s because it lets you earn elevated rewards in a variety of everyday spending categories, including restaurants, supermarkets, gas and EV charging stations.
What’s more, these points are valuable and flexible. Along with redeeming them for travel, gift cards, cash back and more, you can transfer them to more than 15 travel partners — and mostly at a rate of 1:1. So even with the annual fee, it’s a solid choice if you want to save on the occasional trip and don’t mind foregoing the VIP-level travel perks that some other travel cards provide.
| Credit Cards | Our Ratings | Annual Fee | Rewards Rate | Welcome Offer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Citi Strata Premier® Card
 Apply Now
on Citibank's secure site Rates & Fees |
$95 | 1X - 10X points
| 60,000 points
Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
|
Apply Now
on Citibank's secure site Rates & Fees |
|
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Apply Now
on Chase's secure site Rates & Fees |
$95 | 1X - 5X points
| 75,000 points
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
|
Apply Now
on Chase's secure site Rates & Fees |
|
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
|
$95 | 2X - 5X Miles
| 75,000 miles
75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
| ||
American Express® Gold Card
|
$325 | 1X - 4X points
| As high as 100,000 points
You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
|
Valuable sign-up bonus
The Citi Strata Premier® Card offers one of the most valuable sign-up bonuses for a travel credit card currently available. Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
These points are enough to cover a free plane ticket within the first few months of owning the card. Plus, Citi ThankYou® Points are worth around 1.8 cents each when transferred to a Citi Travel℠ partner, boosting the value of this sign-up bonus even more.
Bonus categories are focused on more than just travel
Unlike many travel credit cards that only reward you for travel purchases, the Citi Strata Premier® Card focuses on everyday spending, making it a great card to keep in your wallet for regular use. It’s even one of our picks for the best credit cards for restaurants and dining.
You’ll earn the following:
10x on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked through CitiTravel.com. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Restaurants. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Supermarkets. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Gas and EV Charging Stations. Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on All Other Purchases $100 Annual Hotel Benefit: Once per calendar year, enjoy $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when booked through CitiTravel.com. Benefit applied instantly at time of booking. Travel insurance protection: Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption (Common Carrier), Trip Delay, Lost or Damaged Luggage, MasterRental Coverage (Car Rental).
Transfer points at a rate of at least 1:1 to 15+ travel partners
Transferring points to travel partners is a great way to squeeze even more value out of your rewards. You can transfer ThankYou® Points to 15 airline and hotel partners at a rate of 1:1, and to 2 hotel partners at an even higher rate.
Here’s the full list of Citi ThankYou® transfer partners:
| Transfer partner | Transfer rate |
|---|---|
| Aeromexico | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| All – Accor Live Limitless | 1,000 : 500 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Cathay Pacific | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Choice Privileges | 1,000 : 1,500 |
| Emirates Skywards | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Etihad Guest | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Eva Air | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Flying Blue | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Leaders Club | 1,000 : 200 |
| Preferred Hotels & Resorts | 1,000 : 4,000 |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Qatar Privilege Club | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Singapore Airlines | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Thai Royal Orchid Plus | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1,000 : 1,000 |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1,000 : 1,000 |
In addition to its travel partners, cardholders can also use their ThankYou® Points for the Shop Your Way® rewards program — this lets them earn and redeem points on purchases from popular brands. One ThankYou® Point is worth 10 Shop Your Way® Points.
Solid travel protections
The Citi Strata Premier® Card offers several popular travel protections including:
While there are cards that offer even more extensive travel protections at a higher annual fee, this is pretty comparable to what you’ll see with some of the top credit cards with travel insurance.
$100 annual hotel credit
You’ll also get a $100 hotel credit each year you hold the card. This benefit can easily outweigh the annual fee. All you have to do is book a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) through CitiTravel.com and you’ll get a $100 discount applied to the booking. You can pay with your card, your ThankYou® Points or a combination of the two.
foreign transaction fee
If you plan to travel abroad, the Citi Strata Premier® Card is a good choice for your wallet since you can avoid foreign transaction fees. Some cards charge an average of 3% when you use them outside of the U.S. so this benefit can add up to significant savings if you like to go overseas or island hopping.
$95 annual fee
The Citi Strata Premier® Card comes with a $95 annual fee. Although this is a reasonable annual fee compared to other travel credit cards, there are some rewards credit cards that come with no annual fee. For example, the Citi Custom Cash® Card, which offers 5% cash back on your top spending category each billing cycle, has a $0 annual fee. There’s also the Bilt World Elite Mastercard®, which allows you to transfer points to a list of airline and hotel partners and also comes with a $0 annual fee (see Rates & Fees).
No lounge access or elite status
If you’re looking for status perks for airline or hotel loyalty programs or airport lounge access, you won’t get them with this card. To get VIP-level travel perks, you’ll typically have to choose premium cards that have much higher annual fees, like The Platinum Card® from American Express (see rates & fees) or Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates & fees).
No intro APR on purchases or balance transfers
The Citi Strata Premier® Card isn’t ideal for financing large purchases or transferring balances, since there’s no intro APR period on purchases or balance transfers. That means you’ll be subject to interest charges if you don’t pay your balance in full each month.
If you’re looking for a card with an interest-free period for a year or longer, the Citi Simplicity® Card is a better choice. It offers a 0% intro APR for 21 months on Balance Transfers (then 18.24% - 28.99% (Variable) APR) and a 0% intro APR for 12 months on Purchases (then 18.24% - 28.99% (Variable) APR). There are also cards with even longer intro APRs on purchases and similar intro APRs on balance transfers.
If you’re looking for a travel rewards credit card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card may be a better choice than the Citi Strata Premier® Card. Both cards have a similar annual fee and travel perks, but the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a stronger list of travel transfer partners — including United, Southwest, JetBlue, Marriott, Hyatt and IHG. Plus, you’ll get primary rental car insurance, and Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are worth up to 75% more when redeemed for travel through the Chase TravelSM portal.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card doesn’t offer bonus points on gas purchases or in-person supermarket shopping, but does for streaming and online grocery delivery — making it a better choice for those who shop for food online.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is another $95 annual fee travel card that offers a more straightforward way to earn rewards (see rates & fees). You’ll earn 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card also provides up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®, which the Citi Strata Premier® Card Card doesn’t have.
However, just like the Citi Strata Premier® Card, you can transfer these rewards to a variety of hotel and airline programs.
For a higher annual fee ($325), the American Express® Gold Card offers even better rewards on worldwide restaurant and U.S. supermarket purchases than the Citi Strata Premier® Card (4X points versus the Citi Strata Premier® Card’s 3X points). Plus, you’ll earn accelerated rewards on flights, prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
You might find the higher annual fee worth it if you’re a foodie who’ll also take advantage of the card’s dining credit worth up to $120 each year ($10 monthly for qualifying restaurants; enrollment required). But if you’re just looking for an entry-level travel card, the Citi Strata Premier® Card is probably the way to go.
If you want to start earning travel rewards and happen to spend a good amount on groceries, gas and dining out, the Citi Strata Premier® Card could be a great fit for your wallet. You’ll start off with a generous sign-up bonus, enjoy 0% foreign transaction fees and can transfer points to a variety of travel partners. However, if you’re interested in premium travel perks — like elite status or airport lounge access — you may want to consider a travel credit card with a higher annual fee.
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To see rates & fees for American Express cards mentioned on this page, visit the links provided below:
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply
The information related to the Citi Custom Cash® Card has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.
The content above is not provided by any issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of LendingTree alone and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any issuer. The offers and/or promotions mentioned above may have changed, expired, or are no longer available. Check the issuer's website for more details.
