Citi Strata Premier Review
Tl;dr: You will need to book at least one $500+ hotel stay per year through Citi to break even on the annual fee, but the earning and redemption options are excellent.
The $95-fee Citi Strata Premier is Citi’s mid-range travel card, sitting between the no-fee Strata and premium Strata Elite. Since Citi added American Airlines as a transfer partner in the summer of 2025, Citi Thank You points have become extremely powerful, and the Strata Premier is an excellent way to earn them, with sign-up offers that can reach 75,000 points or more, and bonus points on numerous major spending categories like restaurants, groceries, gas, airfare, and hotels. Unfortunately, many might find it hard to earn the $100 hotel discount, and the annual fee may be tough to justify without it. For the right person, though, it could pay for itself while serving as a points-earning powerhouse.
Quick ratings
🟢 Good card
💸 Earner
🦥 Lazy
🛡️ Travel protections
✈️ Great redemptions
Bonus
The typical offer on this card is 60,000 points, but it has gone as high as 80,000 points. It is not uncommon to see offers of 70,000 points or more, and I recommend waiting for at least that many if possible.
Net fee
Annual fee:
$95
Credits and offsets:
$100 back on a single $500+ (before taxes and fees) hotel booking through Citi’s travel portal.
Unless you regularly book long and/or luxury hotel stays, it might be hard to take advantage of the Strata Premier’s $100 hotel credit, leaving you on the hook for the full $95 most years.
Earning and Points
3x: Restaurants
3x: Grocery stores
3x: Gas and EV charging
3x: Air travel and hotels (including via travel agencies)
10x: Hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com
1x: All other purchases
Points rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
Simple redemption:
Redeem for travel via Citi at 1¢ per point
Transfer partners:
American Airlines (easy redemptions, often high value); Choice Hotels, JetBlue, Wyndham Rewards (easy redemptions, moderate value); Leaders Club, Preferred Hotels and Resorts (opportunities for value on luxury stays); Avianca, Flying Blue, Singapore, Turkish, Qatar, Virgin Atlantic (some opportunities for value); Aeromexico, Accor, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, EVA Air, Qantas, Thai (limited use cases).
In my experience, American offers outstanding value on award flights: solid availability, good pricing on points, and minimal fees (with some exceptions, like partner awards with British Airways). Choice points, meanwhile, can be surprisingly valuable, especially when factoring in Citi’s 1:2 transfer ratio, meaning that 1,000 Citi points can become 2,000 Choice points. Citi also boasts a solid if unspectacular cast of additional transfer partners that can provide value if you are willing to learn to navigate them and find their sweet spots. Meanwhile, the ability to redeem points for travel through Citi offers a respectable value floor and an easy redemption option, albeit one just a notch below Chase and Capital One (which don’t require you to book travel through them to redeem points for 1¢ each) or Bilt (which offers 1.25¢ per point when booking through their portal).
Perks
None
Protections
No foreign transaction fees ✅
Trip Delay Insurance ✅ (up to $500, trip delayed by >6 hours)
Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance ✅
Baggage Insurance ✅
Baggage Delay Insurance
Rental Car Insurance ✅
Purchase Protection ✅
Return Protection 🚫
Extended Warranty ✅
Cell Phone Insurance 🚫
Travel Accident Insurance 🚫
Search the web for Citi’s official benefits guide.
Hacks
I’m not aware of any good hacks with the Premier (yet!).
Laziness Rating
🦥🦥🦥🦥
Earning an excellent 3x on almost every major category you could care about–dining, groceries, gas, flights, and hotels–it’s easy to get great value from the Strata Premier.
The only drawback is the need to book an expensive hotel stay to cancel out the annual fee—but the ability to recoup your annual fee in a single purchase is fairly straightforward, as these things go.
Alternatives
I am generally not a fan of ~$100-fee travel cards because it can generally be harder to recoup the annual fee than with higher-end (like the Capital One Venture X) or co-branded cards. The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Wells Fargo Autograph Journey are solid alternatives in the ~$100-fee space. Each offers a $50 credit (towards a hotel stay booked via Chase and airfare, respectively), which—unlike the Strata Premier—won’t cover the cost of the annual fee, but may be easier to use on an annual basis.
Partners
If you want to maximize your Citi points:
The Strata Elite earns 1.5x on base purchases, up to 6x on dining, and offers premium benefits like airport lounge access
The Custom Cash offers 5x on your highest qualifying spending category
The Double Cash earns 2x on all purchases
The Strata offers 3x on your choice of: Fitness Clubs, Select Streaming Services, Live Entertainment, Cosmetic Stores/Barber Shops/Hair Salons, or Pet Supply Stores
Conclusion
For the right person (one who can get full value from the $100 hotel credit), the Strata Premier is a very solid card with excellent earning power. Its great earning rates mean that it is a decent performer even for those who end up paying the full annual fee, although there are many cards out there that can offer comparable benefits with statement credits or other perks that can match or exceed their annual fees.
Last updated: January 2, 2026