Citi Strata Elite℠ Card
$595 annual fee · $730/yr in printed statement credits · 1.5x on everything else · no foreign transaction fees
Earn rates · how we got this
| Category | Rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Dining | 3x | uncapped |
| Everything else | 1.5x | uncapped |
| Hotels at Citi Travel (cititravel.com) only — anywhere else in this category the card earns its base rate, so it is excluded from every ranking on this site |
12x | uncapped |
| Issuer travel portal portal only — pays only if you book through the issuer's own site, so it is excluded from every ranking on this site |
6x | uncapped |
See how it ranks: best dining cards.
What we have watched change
Differences between one check of the issuer's page and the next — not a reconstruction of the card's history. We only know what we were watching when it moved.
- Welcome offer Citi Strata Elite℠ Card welcome bonus rose from 75,000 to 80,000. 2026-09-14
Signup bonus: 80,000 points after $4,000 in 3 months. We never count unearned bonuses in savings math — a bonus you don't clear is worth zero. Bonus figure confirmed on the issuer's page 2026-09-14.
Statement credits — $730/yr on paper · how we got this
| Credit | Value | How it pays |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Hotel Benefit | $300/year | annual |
| Annual Splurge Credit℠ | $200/year | annual · enrollment required |
| Annual Blacklane Credit | $200/year | twice a year |
| Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit | $30/year | once every 4 years |
Monthly and quarterly credits expire if unused — that's where most of their printed value quietly disappears.
Non-cash perks
- Priority Pass™ Select membership (1,500+ lounges; covers primary, authorized users, and up to 2 guests; valued at $469)
- 4 Admirals Club® Citi Strata Elite℠ Passes per calendar year (~$300+ value, ~50 lounges)
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption, Trip Delay, Lost or Damaged Luggage, MasterRental (car rental) coverage
- Extended Warranty and Purchase Assurance Plus
- Points transfer to American Airlines, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific, Eva Air, Choice Hotels, The Leading Hotels of the World
- Citi Entertainment presale/exclusive event access
- Citigold/Citigold Private Client banking relationship credits ($145/yr, $595 first-year for Private Client) if primary cardmember also holds qualifying Citigold banking relationship — conditional, not a standard cardholder credit
Does the fee earn out? · how we got this
The printed statement credits ($730/yr) cover the $595 fee on paper — if you'd spend that way anyway. Credits you have to remember, enroll in, or change behavior for are worth less than face value. Our app tracks each one against your actual charges.
Is this $595 fee worth it? See the break-even math →
Check the current offer on the issuer's site → Where a card link will appear once available — no link on this page pays us today.
Who this card is not for
Every point below is a term the issuer prints, read off this card's own row in our database — not an opinion about the card. two things on this card rule out a kind of spender:
- Anyone who doesn't spend at Citi Travel (cititravel.com). Its largest printed rate, 12x on hotels, pays only at Citi Travel (cititravel.com). Anywhere else it earns its base 1.5x, so the headline number is a loyalty rate rather than a category rate — which is why no ranking on this site counts it.
- Anyone who won't work the statement credits. The $595 fee is argued for by $730 of printed credits, spread across 4 separate credits, and 1 that must be enrolled in before it pays. Each one only pays if you were going to spend that way anyway; ignore them and the whole $595 has to come back through earn rates instead.
Compared head-to-head
- Citi Strata Elite℠ Card vs Chase Sapphire Reserve — which earns more?
- Chase Sapphire Reserve vs The Platinum Card from American Express vs Citi Strata Elite℠ Card — all three side by side
- Capital One Venture X vs Citi Strata Elite℠ Card vs The Platinum Card from American Express — all three side by side
Don't want the fee any more?
Citi Strata Elite℠ Card can normally be product-changed to two lower-fee cards in the Citi ThankYou family instead of being closed — which keeps the account, its age and its credit line.
Comparing cards in the same currency? See the best cards that earn Citi ThankYou points →
More from Citi
Which card should this spending actually be on? The demo re-scores a year of realistic spending against every card in a wallet — free, no signup. See it on sample data →
Verified 2026-09-15 against issuer terms · sources: www.citi.com · www.citi.com · www.nerdwallet.com. Spot an error? Tell us.