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For those (myself included) who've been waiting earnestly for the scoop on what's changing with the Citi Premier℠ Card, today is your lucky day. The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is here and is open to new applicants.
- 3X points per $1 on airfare and hotels and at gas stations, restaurants, and supermarkets
- Annual Hotel Benefit: Save $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when you book through CitiTravel.com
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 10X points per $1 on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
- 3X points per $1 spent on airfare, and other hotel purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent at gas and EV charging stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining at restaurants, including cafes, bars and lounges
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Here's what you need to know about the Citi Strata Premier and what aspects of it evolved from the now-retired Citi Premier.
All You Need To Know About the Citi Strata Premier Card
We can't blame you if you've come to appreciate the Citi Premier. Since its overhaul in 2020, the Citi Premier has been a valuable wallet addition for travelers. Not only has it offered competitive benefits and strong ThankYou® Point-earning rates, but it also did so while posting a bargain $95 annual fee.
However, as you might have gathered from recent news, Citi is retiring its flagship mid-tier card and replacing it with an updated and renamed Citi Strata Premier.
So, what's new? And what's staying the same? Here are the details.
Annual fee
Nowadays, when a bank “refreshes” a card, it's usually synonymous with an annual fee increase. That's not the case here. The Citi Strata Premier will offer the same $95 annual fee as the Citi Premier.
Earning categories
The Citi Strata Premier‘s earning categories should look familiar, too. On spending, you'll earn ThankYou Points at the following rates:
- 10X points per $1 spent on hotel and car rental bookings through the Citi Travel Portal
- 3X points per $1 spent at restaurants
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 3X points per $1 spent at gas stations
- 3X points per $1 spent at electric vehicle (EV) charging stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on air travel and hotels (not booked through Citi Travel)
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Three new bonus categories are available: the 10X for hotel and car rental reservations through Citi Travel and the 3X category for EV charging stations. What's most interesting about the 10X category is that it was a limited-time offering on the Citi Premier and is now a permanent addition to the Citi Strata Premier.
Related: The Best Rewards Card Offers for This Month
Benefits
Citi Strata Premier cardholders can take advantage of four new benefits previously unavailable to Citi Premier cardholders.
- Common carrier trip cancellation and interruption coverage
- Trip delay protection
- Lost or damaged luggage protection
- MasterRental car rental coverage
One of the primary complaints about the old version of the card was that it lacked car rental insurance, trip delay protection, and trip cancellation and interruption insurance. Citi eliminated these benefits in 2019 across several cards but is reintroducing them starting with the new Citi Strata Premier. This follows the addition of insurance protections on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® in the middle of 2023.
Related: Top Credit Cards for Trip Interruption and Trip Cancellation Insurance
Alongside the new elements, cardholders will continue to enjoy staple benefits afforded by the old Citi Premier, including:
- $100 annual hotel savings benefit
- World Elite Mastercard benefits.
- Purchase protection
- Extended warranty
- No foreign transaction fees
- Access to Citi Private Pass and Citi Concierge
Welcome bonus
With the introduction of the Citi Strata Premier, new applicants can take advantage of an offer worth 60,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
Like with the old version of the card, you still can redeem your ThankYou Points for 1¢ apiece toward air travel, hotels, rental cars, activities, and more through the ThankYou Travel portal. Or, you can transfer your points to one of Citi's transfer partners — shown below — for potentially much more value.
Welcome bonus eligibility
Citi's application rules and restrictions are simple in scope, with the most relevant rule being its 48-month restriction. Specifically, Citi's application page states:
Bonus ThankYou® Points are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi Premier® or a Citi Strata PremierSM account in the past 48 months.
Final Thoughts
There's a fair bit to get excited over with the newly refreshed Citi Strata Premier℠ Card. To summarize, Citi has taken the old Citi Premier and added three new earning categories plus four valuable travel benefits while maintaining all of what we liked about the previous version—including the modest annual fee.
With these changes, the Citi Strata Premier will easily become a more formidable point-earning force. There is an abundance of things you can do with ThankYou Points, and it's now even easier to earn them. Even better, the card has improved under-the-hood benefits, of which travel insurance and protection stands out as a big win for travelers.
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