Citi Strata Elite Credit Card Review (2025.10 Update: 100k Offer!)

physixfan 2025-10-08 2025-10-08

2025.10 Update: The online offer is now 100k, which is the best ever offer on this card!

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Benefits

100k Welcome Bonus: Earn 100,000 ThankYou Points (TYP) after spending $6,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.This is the best offer on this card.

We value TYP at 1.6 cents/point, making the 100k highest welcome bonus worth approximately $1,600!

Points Transfer: Points earned from this card can be transferred to airline and hotel partners.You can also redeem them for cash at a fixed 1 cent/point rate.

Points Earning Structures:

12x TYP on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked through Citi Travel

6x TYP on Flights booked via Citi Travel

6x TYP on Dining during “Citi Nights” (Fridays & Saturdays, 6 PM – 6 AM ET)

3x TYP on Dining (regular hours)

1.5x TYP on all other purchases

$300 Hotel Credit: Up to $300 per calendar year in statement credits for hotel bookings of 2 nights or more through Citi Travel.

$200 Splurge Credit: Get up to $200 in annual credits at up to 2 chosen partner merchants.Current merchants include: 1stDibs, American Airlines (exclusions apply), Best Buy, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation (exclusions apply).

$200 Blacklane Credit: Receive $100 credit every 6 months for Blacklane airport transfer services.

4 Admirals Club Passes: Four American Airlines Admirals Club passes per calendar year.

Priority Pass Select: Cardholders receive a separate Priority Pass Select membership for lounge access worldwide.

Cardholder can bring up to 2 guests for free.

No foreign transaction fee.

Disadvantages

$595 Annual Fee: Not waived the first year.Citigold members ($200k assets required) get a $145 annual fee discount, which makes the annual fee $450.Note: Annual fees do not count toward the welcome bonus spending requirement.

Introduction to TYP

You can earn TYP with Citi Strata Elite, Citi Strata Premier, Citi Strata, Citi Custom Cash, Citi Double Cash, etc.

You can add all these cards into the same thankyou.com account, and points that are about to expire will be redeemed first in the order in which they expire automatically.

In most cases, TYP never expire.But closing account, product change, or receiving points from other people may cause TYP on that account to expire.

If you have Citi Strata Premier or Citi Strata Elite or Citi Prestige (Discontinued), TYP can be transferred to some airline miles.

The best way to use TYP is to 1:1 transfer them to American Airlines miles (Oneworld) or EVA Air (BR) miles (Star Alliance).Other good options are: Cathay Pacific (CX) miles (Oneworld), Avianca (AV) miles (Star Alliance), Singapore Airlines (SQ) miles (Star Alliance), Flying Blue miles (SkyTeam), Virgin Atlantic (VS) miles (Non-alliance), etc.If you use TYP in this way, the value is about 1.6 cents/point.

You can redeem your TYP at a fixed rate 1 cents/point towards cash.

If you have Citi Prestige (Discontinued), you can redeem your TYP at a fixed rate 1.25 cents/point towards air tickets on thankyou.com.This is a common way to use TYP.

Points+cash is available when redeeming for air tickets, so no need to worry if you do not have enough TYP.

If you have Citi Rewards+ (Discontinued), you can get 10% back when redeeming TYP, up to 100k TYP per year.This feature further boosts the value of TYP.[Expired]

In summary, we estimate that TYP are worth about 1.6 cents/point.

For more information about TYP, see Maximize the Credit Card Points Values (overview), and Introduction to TYP: How to Earn & Introduction to TYP: How to Use (very detailed).

Recommended Application Time

[1/48 Rule] Bonus ThankYou®Points are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi Strata Elite℠ account in the past 48 months or if you converted another Citi credit card account on which you earned a new account bonus in the last 48 months into a Citi Strata Elite.

[8/65 Rule] You can apply for at most 1 Citi cards every 8 days, and at most 2 Citi cards every 65 days, no matter approved or not.

Best to apply with fewer than 3 hard inquiries in the last 6 months (even though Citi’s limit is 6).

Citi values the number of recent hard pulls a lot, we recommend you apply when there’s less than 3 hard pulls in the past 6 months (Citi generally requires less than 6 hard pulls, but this card is different).

We recommend you apply for this card after you have a credit history of at least one year.

Summary

This card is not very compelling, with a $595 annual fee and only 80k limited-time welcome offer.The statement credits are relatively easy to use (not monthly like other cards), but even if you maximize the $300 hotel and $200 Splurge credits, it barely offsets the fee.

Unless you book a lot through CitiTravel, it’s hard to justify this card.

If your main goal is to transfer TYP to travel partners, the Citi Strata Premier ($95 annual fee) is more than enough.

Related Cards

Recommended Downgrade Options

Citi Strata: Best downgrade path to preserve TYP.Downgrading to non-TYP cards like Citi Double Cash or Custom Cash may cause existing TYP to expire in 60 days.

Historical Offers Chart

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Frequently Asked Questions

Certainly. Unlike personal loans, you won't face any penalties for settling your balance ahead of schedule. However, it's crucial to keep in mind that if your credit card comes with a 0% introductory offer, it's essential to clear your balance completely before the 0% promotion expires and interest charges apply.

However, you can include additional cardholders, each with their own card. While sharing the single credit limit, the primary cardholder remains responsible for settling the debt.

Potentially, yes. Credit card APRs are typically variable, allowing lenders to change rates, impacting your monthly payments. Additionally, be mindful that introductory 0% offers can lead to higher interest rates once they expire. So, it's wise to clear your balance before that happens, if feasible.

Indeed, credit builder cards exist for those with less-than-ideal credit scores. These cards offer lower credit limits (typically £150 to £1,200) and higher interest rates. Responsible use, including full and on-time payments, can gradually boost your creditworthiness, potentially opening doors to better credit card offers down the line.