The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card is the premium Citi ThankYou® Points earning card. It has a high annual fee but comes with a lot of perks and benefits that may make it worth the high fee for you.

Scroll to our benefits calculator at the bottom of the page to make your own valuation!

This card was introduced in July 2025 as a premium companion to the Citi Strata Premier® Card. If you aren’t sure you need all the premium perks, you can read my full comparison here.

Annual Fee

Annual Fee: $595

It costs $75 per year for each authorized user.

My Take: The $595 fee puts this at the lower end of cards other premium cards but that’s still a hefty amount. The cost-benefit analysis can be surprisingly favorable—especially in the first year. That’s because the major credits on this card (the $300 Hotel Credit, $200 Splurge Credit, and Admirals Club passes) operate on a calendar year basis rather than a cardmember year, the first year of holding this card offers outsized value.

This allows for the double dip or triple dip strategy that I’ll cover more below.

Earning Rates

This is what you earn when you make purchases on the card:

Citi Strata Elite℠ Card Perks

• • Up to $300 annual hotel credit (valid on hotel stays of at least two nights booked through CitiTravel.com). This is a calendar year credit.
  • Up to $200 annual Splurge credit (on your choice of up to two brands, including American Airlines, Best Buy, Live Nation, 1st Dibs, and Future Personal Training). This is a calendar year credit.
  • Up to $200 annual Black Lane credit
  • Priority Pass Select Membership
  • 4 American Airlines Admirals Club Passes per calendar year
  • Up to $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre Check

Like with other premium cards, the Citi Strata Elite comes with a lot of perks and credits to help offset the annual fee. If you’re able to make use of these credits, the card can be a good value. When deciding if a credit card is a good fit, it’s important to look at the credits and determine which ones are actually useful for your family.

Calendar Year Credits (and Double or Triple Dip)

Most of the credits on this card follow a calendar year which means they reset every year on January 1st. That opens up some opportunities for double or triple dipping credits, even when paying just one annual fee.

If you apply for the card in December, you’ll get the credits right away! Then they’ll reset on January 1st and you can use them again. Even when your 2nd annual fee posts, you still have 30 days from that point to make a decision on if you will be keeping the card or not. You may even be able to use those credits the following January.

$300 Hotel Credit

This credit is for up to $300 but does require a 2 night stay and requires you to book through Citi Travel. It works like a coupon — it will come off at the time of booking.

This is a calendar year credit which means it resets every year on January 1.

My Take: Citi Travel is powered by Booking.com which means prices are good and selection is plentiful. If you book a cheaper hotel, it should be easy to take advantage of this.

$200 Splurge Credit

To use this credit, you must select 1-2 brands from the list (American Airlines, Best Buy, Live Nation, 1st Dibs, and Future Personal Training) and enroll before making a purchase. You can find this under benefits in the app or website.

Then you can select up to 2 brands.

Once you’re enrolled, you can change your preferred brands at any time.

My Take: It’s easy to get the full value from this credit. If you fly on American Airlines, the credit can be used for flights, baggage fees, and in-flight purchases.

If you select Best Buy, you can even buy gift cards at Best Buy for places you shop at anyway like Amazon, Airbnb, etc and use them to do your regular spending. Data points have been showing that even if you buy gift cards online it will work. Don’t buy Best Buy gift cards online as these are processed by another website and WILL NOT trigger the credit. Instead look for 3rd party gift cards like Amazon.

This is a calendar year credit which means it resets every year on January 1. Everyone should be able to get this credit at least twice in the first 12 months of holding the card.

Blacklane

The Blacklane credit is good for $100 off, twice a year. A theoretical total of $200. This is a premium chauffeur service.

My Take: The rides are expensive, you’ll often end up spending more money than you save. Even after the credit, Blacklane usually costs considerably more than a rideshare or regular taxi, especially if you need space for more than 3 people. If you have 1-3 people you can likely use this and not spend much more than the $100 for a short ride in a city (like within Chicago or NYC).

Two Lounge Access Options

This card includes lounge access to two networks: Priority Pass and American Airlines Admirals Club.

Priority Pass Membership

The Priority Pass membership allows the cardholder and two guests to enter the lounge for free. This is for lounges only (does not include Priority Pass restaurants or experiences). For more on lounges see this detailed article.

Authorized users (which cost $75 to add) get their own Priority Pass and can also bring two guests into the lounge.

You actually don’t need to register for Priority Pass or have a physical Priority Pass card to access lounges; you can just present your Citi Strata Elite card at a Priority Pass lounge and gain access for the cardholder plus up to two complimentary guests. You can choose to request a digital Priority Pass account here.

My Take: This is slightly less valuable than that Chase premium cards which include 2 guests and also include Priority Pass experiences. A plus is that the cost to add an authorized user with lounge access is the lowest of any premium card.

Admirals Club Passes

Citi doesn’t have its own lounge network like Chase or American Express but this card does have a unique perk which is 4 Admirals Club passes per year. These will expire on December 31 of each year.

• You receive 4 per year.
• Each pass is good for 24 hours once it is activated and can be used multiple times in that 24 hour period. They can even be used on arrival.
• Each adult needs their own pass.
• Authorized users don’t get their own passes.
• Up to 3 kids under 18 can enter for free using an adult’s pass! That means a family of 8 could get into an Admirals Club with just two passes (as long as your kids are under 18).

SHARING: Official terms say that the primary cardholder must be present to use any passes. But our community has found that if the cardholder sends a screenshot of the Admirals Pass to friends/family — anyone can use it. They don’t seem to have a way to check against a database of who is a cardholder and the passes don’t have anyone’s name on them.

My Take: A great additional lounge option if you plan to fly OneWorld airlines at all.

Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Credit

You get a statement credit of up to $120 every four years for Trusted Traveler programs like Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

My Take: Everyone should have Global Entry or TSA Precheck! If you already have it you can use your credit to pay for a family member.

Travel and Purchase Protections

Extended Warranty Protection The Extended Warranty on this card has the longest potential warranty coverage.

• How it works: Up to $10,000 per covered item. The length of the manufacturer’s warranty or store warranty is doubled, up to a maximum of 24 months. We have used this benefit for anything from washing machines to clothes. The problem is the fact that it doubles. For longer warranties of 2+ years this gives you an additional 2 years. But if it’s a short warranty of 30 days, it would only give you 60 days whereas other cards give you a full year no matter the original terms.

Damage and Theft Protection $10,000 per claim and up to $50,000 per calendar year. 120 days of protection.

Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection This benefit was recently restored to premium Citi cards and covers you if your trip is canceled or cut short for reasons like sickness, injury, severe weather, or jury duty.

• Coverage: You can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per trip per passenger (and up to $10,000 per account per year) for non-refundable expenses per consecutive 12 month period.

• Crucial Details: To be covered, you must pay for the full amount of the trip with your Citi Strata Elite card (or a combination of the card and ThankYou points). Also, be aware that Citi’s coverage typically applies only to Round-Trip travel—one-way tickets are usually not eligible. We recommend booking with other cards with better trip cancellation protection for this year.

Other Travel Protections

• Trip Delay Protection: Reimbursement for expenses like meals and lodging if your travel is delayed. Round trip travel only. Full cost of transport must be paid on your card. $500 is the maximum claim per trip and you are able to make two claims per every consecutive 12-month period.

• Lost or Damaged Luggage: Coverage for bags that are lost or damaged by a common carrier. $5,000 maximum per trip ($2,000 for NY residents). Must pay in full with card and/or card points.

• Car Rental Coverage: This card provides primary car rental coverage when renting outside your primary country of residence (and Secondary coverage inside the U.S.).

My Take: Overall these aren’t great compared to other premium cards. The extended warranty is great for items that have a 2 year warranty already — otherwise for items with a warranty of 1 year or less, any other card offers equivalent protection. This card is missing return protection which other premium cards like Sapphire Reserve and the Platinum Card have. And the travel protections are generally too restrictive, not kicking in unless you pay for your full round-trip travel with the card.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card has no foreign transaction fees, making it a safe choice to use for all your international spending.

Points Sharing

Citi ThankYou program does allow you to transfer points to another Citi cardholder for free with some restrictions.

• How it works: You can send up to 100,000 points per year and receive up to 100,000 points per year.

• Why it matters: This makes it easy to pool points with a friend or family member to book a big award ticket.

• Note: Before you send points to a friend, make sure you have an immediate plan to use them! Any shared points expire 90 days after the transfer, so you’ll want to book quickly.

Access to The Reserve by Citi Travel

The Reserve is a collection of luxury hotels available to book through CitiTravel.com. When you make a reservation for one of these hotels using your Citi Strata Elite card, you get extra elite-like perks. While benefits vary by location and availability, they typically include:

• Free breakfast

• $100 experience credit

• Room upgrades

• Late checkout

Card Benefit Calculator

Card Benefit Checklist

Citi Strata Elite Transfer Partners

Is it worth it?

What do you need to keep in mind if you’re evaluating if this card makes sense for you?

If you look at these credits and they don’t match the way you spend, ignore this card! It will take mental energy to ensure you’re getting your money’s worth — besides the fact you’ll have to shell out $595 up front and then later try to make your money back on it!

However, unlike the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card has a unique “first year” value proposition that is hard to ignore. Because the credits reset on the calendar year (January 1st), you can potentially get double the value in your first year of card membership.

Ultimately, you should scroll up and use our Benefits Calculator. Be honest with yourself about how much you value the Splurge credit or the Hotel credit. If the math doesn’t work out to be positive, this might not be the card for you long-term.

Approval Odds

Citi doesn’t have specific approval guidelines listed on their website, but they are known to be sensitive to the number of recent credit inquiries on your report.

We recommend you only apply for this card with a strong credit score (usually 720+).

There are also a few specific “unwritten rules” for Citi cards that you should be aware of:

The 1/8 and 2/65 Rules These are general guidelines that the points community has observed:

• 1/8 Rule: You generally cannot be approved for more than 1 Citi card in an 8-day period.

• 2/65 Rule: You generally cannot be approved for more than 2 Citi cards in a 65-day period.

The 48-Month Bonus Restriction The terms for the welcome offer state: 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.​

Recent Inquiries (“Velocity”) Citi is notoriously sensitive to “velocity”—meaning how many cards you have opened recently with any bank, not just Citi. If you have opened a lot of new accounts in the last 6 months (even with excellent credit), you may see a denial for “too many recent inquiries.” It is often best to apply for this card when you have been “quiet” with your credit report for a few months.