Citibank finally launched its long-anticipated Strata Elite card. The card has a $595 annual fee (plus $75 per authorized user); Priority Pass; four annual AA Admirals Club passes; and rebates (AKA “coupons”) worth up to $700 per year. Full details can be found here. Below, I’ve listed common questions and answers about the new card. If you have additional questions, please post them in the comment section below.
Card Overview
This display shows a high-level view of the Strata Elite card:
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $1291 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 Blacklane credit valued at $80, $200 "Splurge" credit valued at $160, $300 hotel credit via Citi Travel valued at $180 Click to learn about first year value estimates 100K Points 100,000 points after $4,000 spend in 3 months. This offer is available in-branch or via email.$595 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: 80,000 points after $4,000 spend in 3 months available online. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: Excellent portfolio of transfer partners, but mediocre bonus categories and a so-so group of credits. Recommend pairing this with Citi Premier and/or Double Cash. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 12X hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel ✦ 6X airfare booked through Citi Travel ✦ 6X dining between 6pm and 6am EST Fridays and Saturdays ✦ 3X dining all other times ✦ 1.5X everywhere else Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Citi. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Transfer points to airline and hotel partners ✦ $300 annual (calendar year) hotel credit on a stay of 2 nights or more when booked with Citi Travel ✦ $200 in annual (calendar year) statement credits on your choice of up to 2 of: 1stDibs, American Airlines, Best Buy®, Future Personal Training, or Live Nation ✦ $200 in annual private chauffeur credit with Blacklane ($100 Jan-June and July-Dec) ✦ Priority Pass Select membership with two free guests (no restaurants) ✦ 4 American Airlines Admirals Club passes per calendar year (for one adult and up to three children) ✦ $120 Global Entry® or TSA PreCheck® application fee credit ✦ Travel protections ✦ $145 annual fee rebate for CitiGold and Citi Private Client members See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
How can I get the 100K offer? I don’t live near a Citibank branch
At this time, the online offer for the Strata Elite card is only 80,000 points, but the in-branch offer is for 100,000 points (after $4,000 spend in 3 months).
Branch bankers can email 100K application links to you. Simply call around to different Citibank branches until you find a banker who can send you a link. Citi has a location finder site you can use (online.citi.com/US/ag/citibank-location-finder). Make sure to filter the view to bank branches rather than ATMs.
Can I earn a welcome bonus by product changing a different Citi card to this one?
No
Is this card worth getting for its welcome bonus?
Yes! Citi ThankYou Rewards points are more valuable than ever now that you can transfer points to American Airlines. You will have to pay the first-year annual fee, but when the second-year annual fee comes due, you can then decide whether to keep the card, cancel it (not recommended), or downgrade it to a less expensive or no-annual-fee card (I recommend downgrading to a card that earns ThankYou points to keep your points alive). If you apply mid-year, then you should be able to do well with the card’s coupons in your first 12 months. For example, if you obtain the card in August, it will be possible to earn up to $1,200 in credits before downgrading the card next August:
- August through December this year:
- $300 Hotel Benefit (for 2 night or longer stays booked through Citi Travel)
- $200 Splurge Credit (rebates for AA, Best Buy, and other options)
- $100 Private Chauffeur Credit with Blacklane
- January through July next year:
- $300 Hotel Benefit (for 2 night or longer stays booked through Citi Travel)
- $200 Splurge Credit (rebates for AA, Best Buy, and other options)
- $100 Private Chauffeur Credit with Blacklane (it may even be possible to earn this one a second time next year since the credit resets in July)
Is this card worth keeping long-term?
This will vary greatly from person to person. My recommendation is to try it out for a year to see how much you value the card’s perks and coupons. My bet is that for most people the answer will hinge on whether the card’s $300 hotel benefit is worthwhile. Can you find the hotels you’re looking for? Are they reasonably priced through Citibank?
How can I get an automatic annual $145 rebate?
Citigold customers with the Strata Elite card get an automatic $145 rebate each year. Citigold Private Client customers get a $595 rebate in their first year, and then a $145 rebate each year thereafter.
Citigold: Citigold is intended for customers who maintain a minimum combined average monthly balance of at least $200,000 in eligible linked deposit, retirement and investment accounts. One way to accomplish that is with Citi Self Invest, which is a self-directed, commission-free online trading account.
Citigold Private Client: Citigold Private Client is intended for customers who maintain a minimum combined average monthly balance of at least $1,000,000 in eligible linked deposit, retirement, and investment accounts.
Can I apply and earn the welcome bonus even though I already have the Strata Premier card?
Yes.
The only restriction currently listed by Citi is “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.”
Can I apply and earn the welcome bonus even though I already have the Prestige card?
Yes
Can I keep my Citi Prestige card?
For now, yes. The Prestige card hasn’t been available new for many years and there has been concern that Citi may force a product change to the Strata Elite card now that it’s available. The official word we’ve received from Citi, though, is as follows:
Citi Prestige cardmembers can continue to use their card as they normally would. There are no changes to the Citi Prestige Card and its benefits.
That said, a Citi employee reached out to tell me that he heard that all Prestige cards would be converted to Strata Elite cards in 2026. I asked our official contact if that was true and the response was as follows:
We don’t have anything to share at this time.
To me, that sounds dangerously close to “yes, we’re going to convert the Prestige card to the Strata Elite in the future, but we’re not allowed to tell you that.”
Do Citi Travel hotel bookings earn hotel points and elite credit?
To be determined. Our Citi contact claims that the answer here is yes. They wrote, “You can connect other hotel or airline loyalty accounts to Citi Travel and earn points simultaneously through those accounts.” The problem is that I don’t believe them. I don’t think they’re lying, I just don’t think that whoever gave them this answer understands how the portal works. With other bank portals like Chase, Amex, and Capital One, only select hotel bookings offer rewards directly from the hotel chain. If Citi had responded that hotel rewards were possible only through their new premium hotel collections (The Reserve by Citi Travel and Hotel Collection), I would have felt more confident about the answer. But a blanket “yes” seems incredibly unlikely to be the correct answer.
Lounge Access Questions
Does the Priority Pass membership include restaurants?
No
How many guests are allowed with Priority Pass?
The Priority Pass membership offers 2 free guests per visit, then $35 for each additional guest.
Do authorized users get their own Priority Pass?
Yes, and also with 2 free guests per visit.
Do authorized users get their own Admirals Club passes?
No
What are the rules for using the 4 annual AA Admirals Club passes?
- Once redeemed, a Pass is valid for a 24-hour period and can be used in multiple locations during that time
- The primary cardmember must redeem one Pass to enter an Admirals Club lounge and may redeem available passes for each accompanying adult 18 years of age or older.
- The primary cardmember must be present with each accompanying adult for them to enter any Admirals Club lounge location
- Up to 3 children under 18 years of age who are traveling with an adult who redeemed a Pass may also enter the lounge
- To access lounge:
- the primary cardmember must present for themselves and on behalf of accompanying adults:
- a Pass located in their AAdvantage Wallet (located in the American Airlines Mobile App);
- OR their boarding pass including their AAdvantage® number.
- The primary cardmember and any accompanying adults must also present:
- (i) their current government-issued I.D.; and
- (ii) a boarding pass for same-day travel on an eligible flight, which includes any departing or arriving flight that is
- (1) marketed or operated by American Airlines,
- (2) marketed and operated by any oneworld® carrier,
- or (3) marketed and operated by Alaska Airlines;
- and (iii) any additional documentation required by American Airlines.
- the primary cardmember must present for themselves and on behalf of accompanying adults:
When exactly will I earn 6x at restaurants?
The Strata Elite card bizarrely offers 6x for dining only on Friday and Saturday nights based on Eastern time. In other words, you need to know what time it is in New York to determine whether you’ll earn 6x. And keep in mind that if you are in an area that doesn’t do daylight saving time or where it’s not on the same schedule as in the United States, the difference between your local time and Eastern time will change throughout the year. Additionally, the bonus is based on when the transaction is authorized rather than when it is processed. The card earns 3x for dining at all other times.
US East Coast 6x
- Friday 6PM to 6AM Saturday
- Saturday 6PM to 6AM Sunday
US West Coast 6x
- Friday 3PM to 3AM Saturday
- Saturday 3PM to 3AM Sunday
Arizona & Hawaii (no daylight saving time)
Daylight saving time (when clocks “spring forward”) is in effect in the US each spring through fall:
- Mar 9, 2025 – Nov 2, 2025
- Mar 8, 2026 – Nov 1, 2026
- Mar 14, 2027 – Nov 7, 2027
Arizona 6x (except for the Navajo Nation)
Arizona is on Mountain standard time and does not observe daylight saving time (except for the Navajo Nation). So, Arizona’s 6x times will depend on whether or not Daylight Saving Time is in effect elsewhere:
Arizona when daylight saving time is in effect (spring through fall)
- Friday 3PM to 3AM Saturday
- Saturday 3PM to 3AM Sunday
Arizona when standard time is in effect elsewhere (fall through spring)
- Friday 4PM to 4AM Saturday
- Saturday 4PM to 4AM Sunday
Hawaii 6x
Hawaii doesn’t observe daylight saving time, so Hawaii’s 6x times will depend on whether or not Daylight Saving Time is in effect elsewhere:
Hawaii when daylight saving time is in effect elsewhere (spring through fall)
- Friday Noon to Midnight
- Saturday Noon to Midnight
Hawaii when standard time is in effect (fall through spring)
- Friday 1PM to 1AM Saturday
- Saturday 1PM to 1AM Sunday
Terms:
Citi Nights
You will earn 6 ThankYou Points for each $1 spent at restaurants, including restaurant delivery services, for purchases authorized between Friday 6:00 PM through Saturday 6:00 AM ET, and Saturday 6:00 PM through Sunday 6:00 AM ET when you use your Citi Strata Elite card.Citi Nights eligibility is based on the day and time your restaurant purchase is authorized, not when the transaction is posted to your Account. For example, when paying for your dinner, the restaurant may authorize your purchase at 8:00 PM ET on a Friday night, but the transaction does not post to your Account until Monday. In this example, your purchase will qualify, because the purchase was authorized during Citi Nights. ThankYou Points will be issued to your Account once the purchase posts to your Account and is based on the amount of the final transaction, not the authorization amount.
Restaurant purchases made outside of Citi Nights may post to your Account on a Friday or Saturday. However, these purchases will not qualify for Citi Nights if the authorization for the purchase occurred at a time other than between Friday 6:00 PM through Saturday 6:00 AM ET, or Saturday 6:00 PM through Sunday 6:00 AM ET. For example, a restaurant purchase you made on Thursday night that posts to your Account on Saturday night would not qualify because the authorization took place outside the Citi Nights timeframe.
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I’m not sure if this has already been posted, but when I called a branch to email me the application, they would not send it to me because I am “not a retail customer”. She said I can walk into any branch and they would help me that way
Is booking through Citi travel with Strata Elite actually preferably than booking direct with American Airlines, because AA customer service is nonexistent? Had flight cancelled recently and the line at the airport was six miles long so wondering if frequent irregular operations at large hubs like DFW and air traffic control shortages mean World Legend/Cit/AA partnership could actually improve things with Strata Elite?
Does the $75 AU fee provide any value beyond the full Priority Pass membership?
To get the Citi Gold discount in Annual fees, do I have to setup the investment account first and get Citi Gold status before applying for the Elite card or will the AF credit with Gold appear later if I open Citi Gold account after getting Citi Elite card ? How does the AF credit work with Citi Prestige card with Citi Gold ?
+1 Would also like to know & have a related question of my own: What happens if you are Citi Gold and after the AF is charged/paid, you drop down from Citi Gold?
Does spending in the Citi travel portal for hotels and splurge category count towards the 4k required to earn welcome bonus even though those purchases qualify for credits? The fine print says 300 hotel rebate is applied at checkout. Splurge rebate says 1-2 billing cycles. I imagine the splurge spend would count. The hotels, I’m not so sure.
Can P2 put in P1’s AA# for the Admirals Club passes and can those passes be used in Flagship lounges? If so, can P2’s TYP be transferred to P1’s AA account?
FYI I added a section describing when 6x dining kicks in. Note that you have to be aware of what time zone you’re in AND whether or not your location observes daylight saving time. LOL. Citi’s support agents are in for a world of hurt.
You should add typically Europe and Asia time zone too. This is a travel card :). This one definitely added a new dimension to Citi craziness ~~
To me, it’d be easier to say “…when Eastern Daylight Saving time is in effect.” Etc.
On the iPhone, I would add “New York” to Clock >> World Clock. That’s if I decide to get the card.
Did they come up with “Citi Nights” to make it very difficult to earn 6X? It’s as if they’re trying to tell you to “use Amex Gold or another card for dining, but if you happen to remember the limited time window, use our card.”
The clock app on my Android phone allows me to enter any number of cities, and a widget allows me to display all the different clocks on the screen. I currently have New York, Dhaka, Bangkok, Milan, Santa Fe, San Francisco and Anchorage showing. But you just need to add any Eastern city to be able to know whether you’re “in the zone” for Citi.
[…] it’s worth noting that another source has suggested that the Prestige cards will be converted over to Strata Elite in […]
the citi nights thing just screams cheap. Does it really cost them that much to make it a continuous 48 hours over the weekend? Unbelievably stupid
What crazy thing did Citi…
I still can’t get over how incredible useless and stupid the “Citi Nights” 6x is!
Does someone know if this card (or what other Citi cards in the Prestige/Strata lines) offers a pay yourself back w/ points for annual fees? And if so, at what rate?
I don’t believe it does
How risky to use someone else’s 100k offer link that are floating around?
I used the doc link and got approved yesterday. Its a legit Citi link. Already have the AA Admirals club passes in my AA account and card to be delivered in 3 business days. I can’t speak to the risk factor for someone else. I personally jumped on it without hesitation.
could see some hilarious situation where arizona cardholders are taking a late lunch and stalling/begging the server not to swipe the card until 3pm to get extra points lol
If it’s your regular place, 3pm is an ideal quiet time to buy a large gift card.
Does each AA lounge day pass allow for free access to a spouse and children? (or do you have to use 1 pass per adult?)
You have to use one pass per adult. Up to 3 children under 18 years of age who are traveling with an adult who redeemed a Pass may also enter the lounge
There’s another question that hasn’t been answered yet (at least I haven’t seen the answer). What exclusions are there for AA purchases? Ancillary fees (baggage, seat selection, etc.)? Taxes and fees on award redemptions? The same exclusions as AA gift cards?
American Airlines purchases that qualify for the Splurge credit are items billed by American Airlines or American Airlines Vacations as the merchant of record. Products or services that do not qualify for the Splurge credit are car rentals and hotel reservations, purchase of AAdvantage® status boost or renewal, and AA Cargo™ products and services.
Does this mean Aa ticket can trigger the benefit?
Yes
I’d love to see a “best uses of splurge credit for AA” – any way to time-shift the credit indefinitely? Buying a flight and canceling for flight credit is only valid for a year; I assume AA doesn’t issue its own GCs (and even if they do, can you use multiple payment methods on AA?), so that wouldn’t trigger the credit…
AA does sell GCs.