Danny the Deal Guru reports on a rumored Citi Strata Premier refresh, based on survey questions that recently went out to existing cardholders. Keep in mind that surveys are not always reliable indicators of changes to come, but the changes being floated here would represent a significant downgrade in the simplicity of the Strata Premier.
Current Citi Strata Premier details
Currently, the Citi Strata Premier is a solid all-around card, and a particularly good choice in some households as a “Player 2” card, since it bonuses many of the most common spending categories, like gas, dining, and grocery.
Here are the current key card details:
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
|---|
FM Mini Review: Very strong earnings for spend. Excellent bonus categories. Points transferable to select airlines. Recommend pairing this card with Citi Double Cash Click here for our complete card review $95 Annual Fee Earning rate: 10X hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel℠ ✦ 3X grocery ✦ 3X dining ✦ 3X gas stations & EV charging ✦ 3X flights, hotels, travel agencies ✦ 1x 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 ✦ $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit ($100 off a $500+ hotel stay, excluding taxes and fees, when booked through Citi Travel) ✦ Travel protections See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
Changes being considered
According to Danny the Deal Guru, the annual fee would increase to $195, and we would see new coupon credits added. Bonus categories would become significantly more complicated. Here are the rumored card details:
- $195 annual fee
- $120 statement credit for TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry (every four years)
- Up to $100 Splurge Credit ($50 semi-annually for purchases with American Airlines, Best Buy or Live Nation)
- 2 Priority Pass lounge visits per year
- 10X on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel
- 4X on flights booked through Citi Travel
- 4X on Restaurants during “Citi Nights” (Friday & Saturday, 6 PM – 6 AM ET), on up to $25,000 in spending annually
- 3X on flights & hotels booked directly with the airline or hotel
- 3X on “select transit” (including car rentals, ferries, commuter railways, subways, taxis/limousines/car services, passenger railways, bridge and road tolls, parking lots/garages, and bus lines)
- 2X restaurants (outside of Citi Nights)
- 2X supermarkets
- 2X gas & EV charging stations
- 1X everywhere else
- Annual hotel credit: Either $150 credit for hotel bookings on Citi Travel (2 nights minimum / $75 semi-annually) OR $200 credit for hotels on The Reserve Collection bookings on Citi Travel (2 nights minimum / $100 semi-annually)
- Annual Dining Credit: Receive a $100 credit, applied at checkout, at select restaurants ($50 semi-annually)
Quick Thoughts
First, I want to reiterate that surveys aren’t always reliable indicators of changes to come. Card issuers often send out surveys to gauge reaction. If we see any changes, it is more likely that we’d see some of the surveyed changes, but likely not all of them (or not exactly as surveyed). No changes have been announced, and if any changes were to come to pass, they would likely be announced well ahead of being implemented for existing cardholders. I certainly wouldn’t make any long-term card decisions yet based on the surveyed possibilities.
That said, I think the changes being floated here would risk complicating the Strata Premier out of relevance.
It would be really disappointing to see Citi continue the stupidity of the “Citi Nights” idea that assumes that everyone who gets a travel rewards credit card dines on weekend East Coast hours. A 2X “bonus” category just isn’t exciting at all on a card with a $195 annual fee, so those 2X bonus categories aren’t very appealing on their own, and seem even less generous when compared to the chance to earn 3X in many of those categories on the Strata Premier as it stands currently.
While all issuers seem to be making a play to try to convince consumers to book travel through the credit card portal, the multiple different travel rates here combined with reduced earning in popular categories like dining and grocery seem like they would significantly narrow the appeal of this card to just those who are primarily interested in booking travel through Citi. If that’s your jam, you’d probably be better off with the Strata Elite.
Today, the Strata Premier is a pretty compelling “Player 2” card for many folks. For instance, my wife primarily spends money on gas, grocery, and dining, so this is a card I can easily put in her wallet for those categories, and I can pair it with a Double Cash, and she’s got a solid all-around setup. I wouldn’t see doing that if these changes come to pass.
All that said, those who can eke value out of the coupons may find it to be a slightly better deal if these changes come to pass. I just can’t see the juice being worth the squeeze.
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Nick, I need a new card and I need to enter the Citi points system. I have been checking daily for a higher offer with no luck. Do I just get this one now? I don’t want the $595 elite annual fee….
I wouldn’t keep it if they make those changes. While I dislike coupons, I dislike tiny coupons even more
Hopefully these don’t come to pass! I do not need any more coupons… the simplicity of this card is the value proposition here.
I will say, as far as Citi Nights go, getting 6x at restaurants on the Strata Elite on Fridays and Saturdays has been more fun than I thought it would be… 4x would not be compelling on this card though.
All that said, if these changes do happen, looks like I’ll be product changing to another Custom Cash!
Has anyone told Citi that the first step in enshitification is being good to customers first? You need to pick up a big user base before you turn the screws on them and make every product worse in every conceivable way. Citi doesn’t have enough cardholders relative to Chase and Amex to be making their products crap so quickly.
Between highly “meh” Strata Elite rollout, the devaluation of Choice / Preferred Hotel transfers, and now this, Citi is worryingly close to destroying their value proposition.
One silver lining, though, is that if Citi does manage to continue to bungle things up, it’s possible that AA miles might actually not need to be devalued due to inflation. Maybe.
Nick, this was first reported in the credit card sub-reddit. Within that thread, there were multiple reports, corroborated by others, that the version of the card reported here was just 1 of many other options. There were users who said they saw a different version that kept the 3x multipliers on gas, groceries, restaurants, but removed some of the credits like the TSA precheck. It also had a set and forget credit that credited users $10 a month if they had enough recurring bills paid on the card. So while I think it’s clear that Citi is considering a refresh, the details of said refresh is likely not settled at all.
Yes. I’ve seen other proposals.
I’ll transfer my point balance to American Airlines and close the card if it goes this route. I have enough coupons to deal with on the CSR.
2x on supermarkets and restaurants would be a nuisance. It has been my go-to global card for those categories (supermarkets always, and restaurants when Amex Gold isn’t accepted).
So tired of the coupons! This was a great card because it was SIMPLE.
My problem with Citi nights is actually the opposite of what you suggest. I live in the Midwest and often travel to the west coast. Citi nights are GREAT when you are on PST as Citi Nights start at 3 PM and go until well after I am asleep. Citi nights also work great for me when I’m at home (start at 5 PM so I can easily use them even when just ordering DoorDash). As someone who is an early riser and early to bed person, Citi nights work great outside of the east Coast. Even in Hawaii, you get all of the afternoon and evening when you’d be awake.
Where Citi nights are a struggle is when I’m on the East Coast. If I’m ordering DoorDash or dining at an airport on Friday nights, I have to make sure to wait to pay until after 6 PM. I find Citi nights most frustrating when on EST.
Now Citi nights aren’t great if you are traveling outside the USA. So its just not the card I use for international travel dining.
Yeah, that’s a good point. I’d be far more enthusiastic about Citi Nights if I lived on the West Coast with the 3pm start time. We tend to eat dinner around 5pm (maybe earlier if we’re out and about all day), so I rarely end up using Citi Nights. It pains me when I pick up pizza on a Friday night at 5:30pm, but I’m not going to make the kids sit at home hungry and push back the whole night for an extra 2x (over what I’d earn with an Amex Gold card) on a $30 or $40 pizza takeout order, so I just never end up carrying the Strata Elite and as a result it gets $0 in dining spend most of the time. Even before kids, we just weren’t ever late diners. I certainly get that many restaurants are busy on Friday and Saturday nights, it’s just an odd way to design a product made for mass appeal.
Right. I don’t mind waiting to order food for pickup until after 5 PM (CST DINKs so no kids dining time to worry about), but I would never wait to order pickup or delivery until 6 PM just for 2 more Citi points. When I order takeout or delivery, I want to be eating at 6 PM, not just placing my order.
Ironically, I think Citi would pick up a lot of East Coast users just by lowering the start time by 1 hour. Very few users care about getting a bonus on food between 5 AM and 6 AM, but a lot of East Coast users want to be able to order delivery or pickup between 5 PM and 6 PM.
It appears that rental cars are added back as a 3X category. To some, that’s a big deal. The Premier had rental cars as a 3X category in the version immediately prior to its current iteration. Compared to that prior version, one could say the proposed changes add 2X groceries and gas. The annual fee and coupons net out. Some might say the proposal is just good enough and others will say no thanks. It’s going to be a personal choice.
That extra 1x is useless if there is no primary insurance … same issue with elite even if portal rates are 12x
UGG!
It appears every “high reward” credit card is jumping on the coupon wagon. I am now using a fairly busy excel worksheet to keep track of all “coupon spends” on my credit cards. At this rate, if this gets any more complicated, I would need to invest in a robust project management software to at least break even on the card benefits.
This would be an improvement IMO. I only keep this card for increased TYP transfer ratios. All my TYP are earned via Custom Cash or Citi TY Mastercard. $100 splurge at Best Buy is fine since you can just buy Amazon GCs which are good as cash to me. And if the $100 in restaurant credit works towards places I normally go to then this would be a -$5 net annual fee vs. $95 I pay today.
It’s definitely a bit strange, but I personally enjoy the Citi Nights promo on the Elite card. It’s a huge timeframe during the weekend and 6X dining is fantastic. Having said that, only 4X would not be worth the extra hassle at all.
There was another version of the card on the survey to some (including me) – a bit lower portal earnings, 3x on dining, groceries, gas (4x citi nights) and 2x direct airline/hotel. $10/mo if 5 or more autopay transactions. Most other terms the same.
Makes the card more of a “boost” to the current version. They also asked if the card was thought of a “rewards” or “travel” card, so appears they are testing out both.