Citi recently announced that they will launch an ultra premium card, the Strata Elite card, in the third quarter of 2025. Well, we’re already in the third quarter, and a source reached out to me to say that the card should be available for applications this weekend. They also supplied a bit of information about what the card may offer…
Background
The person who reached out to me says that they work for Citi, but not on the team that is developing this card. I checked records and found that this person has been following and commenting on this blog for at least three years, so that gives me some confidence that this isn’t a hoax. Hence this post. Still, I recommend keeping in mind that what follows may or may not be true…
Strata Elite Details
Here’s the little bit of detail that the source offered up about the card:
- Annual Fee: $650
- Point earning rate:
- Dining: 6x dining on certain days (Citi Nights – Fri & Sat nights) [Note: I don’t know if this means that it will earn 6x on certain Fri & Sat nights or that it will earn 6x every Fri & Sat AND on select Citi Nights]
- Citi travel portal: 12x
- No other bonus categories were revealed
- Perks:
- AA Admirals Club access
- “Coupons” (without any additional information)
- Transfers to AA: Not at first, but that should be coming later via a separate project.
- Current Prestige cardholders will be product changed to the Strata Elite
Another rumor
A commenter on Doctor of Credit says the following:
I work for Citi and the training videos have been sent regarding the new card AF confirmed $595. Multiplier as follows 12x on hotels,car rentals and attractions booked on Citi travel 6X on air travel booked on Citi travel. 6X on restaurants on CITI NIGHTS EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 6 pm to 6 am ET. 3x points at restaurants any other time frame. And 1.5X on all other purchases
Many of those details match my source but the claimed $595 annual fee is different. The 1.5x everywhere else is interesting but not interesting enough to put away one’s Double Cash card which earns 2x everywhere (except internationally where the Double Cash would incur foreign transaction fees)
My take
Even if everything above is exactly right, there isn’t enough information known yet to determine whether this card will be interesting. We don’t know what coupons and perks the card will offer. We don’t know the earning rate for dining when it’s not at 6x. We don’t know the earning rate for other categories of spend. My hope is that the card will at least mimic the Strata Premier card’s 3x categories (grocery, dining, gas & EV charging, flights, hotels, travel agencies), but increase some of them (e.g. maybe do 5x flights & hotels?).
As to what coupons might be offered, we can look to Citi’s AAdvantage Executive card to see the coupons found on that $595 card:
- Up to $120 per 12 monthly billing cycles for GrubHub purchases (up to $10 per monthly billing cycle)
- Up to $120 back on eligible Avis or Budget prepaid car rentals every calendar year
- $10 monthly Lyft credit after you take 3 Lyft rides that calendar month
And then there’s the Strata Premier’s coupon:
- $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit ($100 off a $500+ hotel stay, excluding taxes and fees, when booked through Citi Travel)
And the Citi Prestige card’s current coupons & perks:
- $250 travel rebate per calendar year
- Priority Pass Select
- Global Entry application fee credit
- 4th night free hotel benefit
If the new card offers all of the above, but nothing else of interest, that will be really disappointing. They’ll have to offer more than that collection to make the card worth $650 (or $595) per year.
I’m very disappointed but not surprised to hear that I’ll be forced to give up my old Citi Prestige card (which earns 5x for dining, airfare, and travel agencies) in exchange for this. Obviously I’ll wait to see what the new card really offers, but my guess is that I’ll want to downgrade to a fee-free card whenever the $650 annual fee comes due.
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[…] 7/17/25: According to a source that provided information to FM this card will launch this weekend. Card details are slightly different to what we outlined […]
New information keeps dripping. We won’t know until we know.
Coupons and travel portals are the new elite and prestige.
Do Citi points still transfer to Choice Hotels 1 to 2?
Citi website.
Yes they do, but since you can often buy Choice points at 0.6 centss or less, and can often redeem Citi points for travel partners such as EVA for more than 1.5 cents, other redemptions are often better.
We are getting to the point where its what bank is going to release the first $1000 uber (not the rideshare company) premium card comes out, with everything that people WANT, and fewer BS coupon things. The UBS card is a good example of a bank sort of nibbling on this. I started with the Citi Chairman card, got moved to the Prestige, and now am getting moved (we assume) to this…Meanwhile the better insurance, the better 4th night free, the better rewards, etc all disappear. I don’t want this slow shitification of cards…but if we are going to nibble, lets please take a big bite and at LEAST tell me how much what I actually want is going to be.
DOC source now stating there will be an additional $200 “Splurge
CouponCredit”:On the negative side, the travel credit becomes only usable through Citi Travel, but increases to $300.
Also stating the Citigold relationship rebate will be a published benefit ($145).
Having 1.5X base earnings for general spend with no FTF doesn’t match Venture X (or Bilt on Rent Day), but it does provide a nice floor IF Citi announces 1:1 transfer to AA. That would be something that Citi DC, Amex BBP, WF Active Cash and Chase FU can’t match in terms of points-earning cards.
But not providing any bonus earnings for travel purchases outside the Citi portal seems like a huge miss.
Another thing to consider is whether Citi decides to limit AA transfers just to Strata Elite cardholders.
The ballgame appears to be the coupons, for which we don’t have completely reliable information. The rumor mill suggests they may be even more lackluster than Chase. If so, it begs the question of why bother?
We’re seeing numerous price increases, along with either the same or declining value in the new offerings for this space. An odd choice in these uncertain times.
We have a newer player, however, with Bilt teaming up with Cardless. Hopefully, they will decide to compete to get market share, as the brand is popular with the all-important younger adults.
Crap! This sucks compared to my Prestige (for which I’ve been paying a reduced AF of $350).
My Prestige makes the Citi ecosystem viable, allowing me to transfer points from cash back cards to partners.
I think the current mid-level Strata Premier permits that, right?
If so, any thoughts on whether a downgrade from Prestige to Strata Premier may be possible?
Regardless, this will gut my Citi spend, as I use my Prestige for airfare purchases through airlines for the 5X. Not a fan of those damn portals, and will not use “Citi Travel” moving forward.
From your most recent annual renewal, you will have the new card and benefits at the old annual fee for a year. No harm test drive. If you find it’s not a fit, you can downgrade to whatever card works for you.
That’s a generalized strategy for all of the issuers doing these big refreshes.
Same source on DOC is reporting the launch SUB will be 100,000 points after spending $4,000 within 3 months… and that this will be in branch only. Unclear what the online SUB will be at launch
Given that you can often get 10-15x Amex points (via Rakuten) on activities (tours) in Trip Advisor or Viator, combined with 3x on either the Citi Strata Premier, Chase Ink Biz Preferred, or Chase Sapphire Reserve (for a total of 13-18x), the 12x on activities of the Strata Elite doesn’t seem to offer much incremental value for the ~$600 annual fee.
However, the 1:4 xfer to Preferred Hotels might be a compelling play for some people who can combine an activity with a preferred hotel that happens to be in the same location (e.g., a safari with a nearby Preferred hotel). If you had an upcoming vacation like this, and you had the Strata Premier, you might temporarily upgrade to the Strata Elite, make the booking, take advantage of some of the perks, and then downgrade the following year.
Well, 3x general travel on CSR is going away in October, and the Strata Premier doesn’t give 3x for third party OTAs (just airfare and hotels).
You can get 3x on Amex Green and WF Autograph/Autograph Journey, however.
> the Strata Premier doesn’t give 3x for third party OTAs (just airfare and hotels).
Not true. I’m looking at my credit card statement right now, and I got 11,700 points for a recent $3,900 purchase on ViatorTripAdvisor for a safari. I’ve gotten 3x on all 3rd party online travel agencies I’ve use the Strata Premier for over the past 2 years.
You are indeed correct. Why doesn’t Citi promote this in the main marketing materials then?
Way down in the fine print: “Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases: Includes purchases at airlines, hotels (not booked through the Citi Travel site via CitiTravel.com), and travel agencies”
Probably because they don’t want people like us taking advantage of it. 😉
Off-Topic but has anyone heard what will happen when Citi takes over the Barclays Aviator Card Portfolio? For those of us that already have the Citi AA Exec WEMC, I’m curious if I’ll be able to roll the Barclays Credit Line into my existing Citi AA or will they leave me with 2 Citi AA cards…or now with this announcements, perhaps a product change to this? Admittedly, the Barclays AF is low and this is not so I’d be more inclined to merge the Aviator with the existing AA Exec as I’m already paying that AF and have Admiral’s Club benefits
No inside knowledge on the Barclays Aviator to Citi take over, but I doubt once it happens you would be able to transfer over your credit line. Citi does not reallocate credit like Chase, Amex, Barclays, etc. From what I have read, Citi securitizes their credit lines, which limits their ability to reallocate.
Guidance is forthcoming in the Fall.
No direct reallocation of credit line at Citi. But, if you lower your credit limit on card A, count to 10, and request an increase on card B, you might be approved. It’s worked for me.
If the only steady elevated multiplier was 3x restaurant and then the travel portal stuff, that’s not great. I just can’t see carrying this card for Friday and Saturday nights and a Priority Pass membership. This report makes it functionally a no FTF CFU with some weekend and portal benefits. It does seem that all credit card companies want to be your travel agent now, though.
There has to be more. I don’t think Citi can compete in the lounge area. But Citi entertainment has long been decent. Perhaps they lean into the lifestyle card stuff in that way?
I sense that we don’t have the full picture yet.
Might be worth it if it keeps Prestige’s Priority Pass’ restaurant credit
AA xfers would make Citi the best ecosystem by far, leading in three out of the five categories that matter. It would be the best card earner that is leagues ahead of Amex, C1, and Chase (Custom Cash, good strata earning rates, double cash), it exclusively would offer what is currently the best airline xfer partner (subject to change), and would be only the second or third (if you count Bilt) issuer that offers a useful hotel xfer partner (many here prefer Hyatt, of course, but for international travel footprint Choice is at least competitive for non loyalists). It would not be the best benefits card but that doesn’t matter bc you just keep a Premier and add a Venture X or Platinum for benefits. The only important area where it would not be a leader is in the availability to amass points through sign-up bonuses, especially given the lack of a TYP biz card. But at least it would be a better earning ecosystem. Once AA is an xfer partner, citi becomes the best bank for non bonus points accumulation.
And none of the advantages you mentioned necessitates signing up for a $650/yr card
Unless Citi limits AA transfers (or provides the best transfer ratio) for Elite cardholders.
As long as Rakuten pays out in MR, it will remain by far the most lucrative way to accumulate non bonus points.
The lack of TYP biz cards is the main reason I can see Citi offering AA transfers and not have the program completely devalued to uselessness. Citi is already strict on their SUB language as is and there is no way to churn SUBs through repeated biz sign ups like UR and MR.