Card benefits change often, and this page may be out of date by the time you read it. Always check the bank’s page and your card’s guide to benefits for the current terms before you rely on a benefit.
The Strata Elite is Citi’s premium card: a $595 annual fee, a $300 hotel benefit, a $200 Splurge credit, a $200 Blacklane credit, Priority Pass, four Admirals Club passes a year, and 6x at restaurants on Friday and Saturday nights.
Its ThankYou points transfer to American Airlines and Japan Airlines at 1:1, two programs no other bank’s points reach. Below is what each credit takes, the lounge rules, the protections, the new once-per-lifetime bonus rule, and my verdict.
Citi Strata Elite at a glance
- Annual fee: $595; $75 for each authorized user (includes their own Priority Pass)
- Current public offer: 75,000 points after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months (as of October 14, 2026, per Frequent Miler)
- Is it the best ever?: No. It was 100,000 points (after $6,000 in 3 months) until April 2026, and since the bonus is now once per lifetime, I’d wait for that to come back if you can.
- Foreign transaction fee: None
- Best for: People who’d use the $200 Splurge credit and one portal hotel stay a year, eat out on weekends, and want points that transfer to American Airlines and JAL.
- Skip it if: You’ve had a Strata Elite before (no bonus), or you’d only use one of the credits; the $95 Strata Premier earns better on groceries and gas.
- Bank’s page: Citi Strata Elite on citi.com
Jump to: Highlights · Earning · Credits · Lounges and perks · Insurance · Transfers · Application rules · My take · The catch · Keep it? · Offer history · Quick Answers
The highlights
- 6x at restaurants on Friday and Saturday nights (6 PM to 6 AM ET), 3x restaurants otherwise, 1.5x on everything else
- 12x hotels, cars and attractions and 6x flights via Citi Travel
- $300 off one hotel stay of 2+ nights per calendar year, booked through Citi Travel
- $200 Splurge credit per calendar year at up to 2 brands you activate: American Airlines, Best Buy, Live Nation, 1stDibs or Future
- $200 Blacklane credit: $100 per half-year on chauffeured rides
- Points transfer to American Airlines and Japan Airlines at 1:1, plus Flying Blue, Singapore, Qatar Avios, Turkish, Virgin Atlantic and more
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit every four years
- Priority Pass Select with 2 guests; four Admirals Club passes per calendar year; The Reserve hotel perks
- Trip delay at 6 hours, trip cancellation and lost luggage up to $5,000 (all round trips only), rental coverage secondary in the U.S. and primary abroad; no foreign transaction fees; $75 per authorized user
How it earns
| Category | Rate | Caps and fine print |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels, car rentals and attractions through Citi Travel | 12x | No cap |
| Air travel through Citi Travel | 6x | No cap. Flights booked direct earn 1.5x. |
| Restaurants, Citi Nights (Friday and Saturday, 6 PM to 6 AM ET) | 6x | No cap. Based on Eastern Time, so West Coast diners lose the last three hours of the window. |
| Restaurants at any other time | 3x | No cap |
| Everything else | 1.5x | Groceries, gas and travel booked direct all earn 1.5x. |
ThankYou points are worth about 1 cent each in Citi Travel or as gift cards. Transfers to airline partners are where the value is.
Credits and how to use them
Citi markets the card as nearly $1,500 in value. Here’s what each piece takes. Can the hotel benefit be combined with The Reserve perks or a thankyou.com promotion? Citi’s terms say the hotel benefit can’t be combined with any other promotions or discounts on thankyou.com, so don’t count on stacking it.
| Credit | Amount | How often | Where / how | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Hotel Benefit | Up to $300 off | Once per calendar year | One hotel stay of 2+ nights booked through cititravel.com; applied instantly at booking, excluding taxes and fees | Portal only, and portal prices aren’t always the cheapest. Can’t be combined with other thankyou.com promotions. |
| Splurge Credit | Up to $200 | Calendar year | Activate up to 2 of: American Airlines (items billed by AA or AA Vacations), Best Buy, Live Nation, 1stDibs, Future Personal Training; you can switch brands any time | The easy one: AA flights or Best Buy cover most people. AA car rentals, hotels, status boosts and AA Cargo don’t count, and Live Nation must be bought on livenation.com or ticketmaster.com for U.S. events. |
| Blacklane credit | $100 + $100 | January–June and July–December | Blacklane chauffeured car bookings | Worthless unless you’d book a chauffeured car twice a year. |
| Global Entry or TSA PreCheck | Up to $120 | Once every 4 years | Pay the application fee with the card | — |
| The Reserve by Citi Travel | $100 experience credit per stay | Per stay | Select a hotel rate offered by The Reserve at checkout on Citi Travel | The hotel decides what the credit covers; breakfast for two, Wi-Fi and upgrades or early/late checkout (when available) come with it. |
| Citigold relationship credit | $145 a year ($595 the first year for Citigold Private Client) | Annual | Automatic for qualifying Citigold clients with the card open | Only if you already bank with Citi at the Citigold level. |
Lounges and other perks
- Priority Pass Select (1,500+ lounges, restaurants not included) for the primary cardholder and each authorized user, with up to 2 guests per visit; extra guests are $35 each. Show your Citi card and a same-day boarding pass, no separate card needed.
- Four Admirals Club Citi Strata Elite Passes every calendar year, for nearly 50 Admirals Clubs. That’s four visits, not a membership.
- What’s The Reserve? It’s Citi Travel’s luxury hotel collection, similar to Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts: book a Reserve rate and you get a $100 experience credit, daily breakfast for two, Wi-Fi, and a room upgrade and early check-in or late checkout when available.
- Authorized users cost $75 each a year, and that includes their own Priority Pass membership.
- Citi Entertainment presales and Mastercard benefits.
Insurance and protections
| Benefit | What the bank says |
|---|---|
| Trip delay | Up to $500 per trip after a delay of more than 6 hours, 2 claims per 12 months One-way and award tickets: Round trips only: one-way travel with no return is excluded (a round trip booked as two one-ways is fine, per NerdWallet). The trip has to be paid entirely with the card, ThankYou points or a combination, so an award booked with ThankYou points counts, but Citi’s terms don’t mention awards booked with airline miles after a transfer, so I wouldn’t count on those. |
| Trip cancellation / interruption | Up to $5,000 per trip and $10,000 per 12 months (common carrier) One-way and award tickets: Same rule as trip delay: round trips only, paid entirely with the card and/or ThankYou points. |
| Lost or damaged luggage | Up to $5,000 per trip, 2 claims per 12 months (electronics, jewelry and documents excluded) One-way and award tickets: Same rule: the fare must be paid with the card and/or ThankYou points, and one-way travel with no return is excluded. |
| Baggage delay | None listed |
| MasterRental car rental coverage | Secondary in your country of residence and primary abroad, for rentals of up to 31 days paid with the card (decline the rental company’s collision waiver) |
| Extended warranty and Purchase Assurance Plus | Listed on the card page (limits are in the guide to benefits) |
Citi’s card page lists these protections by name only, so the limits and the round-trip rule come from NerdWallet’s Strata Elite travel insurance guide (April 21, 2026) and its Citi insurance guide (August 6, 2026); check your guide to benefits before you rely on one.
For how this compares with other cards, see my card travel benefits comparison.
Transfer partners
ThankYou points transfer to Citi’s airline and hotel partners, most at 1:1, including American Airlines AAdvantage (instant) and Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, which you can’t reach from Chase, Amex or Capital One. Ratios and transfer times for every partner are in my transfer partners guide.
Points from a Double Cash or Custom Cash combined into the same ThankYou account transfer at the Elite’s full ratios.
Application rules for this card
- The bonus is once per lifetime. Since September 2026 Citi’s terms say the new account bonus isn’t available if you “currently have or previously had” a Citi Strata Elite account (it used to be 48 months). Since October 10, 2026 some applicants see a pop-up saying they’re pre-qualified but not eligible for the bonus, but it doesn’t appear for everyone, so keep your own records (details).
- The rule is per card: having the Strata Premier doesn’t block this card’s bonus.
- Citi’s velocity rules apply: generally 1 Citi application every 8 days and no more than 2 in 65 days (Citi rules).
The full rules for every bank are in my credit card application rules guide.
My take
A $595 fee, but the $200 Splurge credit is close to cash for most people (American Airlines flights or Best Buy), which makes it $395 in my eyes. If you’d also book one 2-night hotel stay a year through Citi Travel, the $300 hotel benefit brings it to about $95, and Blacklane is a bonus on top.
It’s a better card than the fee suggests: 6x on weekend dining is unique, Priority Pass covers authorized users for $75 each, and JAL at 1:1 is something no other bank offers. The bonus is 15,000 more than the Strata Premier’s for $500 more in fees, though, and now that it’s once per lifetime I wouldn’t spend it on a weak offer.
In any case, I personally would hate to sign up at 75,000 points when 100,000 was available in the past.
The catch
The hotel benefit is portal-only and needs a 2-night stay, the Splurge credit only covers two brands at a time and has to be activated, and the Blacklane credit is useless unless you’d book a chauffeured car anyway. Lounge access is four Admirals Club visits plus Priority Pass, not a membership, and 1.5x on groceries and gas is weaker than the Strata Premier’s 3x.
The travel protections require a round trip paid entirely with the card or its points, and rental coverage is only secondary in the U.S.
The Blacklane and hotel credits are only worth something if you already spend there. Citi, like other banks with hard-to-use credits, counts on people forgetting to use them.
Keep it after year one?
The fee to me is $595 minus the easy $200 Splurge credit, which is $395, and about $95 if you’d book a 2-night Citi Travel hotel anyway. If you use both, plus the lounges, it’s a strong keeper. If you’d only use the Splurge credit, ask Citi what product changes they offer (a no-fee ThankYou card such as the Double Cash keeps your points alive, per Frequent Miler) rather than paying $395 for lounge passes.
Offer history
| Offer | Ended |
|---|---|
| 100K after $6K in 3 months (best ever) | 2026-04 |
| 80K after $4K in 3 months (launch) | 2025 |
Quick Answers
$595 a year as of October 2026, plus $75 for each authorized user.
As of October 14, 2026 the public offer is 75,000 points after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. It was 100,000 points until April 2026.
You can activate up to two of American Airlines, Best Buy, Live Nation, 1stDibs and Future Personal Training, and change them any time, for up to $200 in credits per calendar year.
Yes. Authorized users cost $75 a year each and get their own Priority Pass Select membership, with up to 2 guests per visit.
Yes. Citi’s lifetime rule is per card, so having the Strata Premier doesn’t block the Elite’s bonus, but having had the Elite before does.
Last checked: October 14, 2026. Card terms change often, so confirm on the bank’s page before you apply. There are no affiliate or referral links on this site, ever; links go to the bank’s own page.