Citi Strata Premier Card

Rewards by category

Our take

The Citi Strata Premier Card is built for households whose spending clusters around everyday categories: dining, supermarkets, gas, EV charging, and flights all earn 3x ThankYou Points. Because SwipeCaddy values those points at one cent each, that works out to roughly 3 percent back across most of a typical budget. It also ranks third in our Hotels and Other Travel tables, so travelers get real coverage too.

The $95 annual fee buys a broad 3x lineup, but the headline 10x rate has a catch: it only applies to hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel. Book a hotel directly and you earn 3x instead. If you prefer reserving with the property or an outside site, price this card on its 3x categories and treat the portal rate as occasional upside.

Outside its bonus categories the card earns a flat 1x, which is the weak spot in a one-card wallet. A sensible pairing is a no-fee flat-rate card as the floor for everything else, with the Strata Premier reserved for dining, groceries, gas, EV charging, and travel. That split keeps the $95 fee working only on purchases where the 3x and 10x rates actually apply.

The math

Run $250 a month of hotels through this card and you're earning about $300 a year at our conservative valuations. Against the $95 annual fee, that top rate needs roughly $100 a month of hotels spend before it beats a no-fee flat 2% card.

Where it lands in our rankings: #2 for hotels · #2 for other travel

Common questions

Does Citi Strata Premier Card have an annual fee?

Yes — $95 per year.

What does Citi Strata Premier Card earn on hotels?

10x on hotels (book via citi travel).

What rewards does Citi Strata Premier Card earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in Citi ThankYou Points.

What is the catch with the Citi Strata Premier Card's 10x rate?

The 10x rate applies only when you book hotels, car rentals, or attractions through the Citi Travel portal. Reserve a hotel directly and the purchase earns 3x instead, the same as air travel. Before booking, compare the portal's price with the direct price; a portal markup can erase what the extra points are worth.

Does the Citi Strata Premier Card charge foreign transaction fees?

No. The Citi Strata Premier Card has no foreign transaction fee and runs on the Mastercard network, so overseas purchases don't carry the usual surcharge. Combined with 3x earning on dining and flights, it's a sensible pick for international trips. If another card in your wallet adds foreign fees, reach for this one when you're abroad.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.