U.S. personal-card review. Terms checked October 14, 2026. Published terms and editorial analysis; examples are hypothetical. Offers and benefits can change.
If you are searching for Citi Premier, the current U.S. product is Citi Strata Premier. Citi enhanced and renamed Premier in 2024. Our verdict: its mix of supermarket, restaurant, gas and travel earning is attractive for someone who wants transferable points without a premium-card fee, provided ThankYou’s partners match the travel they can actually book.
The core earning structure
Strata Premier has a $95 annual fee. It earns 3 ThankYou points per dollar at restaurants, supermarkets, gas and EV charging stations, and on air travel and other hotel purchases. Eligible hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel earn 10 points per dollar. Other eligible purchases earn 1 point. Terms and merchant-category restrictions apply.
That mix can suit a household with varied everyday spending rather than one dominant category. The higher portal multiplier is not a reason to accept a worse booking. Compare price, flexibility and service alongside the extra points.
The hotel benefit has a spending threshold
Once per calendar year, the card offers $100 off one hotel stay costing at least $500 before taxes and fees, booked through Citi Travel. The benefit is applied at booking. This is not a general $100 hotel statement credit and cannot be divided across several smaller stays.
Illustrative example: if the portal price is $550 before taxes and a comparable direct booking is $500, the $100 benefit lowers the portal price to $450. Your saving versus the direct option is $50, before other differences—not $100. If a qualifying stay is not already in your plans, give the benefit no value in renewal math.
Transfers are the reason to investigate
Citi lists airline and hotel transfer options including American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay, EVA Air, Choice Hotels and others. The available partners and ratios should be checked inside the current program. Do not presume every transfer is 1:1 or that a partner has the award seat you need.
Search for the actual flight or hotel award, include taxes and surcharges, and understand cancellation rules before moving points. An appealing theoretical redemption has no practical value when the award is unavailable on your travel dates. Keep flexibility until there is a concrete booking.
Who is it for?
Strata Premier fits people who want useful everyday categories and are willing to learn a transferable-points program. It is less compelling if you need airport lounge membership, seldom redeem for travel, or already earn similar rewards with a cheaper setup.
Illustrative earning: $15,000 in qualifying 3-point categories produces 45,000 points. Compare that with the rewards from your alternative card and value the difference using a redemption you would actually use. Do not count the entire 45,000 points as incremental value if another card would already reward those purchases.
Our assessment
This is an earning-led card with a manageable fee, rather than a premium lounge package. The $100 hotel benefit can help, but the card should make sense even when that credit is discounted for your habits. Check the actual application’s current welcome-offer eligibility, particularly if you have held Premier or Strata Premier before. Avoid hard-coded bonus assumptions and pay your statement balance in full. No personal referral link is included unless an eligible U.S. issuer-generated link is verified.
Sources and current terms
- Citi Strata Premier current product and terms
- Citi current card directory and fees
- Citi Premier renaming announcement
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