Some things in life are better in twos — and that’s absolutely the case with the Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees) and the Citi Strata℠ Card (see rates and fees).
While the Citi Strata Premier is a great stand-alone travel credit card, you should consider adding the Citi Strata to earn another welcome bonus and more points on everyday spending.
Here’s the inside scoop on how this duo works.
Related: Best Citi cards
Earn 2 welcome bonuses
The Citi Strata Premier features a welcome offer of 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Meanwhile, the Citi Strata offers 30,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases within three months of account opening.
Based on TPG’s September 2025 valuations, these welcome offers are worth $1,140 and $570, respectively — netting you up to $1,710 in value if you get both cards.
Just remember that Citi has an application restriction on these cards. You won’t receive the welcome bonus on the Strata or the Strata Elite if you previously received a bonus on the card (or a card that you converted to it) in the past 48 months.
Low combined annual fees
This card duo has a low combined annual fee of just $95. The Citi Strata Premier has a $95 annual fee, and the Citi Strata has no annual fee at all.
Even after you’ve earned the welcome bonus, the cards’ low combined annual fee makes this duo worth keeping in your wallet year after year.
Related: The 7 best credit cards with annual fees under $100
Boost your points-earning
The next selling point of holding both cards is their complementary earning rates.
Use the Citi Strata Premier for the majority of your bonused spending, including:
- Hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal (10 points per dollar spent)
- Air travel, electric vehicle charging, gas, other hotels, restaurants (including takeout) and supermarkets (3 points per dollar spent)
(Since both cards overlap on Citi Travel portal purchases, supermarkets, gas and EV charging, it’s simpler to just use the Strata Premier for those purchases, as it has fewer bonus categories to remember.)
Then, you’ll want to use the Citi Strata for:
- Select transit (3 points per dollar spent)
- An eligible self-select category* that you can change each quarter (3 points per dollar spent)
*Self-select categories include barber shops, cosmetic stores and hair salons, fitness clubs, live entertainment, pet supply stores and select streaming services.
So, the Strata should be your go-to card for purchases such as those from ride-hailing services, gym memberships and sports and concert tickets.
Both cards earn 1 point per dollar spent on all nonbonus spending. Together, the Strata and the Strata Premier cover most bonus category spending, earning at least 2 points per dollar spent on most purchases.
However, if you want to ensure you earn at least 2 points per dollar spent on every purchase, consider adding the no-annual-fee Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees) to earn 2% cash back (1% when you buy and 1% when you pay). That cash back can be converted to Citi ThankYou Rewards points and helps create the Citi Trifecta.
Related: Have all the popular credit cards? Here are 10 options for your next application
Access Citi’s transfer partners
All the points you earn from the Citi Strata can be transferred to 22 loyalty programs — just at a reduced ratio of 1:0.7 for most. However, by holding the Strata Premier, you can transfer your points at a better ratio of 1:1 (for most partners). So, 100,000 Citi points can turn into 100,000 airline or hotel points or miles (for most partners).
Citi also offers frequent transfer bonuses of up to 50% with select loyalty partners.
While you can read our extensive guide on maximizing Citi ThankYou Rewards points for travel, here’s a preview of some of our favorite ways to redeem them.
Related: Credit card transfer bonuses
Maximize your redemptions
You get poor value from your ThankYou Rewards points if you redeem them for cash back at only 0.5 and 0.75 cents per point on the Citi Strata and Strata Premier, respectively.
However, you can boost your redemption value by transferring them to Citi’s airline and hotel transfer partners, such as American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Here are some examples.
Qatar Airways Qsuite to Doha for 70,000 Citi points one-way
Another Citi transfer partner that can offer great value is Qatar Airways Privilege Club. For 70,000 Avios one-way (plus about $200 in taxes), you can fly Qsuite, the carrier’s flagship business-class product, from any U.S. gateway to Doha. You can use tools like Seats.aero to help you find availability.
And you aren’t limited to Qatar Airways bookings with Avios. After transferring your ThankYou Rewards points to the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program, you can use them to book flights with airlines like British Airways and Aer Lingus.
American Airlines premium economy to Japan for 45,000 Citi points one-way
You can transfer your Citi ThankYou Rewards points to American Airlines AAdvantage to score a premium economy seat to Tokyo for as few as 45,000 American miles (plus taxes and fees of just $5.60).
You can find availability at this price even from East Coast airports like New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Related: Travel to Japan with points and miles: Best ways to redeem your rewards for flights and hotels
United Airlines economy flights within the US for 10,000 Citi points one-way
You can stretch the value of your points by booking short economy flights with United Airlines.
By transferring just 10,000 Citi ThankYou Rewards points to Avianca LifeMiles, you can fly short hops like Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) or from Orlando International Airport (MCO) to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
If you were to book these flights on United directly, you would typically pay 12,500 to 15,000 miles.
This can also be a great way to save on domestic flights when cash prices are high during busy travel periods like summer or the winter holiday season. If you have a small number of ThankYou Rewards points, this is a great way to use them.
Related: United MileagePlus: Guide to earning and redeeming miles, elite status and more
Boutique or independent hotel stays
If you’re looking to stay at a unique hotel, you can transfer your Citi points to I Prefer Hotel Rewards at a ratio of 1:4 (1,000 Citi points for 4,000 I Prefer points). I Prefer Hotel Rewards is a collection of independent and boutique hotels that you typically wouldn’t be able to book with points. You can see the full list of hotels bookable with points here.
I Prefer uses a fixed rate for award nights priced between 15,000 and 150,000 points per night. Since the transfer ratio is 1:4, divide the total number of points needed per night by four to get the number of points you need to transfer.
For example, you could stay at the Hotel Grand Pacific, a boutique hotel in the heart of Victoria, British Columbia, in the summer — it’s a lovely summer destination — for either $234 or 30,000 I Prefer Hotel Rewards points a night. However, you’d only need to transfer 7,500 Citi points per night to book this hotel, netting you a value of 3.1 cents per point.
Bottom line
The Citi ThankYou Rewards program offers an extensive roster of transfer partners, with international partners spanning every major airline alliance and some lucrative hotel redemptions.
Holding both the Citi Strata Premier and the Strata covers most of your spending, allowing you to maximize earnings and giving you full access to Citi’s loyalty partners at the best transfer ratio — all for just $95 in combined annual fees.
Now could be a great time to leverage this card duo as you look to plan future trips.
To learn more, check out our full reviews of the Citi Strata and the Citi Strata Premier.
Apply here: Citi Strata Card
Apply here: Citi Strata Premier Card
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
