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Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
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Why should you upgrade from the Citi Strata to Citi Strata Premier?
Credit card writer Danyal Ahmed is an avid traveler, averaging about 100,000 aeronautical miles per year. He regularly applies that knowledge and his expertise in credit cards to his role as a credit card writer at TPG.
October 4, 2025 • 6 min read
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By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
The Citi Strata℠ Card (see ) is a popular starter card with no annual fee and a good entry point into the Citi ThankYou Rewards ecosystem.
Paying the annual fee on the Citi Strata Premier® Card (see ) can be worth it if you want to elevate your travel. The card offers higher earning rates in key bonus categories and better access to Citi's airline transfer partners.
Consider the following reasons as to why you should upgrade from the Citi Strata to the Strata Premier.
5 points per dollar spent on attractions, car rentals and hotels booked through Citi Travel
3 points per dollar spent on electric vehicle charging stations, gas stations, select transit and supermarkets
3 points per dollar spent on an eligible self-selected category (which you can change quarterly)
2 points per dollar spent at restaurants
ERIC ROSEN/THE POINTS GUY
However, the Strata Premier offers higher earning rates and slightly different bonus categories. They include the following:
10 points per dollar spent on attractions, car rentals and hotels booked through Citi Travel
3 points per dollar spent on air travel, EV charging stations, gas purchases, hotels (booked outside of Citi Travel), restaurants and supermarkets
The Strata Premier is a more travel-centric card. It earns more on select Citi Travel purchases, plus airfares and hotels booked outside of Citi Travel. Frequent travelers may find the Citi Strata even more rewarding.
Upgrading also bumps up bonus-earning on restaurants to 3 points per dollar spent from 2 points per dollar spent, which can add up over the year.
The Citi Strata can only transfer at a ratio of 1:0.7 for most partners. Regardless of the partner you're considering, the Strata card will always have a worse transfer ratio than the Strata Premier.
This makes a big difference when considering transferring tens of thousands of points to secure a sought-after business-class ticket.
When leveraging transfer partners with the Strata Premier, you can get more than 1.9 cents per point (based on TPG's September 2025 valuations). I consistently get between 4 and 9 cents per point when transferring points to a partner airline for a business-class redemption.
Even with the $95 annual fee, the Strata Premier offers additional benefits that help justify its cost every year. Two significant benefits you can maximize are:
$100 annual hotel credit: A $100 credit once per year for single-stay hotel bookings of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) made through Citi Travel
World Elite Mastercard benefits: The Citi Strata Premier offers several travel-related perks, including a $5 monthly Lyft credit after taking three rides in a calendar month (offer ends Jan. 31, 2026), a three-month trial of Instacart+ with a new subscription and $10 off your second eligible Instacart purchase each month (offer ends Jan. 31, 2027) and access to the Mastercard luxury hotels and resorts portfolio for on-property perks like complimentary breakfast and room upgrades (upon availability)
An airport flight departures board at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
Since the Strata Premier is a more premium card than the Citi Strata, you also get access to Citi's curated collection of hotels and will receive elitelike benefits when booking through Citi Travel.
As a Strata Premier cardholder, you'll receive the following travel protections:
Car rental coverage
Lost or damaged luggage protection
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
Trip delay coverage
This is more comprehensive coverage than you'll receive from the no-annual-fee Strata card.
If you truly want to maximize your points-earning, consider applying for the Strata Premier instead of upgrading from the Citi Strata card.
For starters, new Strata Premier cardholders earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening. Based on TPG's valuations, the welcome offer is worth $1,140.
If you upgrade a Citi Strata card, you will not earn a welcome offer. This card's welcome bonus is also not available if you've received a new account bonus for a Citi Premier or Citi Strata Premier account in the past 48 months.
You also won't be able to earn it if you've converted another Citi credit card account on which you earned a new account bonus in the last 48 months into a Premier or Strata Premier card.
MASKOT/GETTY IMAGES
As long as you can qualify for the Strata Premier's welcome bonus, it's worth considering whether applying for the card is a better strategy than getting it through an upgrade.
By keeping the Strata card instead of upgrading it, you can use the Strata and Strata Premier together to maximize points-earning across more categories.
For example, you can put select transit and eligible self-selected category purchases on the Citi Strata and all other travel and restaurant purchases on the Strata Premier card.
Bottom line
The benefits and earning potential of the Strata Premier will most likely outweigh the cost of the annual fee and present better long-term value than the Citi Strata card.
In general, the best benefits you'll receive are the ability to transfer points to the majority of partners at a 1:1 ratio and travel-focused bonus categories.
Evaluate what's in your wallet to ensure that you're always getting the maximum value possible, which may mean an upgrade is on the horizon.
