Holding a premium credit card can mean having to chase a coupon book of credits to offset the annual fee. But there’s one card that, in addition to earning some of my favorite points, offers really incredible credits that are a cinch to maximize: the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card.
Here’s why I like it so much.
Annual fee. At $595, the Strata Elite’s annual fee is lower than its rivals in the premium card space. On the flip side, it only offers limited airport lounge access, but what you get could be plenty for most travelers.
$300 annual hotel benefit. This gem offsets more than half of the annual fee. You get up to $300 off a stay of two or more nights at any hotel booked through Citi Travel. It’s not divided into four quarterly credits that don’t amount to much — it’s a clean and automatic $300 off your prepaid booking.
And there are so many cool places in the Citi Travel portal you could use that — like a docked superyacht-turned-hotel in Gibraltar, where off-peak nights go as low as $200. So after the credit, that’s two nights on a yacht in the Mediterranean for about $100. Um, yes, please!
Splurge credit. You get up to $200 back in statement credits on purchases with select brands, including Live Nation, Best Buy and American Airlines. Buying some pricey event tickets? Here’s an automatic $200 back.
Blacklane credit. You also get two $100 statement credits for Blacklane car service (one for each half of the year). Like the hotel credit, I love how this isn’t chunked out into quarterly or monthly credits. It actually feels useful when that $100 credit kicks in.
Just using those, I’ve recouped my investment in that annual fee. Plus, the Strata Elite has the industry-leading earning rate of 6 points per dollar spent on dining on Friday and Saturday nights, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. ET.
And the best part is these points transfer to the most valuable airline currency: American Airlines AAdvantage miles. Thanks to this program’s sweet spots, you can find some of the cheapest domestic redemptions around, or fly business-class to Europe from just 57,500 miles each way.
Right now, new Strata Elite cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. (Fun fact: that’s enough for a round-trip AA flight to Gibraltar, if you’re eyeing that superyacht now, too.)
If you want premium-meets-simple, this card is worth serious consideration.
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Photo Credit: SUNBORN GIBRALTAR.
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Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
