Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review
Part of Citi ThankYou Rewards hub
New to Citi Strata Elite? Start here: cards and transfers
PROGRAMME PROFILE
Citi Strata Elite: Card Terms and ThankYou Rewards
Citi Strata Elite® is a Citi-issued Mastercard whose rewards are collected as ThankYou® Points on travel and dining purchases and on everyday spending. [1] [3] Its highest earning rates are tied to travel booked through Citi's own cititravel.com site, where hotels, car rentals and attractions pay 12 points per dollar and air travel pays 6 points per dollar. [1]
Facts checked: 18 October 2026
Key takeaways
- The card earns 12 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on cititravel.com, 6 points per dollar on air travel booked there, and 1.5 points per dollar on all other purchases. [1]
- Restaurant spending is split by time of day: 6 points per dollar on Citi Nights® purchases and 3 points per dollar at any other time. [1]
- Citi lists annual benefits that include up to $300 off a hotel stay of two nights or more, up to $200 in Splurge Credit® statement credits, up to $200 in Blacklane® credits, four Admirals Club® passes and a complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership. [1]
- ThankYou Points can be transferred to American Airlines, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay, Eva Air, Choice Hotels, The Leading Hotels of the World® and others, with a minimum transfer of 1,000 points. [1]
How does the Citi Strata Elite card earn ThankYou Points?
The card uses a single points currency and a set of category multipliers that depend on where, and sometimes when, the purchase is made. [1] Rates for travel purchases are tied to booking through cititravel.com rather than to the travel category as a whole. [1]
| Purchase | Points per dollar | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels, car rentals and attractions | 12 | Booked on cititravel.com [1] |
| Air travel | 6 | Booked on cititravel.com [1] |
| Restaurants during Citi Nights® | 6 | Friday and Saturday, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Eastern Time [1] |
| Restaurants at any other time | 3 | All other restaurant purchases [1] |
| All other purchases | 1.5 | Everywhere else [1] |
The Citi Nights® window is defined in Eastern Time and covers Friday and Saturday evenings and early mornings, so the same restaurant spend can earn at two different rates depending on when the card is used. [1] Citi's own summary of the card describes the rewards more broadly as ThankYou® Points earned on travel and dining purchases. [3]
Citi presents the package as unlocking nearly $1,500 in value, a figure it calculates from the card's listed benefits. [1] New cardmembers can also earn a bonus of points after meeting a spending requirement in the first months of account opening. [1]
Which credits and lounge benefits come with the card?
Most of the value sits in annual statement credits and lounge access rather than in the earning rates. The main benefits Citi lists are set out below. [1]
| Benefit | Value | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Hotel Benefit | Up to $300 | Once per calendar year, off a single hotel stay of 2 nights or more, excluding taxes and fees, booked on cititravel.com; applied at the time of booking [1] |
| Splurge Credit® | Up to $200 a year | Statement credits on a choice of up to 2 brands from 1stDibs, American Airlines (exclusions apply), Best Buy®, Future Personal Training and Live Nation (exclusions apply) [1] |
| Blacklane® credit | Up to $200 a year | Up to $100 for bookings January to June and up to $100 for July to December [1] |
| Priority Pass™ Select | Membership valued at $469 | Complimentary access to more than 1,500 airport lounges [1] |
| Admirals Club® passes | 4 a year, over $300 in value | Access to nearly 50 Admirals Club® lounges [1] |
| Global Entry® or TSA PreCheck® | Up to $120 | Statement credit every four years as reimbursement of the application fee [1] |
The hotel benefit is capped at one stay each calendar year and applies to a booking of at least two nights, with taxes and fees excluded from the discount. [1] The Blacklane® credit is a chauffeured car service benefit split into two halves of the year, so unused credit does not carry forward within the year. [1]
Citi also offers banking relationship credits to eligible Citigold® clients who hold an open and current Strata Elite® account with an assessed annual membership fee: $145 each year for Citigold® clients, and for Citigold® Private Clients $595 in the first year followed by $145 in each later year. [1] The card also carries travel protections, including trip delay, enhanced trip cancellation and interruption cover, lost or damaged luggage cover, MasterRental Coverage for car rentals, and extended warranty and purchase assurance. [1]
How does the card link to ThankYou Rewards?
Points earned on the card sit inside the ThankYou® Rewards programme, and Citi lists several ways to spend them. [1] Through Citi Travel®, points can be used for flights, hotels, car rentals and attractions, including part-point, part-cash bookings. [1] Points can also be taken as gift cards or cash back at thankyou.com, used at participating merchants such as Amazon, PayPal and CVS through Shop with points, or used for dining and entertainment through Citi Entertainment® and The Reserve by Citi Travel®. [1]
Redemptions can be made online at thankyou.com or by calling the ThankYou Service Center on 1-800-842-6596 (1-800-THANKYOU); only selected items can be redeemed over the phone. [1] For readers weighing a transfer to an airline or hotel programme, the wider glossary of points terms explains the vocabulary used across those schemes.
Transfers are the route most frequent flyers care about. Citi's transfer list names American Airlines, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay, Eva Air, Choice Hotels and The Leading Hotels of the World®, and others, and the minimum transfer is 1,000 points. [1] Airline and hotel programmes set their own rules for what transferred points can be redeemed for, which is why award availability and points transfer are handled as separate topics.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Citi Strata Elite® card?
It is a Citi-issued Mastercard that earns ThankYou® Points, with the highest rates for travel booked on cititravel.com and time-based bonus rates at restaurants. [1] [3]
How many points does the card earn at restaurants?
Restaurant purchases earn 6 points per dollar during Citi Nights®, defined as Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Eastern Time, and 3 points per dollar at any other time. [1]
Can ThankYou Points from this card be transferred to airlines?
Yes. Citi lists American Airlines, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay and Eva Air among its transfer partners, along with hotel partners such as Choice Hotels and The Leading Hotels of the World®, and the minimum transfer is 1,000 points. [1]
Does the card charge foreign transaction fees?
No foreign transaction fees apply on purchases made with the card. [1]
How much is the Annual Hotel Benefit worth?
Up to $300 off a single hotel stay of two nights or more, excluding taxes and fees, booked through cititravel.com once per calendar year, applied at the time of booking. [1]
Exceptions, fees and eligibility
- The 12-point and 6-point travel rates apply to hotels, car rentals, attractions and air travel booked on cititravel.com. [1]
- The Annual Hotel Benefit requires a stay of at least two nights, excludes taxes and fees from the discount, and is limited to one stay per calendar year. [1]
- The Splurge Credit® is limited to two chosen brands and carries exclusions on the American Airlines and Live Nation options. [1]
- The new-account bonus is not available to applicants who currently hold or have previously held a Citi Strata Elite® account, and eligibility may also depend on the applicant's history of opening, closing and using credit cards. [1]
- The card carries an annual fee, and an annual fee applies to each authorized user; there is no foreign transaction fee. [1] A balance transfer fee and a cash advance fee apply, each charged as either a flat amount or a percentage of the transaction, whichever is greater, and purchases and balance transfers carry a variable APR based on creditworthiness. [1]
- Issuance is subject to credit approval, and further limitations, terms and conditions apply to the card and its offers. [1] ThankYou® Points redeemed through travel, transfers or merchant partners follow each receiving programme's own redemption rules, so the terms index is the place to check how those schemes define eligibility. [1]
Sources
Sources checked on 18 October 2026. Other Citi cards, including the Citi Strata® Card, the Citi Strata Premier® Card and the Citi®/AAdvantage® cards, are not covered here, and neither are the individual airline and hotel programmes that receive ThankYou Points transfers.
- Citi Strata Elite® credit card page, Citi.com, checked 18 October 2026
- Citi credit cards overview listing, Citi.com, checked 18 October 2026
Citi Strata Elite on Flyerfolio
Every page about Citi Strata Elite, grouped by what you want to do.
Start here 1
Programme guides 1
Tools 3
- Transfer ratio calculatorConvert points to partner miles at a ratio you enter or a sourced ratio with its official link and check date, with optional bonus and minimum block.
- Points value calculator
- Award vs cash calculatorCompare paying with points and paying cash using your own point value, including points the cash booking earns, and see the break-even value.