Bilt Palladium vs. Citi Strata Elite: Which Card Wins in May 2026?
NCnextcard team
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TLDR: The Citi Strata℠ Card is a no-annual-fee starter card with a great welcome bonus and strong rewards. It lets you transfer points to airlines, a rare perk, but at a reduced rate.
The Citi Strata℠ Card is an intriguing starter card for those starting out in the credit card space, offering a combination of lucrative rewards, travel perks, and flexibility that appeals to travelers and everyday spenders alike.
It's a relatively new card on the market that has caught the eyes of many, including mine. Welcome offer aside, the day-to-day earning potential of the card is significant and has a lot of potential to break into people's wallets.
In this review, we’ll break down the key features of the card, including its introductory offer, earning potential, travel credits, point redemption options, and other miscellaneous benefits.
One of the standout features of the Citi Strata℠ Card is its impressive introductory offer as a card with no annual fee. You can earn 30,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from the account opening.
This type of bonus is rare for a no annual fee card. For example, when comparing it to the likes of Chase or Capital One cards, those bonuses for the no annual fee cards are usually around $200 after spending $500 in 3 months.
You can also transfer these points to Citi’s travel partners, which include airlines and hotel chains, unlocking greater value for your points. This welcome bonus alone makes the card a compelling choice for anyone looking to maximize their rewards.
The Citi Strata℠ Card offers a competitive earn rate across a variety of spending categories, making it a versatile card for both travel and everyday purchases. Here’s how the earn rate breaks down:
3 ThankYou points per $1 spent at supermarkets
3 ThankYou points per $1 spent on an eligible self-select category of your choices (These Self-Select Categories include: Fitness Clubs, Select Streaming Services, Live Entertainment, Cosmetic Stores/Barber Shops/Hair Salons, and Pet Supply Stores)
2 ThankYou points per $1 spent at restaurants
1 ThankYou point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Having a card that earns on all of these categories is yet again, rare. It is closely matched with the Capital One Savor Card, which outperforms the Citi Strata℠ Card by having 3% per $1 spent at restaurants. However, the Savor card alone does not have the ability to transfer points to airlines, which is again, a notable feature.
The card also earns 5 ThankYou points per $1 spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on cititravel.com.
Despite having the ability to transfer your points to airline partners, there is no annual fee.
With the Citi Strata℠ Card you get 0% APR for the first 15 months from account opening. Afterwards, there is a variable APR of 19.24% - 29.24% (based on your creditworthiness).
I like using these introductory 0% APRs to earn a little bit more interest. For example, instead of paying my bill off immediately, I might choose to float $1,000 for the 15 months to earn ~$50 in interest. It's not much, but it's honest work.
Unfortunately, despite being a "travel" style card, the Citi Strata℠ Card card has a 3% foreign transaction fee on purchases abroad.
Comparably, the Capital One VentureOne does not have any foreign transaction fees.
One of the most powerful features of the Citi Strata℠ Card is the ability to transfer your Citi Thank You points to a variety of travel partners. This feature is ideal for travelers who want to maximize the value of their points by leveraging airline and hotel loyalty programs.
The only other no annual fee card on the market (AFAIK) that allows this is the Capital One VentureOne card.
The Citi Strata℠ card not only has a more limited list of transfer partners in comparison with Citi’s more premium cards, but also has weaker transfer ratios. Specifically, with the no annual fee Citi Strata℠ Card, 1,000 ThankYou Points will only become 700 points/miles.
Notably, the VentureOne does not have reduced transfer ratios like this.
Aeromexico
Avianca Lifemiles
Cathay Pacific
Ethiad Guest
EVA Air
Flying Blue
Jet Blue TrueBlue
Qantas
Qatar Airways Avios
Singapore Airlines
Royal Orchid Plus
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Red
Air Emirates Skyrewards also has a transfer ratio of 1,000 points to 560 Skyrewards miles.
Hotel transfer ratios are even worse for the Citi Strata℠ Card.
Leaders Club (1,000 to 175)
Accor Live Limitless (1,000 to 350)
Choice Privileges (1,000 to 1,400)
I Prefer Hotel Rewards (1,000 to 2,800)
Wyndham Rewards (1,000 to 700)
If you upgrade to a card like the Citi Strata Elite or the Citi Strata Premier, you can unlock some more appealing transfer ratios like 1:1 to transfer partners, including access to American Airlines.
With the Citi Strata℠ Card, you receive some basic security and protection benefits:
Citi® Quick Lock
24-hour fraud protection
Mastercard® ID Theft Protection
Contactless pay
The Citi Strata℠ Card is a strong intro level travel card that boasts no annual fee. With the generous welcome bonus for an intro card, competitive earn rate and flexible redemption options, it’s easy to see why this card is a favorite for new credit card users looking to travel the world.
It is extremely competitive against the long time favorites in the space and has a solid niche of its own accord.
