Citi Strata℠ Card review: Excellent everyday spending option

The Citi Double Cash® Card* would be ideal for any purchases that don’t earn a bonus on the Citi Strata. Every purchase earns 1 percent when you buy and another 1 percent when you pay for your purchase, giving you up to 2 percent cash back as a baseline for any purchase you make.

The Citi Custom Cash® Card* adds to your rewards-earning flexibility with 5 percent on up to $500 in spending each billing cycle (then 1 percent) on your top-earning category. While many of the categories overlap with bonus categories on the Citi Strata, this essentially gives you more bonus options. You can earn 3X points on groceries and gas, choose another 3X category with the Strata and earn 5 percent in an additional category with the Custom Cash. While strategizing may be a bit more difficult, the return can be much greater.

The Chase Freedom Flex® Card* is often regarded as one of the best no-annual-fee options on the market. However, the Citi Strata puts itself in direct competition with the Flex with its new rewards categories. While the Flex earns the highest with 5 percent on a rotating category, earnings are capped at $1,500 per quarter (then 1 percent) and you don’t get to choose the category. The Strata earns 3X points but allows you to choose the category and doesn’t impose a spending limit. The Flex earns 3X on dining and drugstore purchases, while the Strata earns 3X on groceries and gas. Neither card is decidedly better than the other, but your personal spending needs will likely decide which works best for you.

The Wells Fargo Autograph® Card offers a variety of 3X reward categories, giving you the potential for higher overall rewards on your spending. However, Wells Fargo Rewards aren’t nearly as valuable or flexible as Citi ThankYou Points. You won’t get above 1 cent per point in value and the transfer partners aren’t as useful or extensive as Citi’s transfer partners. The Strata also offers the ability to choose a 3X category, making it a much more versatile option.

Yes, you can combine points with other Citi ThankYou cards to help boost your rewards value. Pairing cards together to create the Citi Trifecta is an excellent way to earn maximum returns for your purchases.

Existing Citi Rewards+ cardmembers gained access to the new Citi Strata benefits on July 20, 2025 and are now Citi Strata cardholders.

You can’t receive the welcome bonus if you’ve earned one on the Citi Rewards+ plus within the past 48 months or converted another Citi account on which you earned a bonus in the past 48 months to the Citi Strata or Citi Rewards+.

The primary criteria for a rewards or cash back card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The most recent BLS data estimates average total spending in 2023 was $77,280 per consumer. We then narrow our focus to which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards, subtracting expenditures like housing, vehicle purchases and education. This gives us a total “chargeable” annual spend of around $22,500.  

Some of the major spending categories that contribute towards the annual spend include:

• Groceries: $6,000
• Dining out: $3,900
• Entertainment: $2,500
• Gas: $2,400
• Apparel and services: $2,000

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 26 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases, as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value.

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.

We also rate cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each rewards or cash back card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards or cash back cards. 

We also score each card based on how its annual fee influences its overall value. 

We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value, but if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score even if it carries a high annual fee. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against other cards in the category when you subtract its annual fee.

We rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards and factor this rating into a card’s overall score. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you redeem for some options versus others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners. 

We also score each card’s set of features — its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. 

We break down these tiers as follows: 

• Tier 1 has less than standard card features (an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits.
• Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges.
• Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection.
• Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs.
• Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.