The $95 annual-fee Citi Premier card was replaced last year by the Citi Strata Premier card. Earlier this year, Citi paused applications for the no-fee Rewards+ card.
The news today is that the Rewards+ card which launched in 2019 is being discontinued and replaced by a new Citi Strata no-annual-fee card.
New Strata Card
- Existing Rewards+ cardholders will be converted to the new Strata card on July 20, 2025 and will lose the special 10% rebate and roundup feature of the Rewards+ card. Those who opened their Rewards+ card from July 20, 2024 through July 19, 2025 will continue to have access to the Round Up feature and the 10% Points Back until July 19, 2026.
- New applications for the Strata card will become available later this year.
Card Details
The details of the new Citi Strata no-fee card are very different from the Rewards+ card:
- Signup bonus on the Citi Strata at launch will be 30,000 ThankYou points. That’s better than the 20,000-25,000 offers we saw on the Rewards+ card.
- The 10% redemption rebate feature on the Rewards+ card will not be a feature of the Citi Strata card.
- The points roundup feature on the Rewards+ card will not be a feature of the Citi Strata card.
- Points earning details on the Strata card are better:
- 5x points on Hotels, Car Rentals and Attractions booked on Citi Travel
- 3x points at Supermarkets
- 3x points on Select Transit and at Gas and EV Charging Stations
- 3x points on an eligible Self-Select Category of your choice. Eligible categories include Fitness Clubs, Select Streaming Services, Live Entertainment, Cosmetic Stores/Barber Shops/Hair Salons or Pet Supply Stores.
- 2x points at Restaurants
- 1x points on All Other Purchases
Our Verdict
Obviously a bummer on the removal of the 10% and roundup feature. Overall, though, I’d say this can be a solid no-fee card for a non-hobbyist who is just using one card for everything. Getting 3x on Grocery/Gas, and 2x on Restaurants isn’t bad. Still, I’d think for most people Double Cash makes more sense, especially given that the Strata is no longer easily redeemable for 1 cent per point.
Reminder: Before cards get converted on July 20, 2025, everyone should do redemptions to max out the 10,000 annual max for the 10% redemption bonus.
Hat tip to DDG
Downgrade option for the Premier, works for me.
In general Citi travel booking offers additional points on the total value or excluding the taxes&fees? In my original Strata card points received was less than 10X for the booking made through Citi travel.
I think this is a pretty good no af card actually, kind of defeats the point of the premier except for transfers.
That being said the rewards+ was a lot more unique and interesting between the roundup, 10% boost, and unconditional 2 year warranty extension. No real reason for me to get this when I have the RH Gold, unless I really want to go all in on Choice points (which I do actually value highly… but even then this is more of a downgrade path from premiere than anything).
Any ideas if the points will be worth 1¢ or 0.75¢?
Cards opened in the last year will be quite good for transit: min 10 points under $3.33, then 3x.
Outrageous! Pathetic move by Citi. Eliminating the 10% bonus is a solid nerf to the entire TYP program. Think about it – the DC now earns 2x TYP instead of 2.2 TYP and Premier gets 3x TYP instead of 3.3. Makes me want to MS Citi out of their last dime.
Friendship over with Citi, Barclaycard is my new fren.
Just a data point–I called Citi to express my disappointment. I asked if there were any other cards I could product change my Rewards+ into. Custom Cash was not an option. I know this can be a YMMV situation, but the only options the agent saw were the Citi AA cards (Mile Up, Platinum and Executive). I found that interesting given that recently it was reported that changes between AA & TYP earning cards were no longer possible (they actually gave me no TYP product change options).
RIP to the best sock drawer and gas station fountain pop card.
Will the new Strata card offer 2 year extended warranty as the Reward+?
This is disappointing. I only used the Rewards+ for the 10% bonus on top of DC and CC. 5.5% on groceries, 2.2% everything else. Obviously not a huge deal but it makes the DC especially less competitive as there are many other 2% options out there. The to be converted Strata adds nothing to me personally.
Does this have a foreign transaction fee? If it doesn’t, this can be a decent travel card.
One downside to the new Citi Strata card is that, like its predecessor, it comes with a 3% foreign transaction fee — so it’s not the best choice for spending abroad.
FROM https://upgradedpoints.com/news/citi-strata-card-replaces-citi-rewards-plus/
Ugh, how predictable and disappointing from Shiti.