Hey everyone, hope all is going well for you guys. I’ve been struggling going back-and-forth reading multiple articles and watching several videos regarding the Citi strata Premier and the Citi Strata elite. I currently have the Citi double cash card for my everyday expenses, as well as the Citi custom cash card for dining and I’m just trying to figure out between the premier and elite card which one would be better for me to add to my set up? To give you guys a better insight on my monthly spending. See below: (Varies month-to-month)
Dinning – $500-$800
Grocery – $600-$700
Online shopping – $200 – $500
Gas – $100
Everything else – $350-$500
Those are my general spending categories and amount per month. Any suggestions is much appreciated.
Extra note – also seems to be a rumor with the strata premier card with upcoming changes? So I’m kind of holding off for now before pulling the trigger on any of these cards.
Thank you for taking the time to submit your input.
Strata Premier or Elite for my final card in my setup??
byu/arcaneaugur94 inCreditCards
Posted by arcaneaugur94
3 Comments
Do you use the Citi travel portal a lot? If not, don’t get the Elite
Your spend isnt very high. Do you travel? The elite is $595 a year, so you may want to see if you can offset that first. The premier is only $95 and can be offset with one hotel of $500 a year giving you a credit of $100. I personally started with the no AF strata to add to my citi ecosystem and test it out as I wanted a travel card although I dont often. Ill probably PC to the premier shortly.
Personally, I think this is what I would do:
Get the Premier for now since it additionally covers groceries and gas. I suspect if the rumor is true, it would still take some time to implement the changes and you can continue to optimize until then. If it does happen earlier, it’s not necessarily a loss for you since the welcome offer would have given you a large upside.
After the first year and if the rumor occurs, reevaluate your spending and categories against those changes. Also reevaluate if Citi is still for you. Citi is still on the “younger” side of the points program, and a lot could have changed to the program over the course of an year (e.g. Choice/IPrefer devaluations).
You can always downgrade the Premier to a Custom Cash, which is a fantastic card, and then get the Elite.