Citi quietly rebuilt its entry-level rewards card in 2025, rebranding the old Rewards+ as the Citi Strata Card — a $0 annual fee card that has turned out to be one of the more interesting ways to stockpile ThankYou points.
The headline earning rates are strong for a free card: 5x points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel, 3x on supermarkets, gas and EV charging, and select transit, 3x on a self-select category, 2x at restaurants, and 1x on everything else. The self-select option is the standout. You choose from fitness clubs, select streaming services, live entertainment, pet stores, or salons and barbers — and you can switch it once per calendar quarter, so the card can follow your spending rather than the other way round. Streaming is the default when you open the account.
New applicants get 20,000 ThankYou points after spending just $1,000 in three months — an easy target. Redeemed as cash back that's $200; valued as travel points, reviewers peg it closer to $340. One catch: the bonus is effectively once-in-a-lifetime. If you've ever held a Strata or Strata Student card, you're out of luck — there's no 48-month reset like on many Citi products. Holding the Strata Premier or Elite doesn't affect your eligibility, though, and product changes from other Citi cards won't earn the bonus, so apply directly if you want it.
The real strategy is what happens to the points afterwards. On its own, the Strata Card redeems at roughly 0.75–1.0 cents per point, and transfers to airline and hotel partners take a 30% haircut. But pair it with the $95 Strata Premier or the $595 Strata Elite and every point you've earned transfers at full value to around 20 partners, including American AAdvantage. Crucially, this is judged by your best card at the time you redeem, not when you earn — so you can start racking up Strata points today and add a premium card later to unlock the better ratios. That makes the free card a sensible long-term holding even for people not ready to pay an annual fee.
A few drawbacks are worth knowing. There's a 3% foreign transaction fee, so leave this card at home for overseas spending — the Strata Premier handles that better. The 5x Citi Travel category looks flashy but usually means forgoing hotel loyalty points and status on those bookings. Bonus categories also have quirks: warehouse clubs, convenience stores and hotel-restaurant spending typically don't code as you'd hope. Beyond the bonus structure, the card offers 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months (then a variable rate of 18.74%–28.74%, with balance transfer fees of 3%–5%), and it charges nothing for authorized users either.
Who should care? Anyone building a ThankYou points balance without wanting to pay for the privilege, and travellers who might add a premium Citi card down the line and want their everyday grocery, fuel and transit spending already earning. Approval-wise, aim for a credit score around 740 or above, and note Citi's limits of one approval per eight days and two per 65 days.
