Citi to release new Strata card, “replacing” Rewards+

A few weeks ago, Citibank discontinued its Rewards+ credit card, a niche product with one superpower: a 10% rebate on up to 100,000 redeemed ThankYou points annually. It also had a semi-useful feature that “rounded-up” purchases to the nearest 10 points, so a $1 charge would earn 10 points, an $11 purchase would earn 20 […] The post Citi to release new Strata card, “replacing” Rewards+ appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

May 23, 2025 - 04:05

Citi to release new Strata card, “replacing” Rewards+

A few weeks ago, Citibank discontinued its Rewards+ credit card, a niche product with one superpower: a 10% rebate on up to 100,000 redeemed ThankYou points annually. It also had a semi-useful feature that “rounded-up” purchases to the nearest 10 points, so a $1 charge would earn 10 points, an $11 purchase would earn 20 and so on.

Since then, it’s been a poorly-kept secret that Citi intended to replace the card with some sort of Strata-branded product. We now know many details about the new card, to be known as the “Strata.” Current Rewards+ cardholders will be switched over to the Strata starting on 7/20/25, and new customers will be able to apply for it later this year.

We’ll dive into the details below.

Citi Strata Details

Citibank will be replacing the old Rewards+ card with a new product: the Strata:
- Current Rewards+ cardholders will be product-changed starting 7/20/25
- New applications will begin later this year
- Once new applications are available, the welcome offer will begin at 30K points after $1K spend within the first three months.
Strata features will include:
- No annual fee
- 5x on hotels, car Rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel
- 3x at supermarkets
- 3x on select transit and at gas and EV charging stations
- 3x in one category of your choice, including: fitness clubs, select streaming services, live entertainment, cosmetic stores/barber shops/hair salons or pet supply stores.
- 2x at restaurants
- 1x everywhere else.
Neither the Rewards+’ 10% annual rebate nor its round-up feature will be part of the Strata card.

Quick Thoughts

At first glance, this new card will be much more useful for the vast majority of consumers and seems obviously positioned as a competitor to the Chase Freedom Flex and the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards. What’s not to like about a no annual fee card that earns 3% on groceries and gas; 2x on restaurants; and throws in a bizarre customizable option as well (I know lots of gamers will be waiting to pounce on that pet supply stores category)?

I find two things immediately interesting. First off, although it’s a billed as a “replacement” for the Rewards+ card, it bears little resemblance to it. The bonus categories for the Strata are far beyond what the Rewards+ offered, and there’s (unfortunately) no mention of the 10% annual rebate on points redemptions. That last part is a big downer for many of us, as it amounted to a 10K anniversary bonus simply for holding a card with no fee. ~~Luckily, the press release doesn’t suggest that Rewards+ cardholders will be forced to product change, but rather “will have access” to it~~.

Even worse, we’ve now confirmed with Citi that all Rewards+ cards will be converted to Stratas and that “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.” That’s a bummer, I loved that aspect of Citi’s rewards program and hate to see it go.

The second thing that I find interesting: the multipliers on this card almost completely mimic those of the more expensive $95 Citi Strata Premier. The only differences are that the Citi Strata Premier earns an extra 1x on dining, 3x on a limited travel category and 10x on Citi Travel purchases (vs the 5x that the Strata earns). The only thing that the Strata gives me that I don’t already have is the customizable monthly category…and I’d have have to spend $5K in that category per year to offset the 10K that I get back because of my current Rewards+ card. I’d prefer to keep my Rewards+…if I could.

My assumption is that the Strata won’t have access to the full array of Citi’s transfer partners; those will only be unlocked by the Strata Premier. Given that, if I was applying for a new card, I’d prefer the Strata Premier’s almost identical (but slightly better) bonus categories, much better welcome offer, and full transferability to what I’d get with the Strata, even with the Premier’s $95 annual fee.

As a standalone cashback card with limited options for travel partner transfers, the Strata is more compelling…and given that there’s no annual fee, there’s no harm in having it along with the Strata Premier so you can let yourself run wild with pet supplies. I just wouldn’t use it as a replacement to the Strata Premier.

So, what am I going to do with my household Rewards+ cards, now that we know we’re all going to be forced to product change? Since I already have the Strata Premier, my strategy will be to max out the annual rebate in the next month or so and then product-change both of them to the Custom Cash card, with its choose-your-own monthly 5x category. For me, there’s more value to having additional 5x capacity than there would be to having the customizable 3x on the Strata. However, the Double Cash card could be another appealing option in order to get access to 2x points everywhere, for those that don’t already have one.

The post Citi to release new Strata card, “replacing” Rewards+ appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.