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The card_name military benefits include an annual fee waiver to $0 for covered borrowers of the Military Lending Act.
This includes active duty military, Guard and Reserve on 30+ day active orders, and military spouses listed in DEERS.
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Learn how to apply on our partner's secure site
- bonus_miles_full
- Earn 12 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com and 6 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com
- Earn 6 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants including Restaurant Delivery Services on CitiNights℠ purchases, every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 6 AM ET. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent any other time
- Earn 1.5 Points per $1 spent on All Other Purchases
- Up to $300 Annual Hotel Benefits: Each calendar year, enjoy up to $300 off a hotel stay of two nights or more when booked through cititravel.com
- Up to $200 Annual Splurge Credit℠: Every calendar year, earn up to $200 in statement credits on your choice of up to 2 of the following brands: 1stDibs, American Airlines (exclusions apply), Best Buy®, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation (exclusions apply)
- American Airlines Admirals Club® Lounge Access Passes
- Every calendar year, receive 4 Admirals Club® Citi Strata Elite℠ Passes for access to nearly 50 Admirals Club® lounges (over $300 in value). Inside each of the nearly 50 lounges, you can enjoy a selection of snacks, complimentary cocktails, personal travel assistance and more.
- Up to $120 Global Entry® or TSA PreCheck® Application Fee Credit
- Receive a statement credit, up to $120 every four years, as reimbursement for your application fee for Global Entry® or TSA PreCheck®.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees, Great for OCONUS assignments and TDY or PCS
- $595 Annual Fee, Waived for Military Lending Act (MLA) Covered Borrowers to $0
This is a similar military annual fee waiver to the one offered by American Express military protections and the Chase military rules on the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card.
In this post:
Citi Strata Elite Military Annual Fee Waiver
Before applying for the Citi Strata Elite, make sure you are listed as a covered borrower in the Military Lending Act database.
Covered borrowers of the Military Lending Act include:
- Active duty members in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, or Coast Guard
- Spouse of an Active Duty member of the Armed Forces
- National Guardsmen, Air National Guardsmen, or military Reservist on Title 10 or other active duty orders 30 days or longer
Covered borrowers of the MLA should get their annual fees waived on the Citi Strata Elite Card.
In the month you are charged the annual fee, you should see a “MLA FEE/INT CREDIT” on your account for the full amount of the $595 annual fee.
See more details on Citi card military benefits here. The $75 authorized user fee should also be waived, but both the active duty servicemember and military spouse can open up their own card account and get fees waived.
Citi Strata Elite Card Welcome Offer
The Citi Strate Elite Card currently is offering bonus_miles_full.
Citi ThankYou points are generally valued at between 1.5 to 2 cents each, so this bonus can be valued at a minimum $1,000.
You should be eligible for the welcome bonus even if you have other Citi cards such as the Citi Strata Premier® Card, Citi Prestige Card (not currently open to new applicants), or the Citi Strata Card.
Citi Strata Elite Points Rewards Structure
- 12x ThankYou points on hotels, rental cars, and attractions, booked through Citi Travel
- 6x ThankYou points on air travel booked through Citi Travel
- 6x ThankYou points on restaurants on Citi Nights purchases, on Fridays and Saturdays between 6PM and 6AM ET (regardless of where in the world you are)
- 3x ThankYou points per dollar spent at restaurants any other time
- 1.5x ThankYou points on all other eligible purchases
I like that you earning 1.5x ThankYou points minimum on all eligible purchases. The 3x ThankYou Points is not as good as the 4x points on global restaurants you can earn with the American Express® Gold Card or the 4x points you can earn with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card.
The best earning category is 12x ThankYou points on hotels, rental cars, and attractions, booked through CitiTravel.com. This is an excellent way to earn a lot of flexible Citi ThankYou points when making those kinds of reservations.
You can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Citi travel partners at the following redemption rates:
- Transfer to Accor Live Limitless at a 1,000:500 ratio
- Transfer to Aeromexico Rewards at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Air France-KLM Flying Blue at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to American AAdvantage at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Avianca Lifemiles at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Cathay Pacific at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Choice Privileges at a 1,000:2,000 ratio
- Transfer to Emirates Skywards at a 1,000:800 ratio
- Transfer to Etihad Guest at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to JetBlue TrueBlue at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club at a 1,000:200 ratio
- Transfer to Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer at a 1,000:4,000 ratio
- Transfer to Qantas Frequent Flyer at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Qatar Airways Privilege Club at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
- Transfer to Wyndham Rewards at a 1,000:1,000 ratio
You can pool points between other cards, such as your Citi Double Cash® Card.
Citi Strata Elite Hotel Credit
Each calendar year, you can receive a $300 annual hotel credit off a hotel stay of 2 or more nights booked through Citi Travel.
You will need to book a pre-paid stay and charge the cost to an eligible Citi card. The $300 credit is applied at the time of booking. Unused hotel credit will be available for a subsequent purchase.
An easy use of this would be a hotel that costs $150 per night. Book 2 nights and you'll get the $300 travel credit and a 2 night stay for free.
Citi Strata Elite Credits
The Citi Strata Elite Card is also offering a $200 annual “Splurge Credit.” Currently valid at 1stDibs, American Airlines, Best Buy, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation.
This credit should be pretty easy to use, especially if you're booking an American Airlines flight, buying electronics at Best Buy, or going to a Live Nation concert.
The $200 Blacklane credit is also valuable. I used Blacklane several times in New York City this year. It's a fantastic, pre-booked chauffeur service that's about equilvant to Uber Black.
I think most military families will find value in the Blacklane credit, especially with TDY and PCS travel. A $200 credit towards a chauffeur service home would be most welcome after a long flight.