Meet the Contenders
Strongest in dining at 3%.
12x on hotels/car rentals via Citi Travel, 6x on flights via Citi Travel, 3x on dining.
Earns a solid 1.5% on everything else.
Annual fee: $595
Sign-up bonus: 75,000 points after $6,000 spend in 3 months
Foreign fees: 0%
Perfect if: You spend enough in bonus categories to easily offset the annual fee.
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2x on all, 2.5x on mobile up to $5k/quarter, 6x on prepaid travel.
Earns a solid 2.0% on everything else.
Annual fee: $195
Sign-up bonus: 75,000 points after $10,000 spend in 120 days
Foreign fees: 0%
Perfect if: You're comfortable booking through the issuer's own site for the best rate.
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The Verdict
Citi Strata Elite Card pulls ahead for
dining spending.
U.S. Bank Business Altitude Power Visa Signature Card wins on
travel, groceries, gas.
The $400/year fee difference means
Citi Strata Elite Card needs to earn about that much more in rewards to justify its cost.
Citi Strata Elite Card carries $300/year in credits (mostly tied to specific merchants or bookings).
Those only count if you’d actually use them. Worth checking against your own habits before treating them as a discount on the fee.
Not sure which fits your life? Enter your spending below and we’ll do the math. The calculator ranks purely on rewards minus the full annual fee, so credits and perks are yours to judge.