Finally: Citi Adds AA as Transfer Partner, Launches New Premium Card

For years – a decade or more, really – Citi Bank has been a distant fourth (or maybe worse) in the credit card rewards landscape to the likes of American Express, Chase, and Capital One. With its latest moves, that could change.

Over the weekend, Citi made good on American Airlines' previous hints and officially added the Dallas-based carrier as a Citi ThankYou transfer partner – becoming the only major bank from which you can transfer points to AA. That's absolutely massive, as American AAdvantage miles are incredibly valuable (even if you never fly American) but have been much harder to earn without a significant transfer partner. 

This addition alone should put Citi options like the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card higher on travelers' wish lists … and now there's a new one to pick from: The bank also launched the long-awaited Citi Strata Elite℠ Card, a new premium card with perks like lounge access, an annual hotel credit, better earning bonuses on select spending categories, and an annual fee of $595. It's Citi's way of (finally) competing with mainstay cards like *amex platinum*, the *chase sapphire reserve*, and the *venture x*.

Let's dive in deeper, shall we?

Transfer Citi Points to AA

This is the big news travelers across the country have been waiting for. 

With premium partner airlines and reasonable redemption rates, American AAdvantage miles put Delta SkyMiles and United MileagePlus miles to shame, if you ask us. But while you can transfer Chase points to United and send Amex points to Delta, that wasn't an option between Citi and American – aside from a brief window a few years back. Bilt Rewards points previously transferred to American, but that ended more than a year ago when the points-for-rent platform swapped in Alaska Airlines. 

After the airline and bank inked an exclusive credit card deal late last year, it's finally a reality – for good. Effective immediately, travelers with Citi ThankYou Points can now send them straight to American Airlines on a 1:1 basis. 

At the risk of sounding redundant: This is massive. Groundbreaking, even. 

The biggest knock against American AAdvantage miles is that they're harder to earn without a big transfer partner. Aside from picking up the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® or the Barclays AAdvantage Red Aviator Card (or both!) and racking up miles flying with the airline itself, there weren't many options to earn AA miles easily. 

But now you can transfer a stash of 60,000 or 75,000 points from the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card and instantly get 60,000 or 75,000 AAdvantage miles. You could snag the new Citi Strata Elite℠ Card – more on that shortly – and earn a bonus of 80,000 points (or even more), then turn them into 80,000-plus AAdvantage miles.

The list of great ways to redeem AA miles is far too long to list here. But a few highlights include: 

• Domestic one-ways for 5,000 miles or less
• Roundtrips to the Caribbean for as low as 12,000 miles, sometimes less!
• Flash sales to Europe for under 35,000 miles roundtrip!
• Japan Airlines (JAL) business class to Tokyo – or JAL first class for 80,000 miles!
• Book Qatar Qsuites for 70,000 miles … but while finding the award space from the U.S. to Doha (DOH) is tough these days, you can easily book flights between the Middle East and Europe, Asia, or beyond for even fewer AAdvantage miles! 

Introducing … the New Citi Strata Elite Card

From adding perks and raising annual fees to building out airport lounges, premium travel is where all the action is in the travel world today. Citi is finally getting (back) in on the action. 

After many months of speculation, the bank finally unveiled its new Citi Strata Elite℠ Card – the bank's answer to top-tier cards from its competitors. It packs a punch (at a high price), so here's a quick rundown: 

• Welcome Bonus: You can earn 80,000 Citi ThankYou Points after spending $4,000 within the first three months … though we've heard whispers that you can nab a 100,000-point bonus by applying in-person at a Citi branch
• Earn 12x points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on cititravel.com
• Earn 6x points per dollar on airfare booked through cititravel.com
• Earn 6x points per dollar at restaurants on “Citi Nights,” available on Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. through 6 a.m. ET
• Earn 3x points per dollar at restaurants at other times
• Earn 1.5x points per dollar on all other purchases
• $300 Annual Hotel Credit: You can get up to $300 off a hotel stay (of two nights or more) once per calendar year by booking through Cititravel.com
• $200 Annual “Splurge” Credit: Each calendar year, you can earn up to $200 in statement credits on your choice of up to two of the following companies: 1stDibs, American Airlines (exclusions apply), Best Buy, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation (exclusions apply).
• $200 Annual Blacklane Credit: You can earn up to $200 in statement credits with Blacklane, a premium global chauffeur service. That's plit into two semi-annual $100 credits: One from January through June and another from July through December.
• Priority Pass Membership for Lounge Access, not including Priority Pass restaurants
• 4 Annual America Airlines Admirals Club Lounge Passes
• $120 Credit Towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, available once every four years
• $595 annual fee, plus $75 per authorized user

It's not Citi's first premium travel credit card. That distinction goes to the Citi Prestige Credit Card, which stopped accepting applications years ago. Oddly, Citi is expected to keep those cards active instead of converting them over to the new Strata Elite. 

There's a lot to like about this new card … and some real head scratchers. 

• The annual fee seems eminently reasonable compared to the new $795 annual fee on Chase's top-tier Sapphire Reserve Card … and whatever absurd amount American Express will soon charge for its Platinum Card. Still, the Capital One Venture X remains in a league of its own with a $395 annual fee
• The spending categories are … just strange. “Citi Nights” promotions for double the points at restaurants seems needlessly complicated. There's absolutely no bonus for booking travel directly, which stinks. The silver lining is that 1.5x you'll earn on all spending, which could make this a go-to, catch-all card. 
• Statement credits, anyone?! Yes, Citi is copying its competitors with some annual (and biannual) credits.
  • The hotel credit is practically identical to what you get on the Amex Platinum, though without the perks that come with Fine Hotels & Resorts
  • The “Splurge” Credit is interesting, though note that you must activate your “Splurge” merchants beforehand. Based on the terms, flights with American should work without a problem.
  • Ditto for the Blacklane credit, a service I've not personally used. Go figure the bank split this in two – banks sure do love breakage! 
• Lounge access is … let's be honest, it's a dud.
  • Priority Pass access is a given and won't move the needle much for many travelers.
  • But while Capital One and Chase have been busy building out their own lounge networks to compete with Amex Centurion Lounges, Citi has nada. Its solution? Four annual passes to get into American Airlines Admirals Clubs? Just four?!

In all, the Citi Strata Elite seems solid, but not spectacular. It's the least Citi could do at a time when they needed a premium travel card on the market. Between Chase’s recently refreshed Sapphire Reserve with its sky-high $795 annual fee and American Express teasing updates to The Platinum Card – already priced at $695 per year (see rates & fees) – nearly every big bank wants a piece of the premium travel pie

Bottom Line

It's the news many of us have been waiting for … for years.

Citi unveiled its long-awaited Strata Elite card, finally getting back into the premium travel credit card landscape after a years-long absence. But more importantly, Citi officially added American Airlines as its latest transfer partner, finally giving travelers a way to turn credit card points into ultra-valuable AAdvantage miles.

That alone has me looking Citi's way for the first time in years.