Keep, Cancel or Downgrade: Citi Strata Premier

Two years ago, I opened my first transferable point card and my life changed forever. ✨ The Citi Premier card (as it was known then) had an amazing sign up offer of 80,000 points, and ThankYou points transferred to all of the airlines I was considering for an upcoming trip to the Middle East. Though it is a great everyday card for many, the Strata Premier card is on the chopping block today in our household as the $95 annual fee just hit. 💳

Important Notes:

-In order to transfer ThankYou points out of Citi to partners, you need the Strata Premier card.

-Two downgrade options are available: the Custom Cash card, and the Double Cash card.

-Though it has great 3x spend categories, I have other cards that earn more than 3x in each of those categories.

-Citi ThankYou points are able to be transferred to others, but expire after 90 days if not used.

Last year when this annual fee hit, I considered closing this account, but was given a retention offer that erased the annual fee. I chose to keep it open last year, but since then have not put regular spend on it (I set up my subscription charges on cards like this so it doesn’t go completely without spending). Since I don’t use this card and it has an annual fee, we decided to DOWNGRADE this card. 

Long-term plan:

It can be helpful to consider a long-term plan in making a decision to keep, cancel or downgrade a card. I knew that Citi allows you to earn another sign up bonus on the Strata Premier card every 48 months, so in downgrading this card, I made a note in my long-term card plan to reapply in 2 years when I’m eligible again. In the meantime, I’ll occasionally use the Custom Cash card to fill in space for random categories, and eventually transfer those ThankYou points to a new Strata Premier card to use in the future. I’d also be able to transfer ThankYou points to my husband if he applies for a Strata Premier card (which I’d consider in the next year if the 75,000 offer sticks around for a while).