Citi's Strata cards switch to once-per-lifetime welcome bonus language (was 48 months)
Citi quietly changed the terms on the Strata, Strata Premier and Strata Elite cards around 20 September 2026: the new account bonus is not available if you currently have or previously had that account. The old rule looked back 48 months from the last bonus.
If you were planning to earn the Citi Strata Premier welcome bonus a second time, the window may have just closed for good.
What changed
Doctor of Credit and One Mile at a Time both reported on 20 September 2026 that Citi had rewritten the bonus eligibility terms on its Strata family, with no announcement.
| Old wording | New wording | |
|---|---|---|
| Strata Premier | Bonus not available if you received a new account bonus for a Citi Premier or Citi Strata Premier account in the past 48 months | Bonus not available if you currently have or previously had a Citi Strata Premier or a Citi Premier account |
| Strata Elite | 48-month style rule | Bonus not available if you currently have or previously had a Citi Strata Elite account |
Doctor of Credit reports the same change on the basic Citi Strata card. It says other Citi cards, such as the American Airlines co-brands, still carry the 48-month rule.
Read the wording closely
The new test is not "did you get a bonus before". It is "have you ever had the account". That is stricter in one way people miss: One Mile at a Time notes you may be ineligible even if you only ever held the card through a product change and never earned a bonus on it. And because the Strata Premier line names the old Citi Premier too, anyone who held the card under its previous name is caught as well.
What the sources say is still unclear:
- Grandfathering. Nothing in the terms says whether people who earned a bonus under the 48-month rule are treated differently.
- How far back "lifetime" reaches. Citi does not define it, and OMAAT notes that lifetime rules are often enforced less strictly than they read.
- Cross-card effect. AwardWallet reads the rule as card-specific: holding one Strata card does not block the bonus on a different Strata card.
What it means for you
Citi will approve an application and simply not pay the bonus if you are ineligible, with no warning at application, per Doctor of Credit. So the burden is on you to know your history.
- Never held a Premier or Strata Premier? Nothing changes for you.
- Held one before, even via a product change? Assume the bonus is gone on that card, and weigh it on its ongoing earn and annual fee alone.
- Chasing ThankYou points? Compare the Strata Elite and basic Strata separately; each has its own history test.
Want to know whether a Citi card still earns its keep without a welcome bonus? Polo Match ranks cards on ongoing net annual value, and the transfer partner explorer shows where ThankYou points can go.
Sources
Every claim on this page is backed by a primary or reputable source.
Cards affected
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