I’ve been hearing a ton of really great things about citi cards, they’re points, and whatnot but recently i started seeing some negative comments that i didn’t fully understand.

Citi was in my next group of cards i was planning on targeting in the next year-ish so any help or opinions would be appreciated!

Citi cards are often not talked about as potential cards people can get, and no one seems to have them. It was my first card that started as secured, then became unsecured. Just upgraded to the double cash card. I only have an $800 limit though. I work in a restaurant and only see people use Citi cards maybe once a month, if that.

I’m not a huge fan of the Strata elite and don’t plan on getting it, but I was thinking that if you do fly American now (or value their points for booking partners) with the transfers that it’s now potentially the best one card set up. You get decent premium travel benefits and a decent 1.5X rate. If we compare to its competition:

• Venture X gets 2X but has much worse transfer partners. It’s much easier to get good value from AA. So in practice the Citi 1.5X is likely better.

• BOA PR/PRE. Still the best if you have 100k and don’t want to bother with points. But if you do use points then you can get 2-3cpp on AA miles so it’s going to beat the 2.6% here.

• CSR only good for earning if you have low catch all spend. Seems unlikely for most people.

• Platinum has very low catch all earnings, not a good single card setup.

Although you could also argue that Double Cash + Strata Premier is even better as a two card setup. Very low AF and even better earnings for most people. AA > United/Delta for redemptions so it clearly beats the other cheap two card setups.

I recently had my Citi credit card locked, so I sent the IRS form by USPS. I confirmed it was delivered a week ago, but when I called them today, they said they never received it and told me to send it again. They won't even cover the mail fee! This is my first Citi card, and so far, it's been a nightmare.

Hello guys, I’ve been thinking about applying for my first Citi card, the CCC for the sole purpose of paying for gasoline. I’ve read mixed opinions on the internet & was hoping to hear personal experiences from people on this SUB. I’ve also seen that they trademarked the new Stratus name & changed their travel portal to booking.com which gives me hope that they may offer great things in the future. Would you recommend Citi? If not, what are some other gasoline credit card options that you’d recommend. Thanks!

Edit: After reading everybody’s experiences with Citi, I decided I’d rather not be subjected to horrible customer service with a credit card lender. Amex has always been amazing when I needed assistance or help & because I am already considering the blue cash everyday for 3% on online shopping, I think I will use it for 3% back on gasoline as well so I don’t have to get involved with Shiti Bank. If they bring something impressive down the line with the Stratus Lineup I may reconsider. But for now I will remain clear of their cards. Thank you to all who responded!

Who has a citi cc that they actually like over other options? It is by far my lowest limit and also least amount of raises. It appears citi is below average for limits, perks/rewards. Does anyone have a different experience?

Hi, I’ve realized I value Eva and American Airlines points the most so citi seems to cover both of them. What’s the best citi setup with a catchall card? I’ve heard you can product change and SWY is not bad? Any help would be great. Thanks!

Citi custom cash card - Earn 5% cash back Earn 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, and 1% cash back thereafter. Also earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Earn $200 cash back Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening.

Low Intro APR for 15 months 0% Intro APR on purchases for 15 months from date of account opening and 0% Intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months from date of first transfer; after that the variable APR will be 19.24% — 29.24% based upon your creditworthiness.*

Citi double cash card - Earn 2% cash back Earn 1% cash back on purchases and 1% as you pay for your purchases, with no caps on earning, confusing categories to track, or annual fee.*

Earn $200 cash back Earn $200 cash back bonus after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening.**

Low Intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months 0% for 18 months from date of transfer for balance transfers only; after that, the variable APR will be 19.24% to 29.24%, based on your creditworthiness.*

It’s literally the exact same thing, except for the fact that you get 5% cash back but only for the first $500 each billing cycle then it’s 1% cash back after that & for the double cc it’s 2% cash back overall. I’m conflicted which one I should choose I’m not sure if it’s better to just get 5% cash back up to $500 then 1% or just go with 2% cash back all around. Help?

Many people mentioned here that Citi sucks, and they don’t want any Citi card….. I have two (Costco Anywhere and CDC) for many years, just like my wife have hers Citi cards. Never had any problems with Citi, payments, fraud charge, customer service or anything. I have an Amex (which definitely has batter customer service), but rewards is better at Citi at least for me. Why do people hate Citi so much?

I’m a 23 year old college student, I have my discover card but I want something else that can benefit me, at first I wanted the blue Amex my parents advised me away from that so I’m between the Costco Citi Visa and the Citi Rewards + card. Which one would you recommend?

Yes, I've read the posts about citi and their terrible customer service, but I've been a citi card holder for many years, and had no problems...

Got a citi premier and was excited to earn some AA miles. Had the card for a month making some restaurant charges here and there with no problems.

Fast forward, we are 4 days away from taking a two week france trip, I start booking a few attractions, and on the 4th charge our card is locked. Look on the app, all my charges, nothing fraudulent.

Call customer service and they can do nothing for me over the phone and must send a verification letter by mail! We will already be gone by the time it reaches us. Now I don't even know if we will meet the minimum spend for the sign on bonus.

Grr

Was thinking of applying for the Rewards card. Did a search on reddit and it seems Citi cards seems to have an issue. Those that hold Citi cards, how has your experience been for the past 1-2 years? Do random charges appear?

Strata Elite cardholders say they were shut out of their accounts without explanation for weeks

https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/credit/citi-new-premium-credit-card-problems-b99f7642?st=4ZQVw9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

I recently picked up the Citi Strata Premier and overall I really like the card. The 3x on gas, groceries, restaurants, air travel, and hotels is great for someone like me who doesn’t travel much and doesn’t care about airline/hotel loyalty. Redeeming points is easy: cash out via statement credit or transfer points if needed.. All good… until you actually need help.

Let me tell you, Citi’s customer service is absolute garbage compared to literally every other issuer I’ve dealt with. I’ve had cards with Amex, Wells Fargo, and Chase. Amex is in a different league (especially their 24/7 chat), Wells and Chase are acceptable. But Citi? A complete shitshow.

Here’s what happened:
A few nights ago, I booked a hotel through the Citi travel portal but later found a better offer on Hotels.com using my Amex card. So I canceled the Citi booking and rebooked with Amex. That’s when I noticed something weird: Citi showed three transactions:the original charge, a cancellation, and a third mystery transaction.

So I tried to chat with a rep through the app, but surprise! No agents available at 6pm PST. Fine, I call. Get someone with a heavy accent (no issue with that in itself, but I genuinely couldn't understand half the conversation), connection was awful, and they needed to verify me. Problem is, I forgot my "secret word" (lol). They tried sending a text… which never came. I gave up and hung up.

Then I figured I’d just dispute the transaction directly through the app. I check back two hours later and now… fraud alert on my account. Called again. Forgot the secret word again. Text still doesn’t work. They call me back to verify me (finally), and the rep says the fraud alert is removed — but can’t tell me what happened with the double transaction. Transfers me to someone else. Same drill: secret word, no text, can’t proceed. “Call back later.” Are you kidding me?

Spoiler: the fraud alert is still there.

It’s insane that Citi can offer such a solid product and pair it with the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced in banking. If you never need help, it’s a great card. But the moment something goes wrong? Welcome to the circus.

According to this post, the Citi Strata Elite is rumored to be releasing this weekend:

https://frequentmiler.com/source-citi-strata-elite-debuts-this-weekend-and-replaces-prestige/

Annual Fee: $650

Point earning rate:

Dining: 6x dining on certain days (Citi Nights – Fri & Sat nights) [Note: I don’t know if this means that it will earn 6x on certain Fri & Sat nights or that it will earn 6x every Fri & Sat AND on select Citi Nights]

Citi travel portal: 12x

No other bonus categories were revealed

Perks:

AA Admirals Club access

“Coupons” (without any additional information)

Transfers to AA: Not at first, but that should be coming later via a separate project.

Current Prestige cardholders will be product changed to the Strata Elite

The post also indicates the possibility that all the point earning categories could be:

-12x on hotels,car rentals and attractions booked on Citi travel

-6X on air travel booked on Citi travel.

-6X on restaurants on CITI NIGHTS EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 6 pm to 6 am ET.

-3x points at restaurants any other time frame.

-1.5X on all other purchases

I opened a new CitiBank account about 1 month ago for the CustomCash card and have already activated the card and used it for several purchases so far. Out of nowhere I start getting all my transactions declined so I call up customer service and here's where it all goes downhill...

They asked to verify my account by asking for my cell number, so I give it to them and wait for a 5 minute hold. Lady comes back on and tells me they can't use my personal cellphone (which I originally used when opening the account). Can't even send even me a text message to verify like every other bank on this planet. Then she asks to verify my identify with my employer's name, business address, and phone number -- weird to ask for this but I give it to her. Another 5 minutes of waiting on hold for her to come back on and tell me that she can't verify who I am. Then she asks for my debit card number for a different bank and my other bank's customer service phone. 5 minutes later, she's "unable to verify" my identity once again.

Finally, she says they have to send me a verification letter in the physical snail mail to unlock my account and it will take 7-10 BUSINESS DAYS. CitiBank won't verify me through my email address, phone number, SSN, DOB, or any other piece of security info linked to my account and has to resort to a piece of mail... ridiculous way to run a bank let alone any business. Do not make the mistake I did and stay away from CitiBank.

Rant over...

I've been looking into getting into the Citi Ecosystem. I've been mapping out what I think would be the best roadmap for myself, but am curious to hear your guys thoughts on whether or not this will work. My end goal would be to have the

Citi Strata Premier

Double Cash

And two, maybe three Custom Cash cards.

I have no cards with Citi so I would be starting fresh with them. I'm thinking of first applying for the Citi Strata since it has an easy SUB, waiting six months to apply for my first Custom Cash, then go for the Double Cash six months after the first Custom Cash, converting my Strata into another Custom Cash (if possible), then applying for the Strata Premier six months later.

To me this plan seems solid, but it relies on Citi being able to product change the Citi Strata into a Custom Cash. Are there any data points of this being possible? Also if this plan does work, how would I go about getting a potential third Custom Cash? I may or may not go for the third Custom depending on how much use I end up getting out of the other two, but it would be nice to know how that is possible.

Appreciate any help!