Citi Strata Premier℠ vs Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

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Whether you’re just getting started earning points and miles or are looking for opportunities to earn more flexible currency, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card are valuable credit cards that you might want to add to your wallet.

Similarities between the two cards include:

• Both cards earn flexible currency that can be transferred to airline and hotel partners and used in other ways, including cash back and gift card redemptions.
• Both cards have a $95 annual fee.
• Neither card has foreign transaction fees, making the cards good choices for international use.

These credit cards have important differences, including welcome offer details, points earning structure, point redemption value, transfer partners and other card benefits. Let’s dive deeper into both cards and explore key differences.

Welcome Offers

Eligible individuals can earn welcome offers by opening a new card credit and meeting specific requirements. The number of points provided as a welcome bonus and required minimum spending vary over time, even for the same card.

Eligibility for welcome bonuses goes beyond banks’ rules for credit card approval and considers if and when you received a bonus for the same card or related card. More specifically, rules for welcome bonus eligibility are:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred: You can’t open the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if you have any other open Sapphire credit cards. Additionally, previous Sapphire credit cardholders who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months aren’t eligible for a welcome bonus.
• Citi Strata Premier: Bonus ThankYou® Points aren’t provided if you received a new account bonus for the Citi Premier® Card or the Citi Strata Premier account in the past 48 months.

Over the last few years, welcome bonuses for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card and its predecessor the Citi Premier® Card typically have been between 60,000 and 80,000 points.

Points Earning Structure

The two cards vary with respect to the number of points you earn on spending because they have different categories that earn more than 1 point per dollar spent.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns Ultimate Rewards points (per dollar spent) as follows:

• 5X points on travel purchases through Chase Travel℠, excluding purchases that qualify for the $50 annual hotel credit
• 5X points on qualifying Lyft rides and Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 (maximum earning of 25,000 total points with Peloton) through March 2025
• 3X points on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services, select streaming services and online grocery purchases, excluding Target®, Walmart® and wholesale clubs
• 2X points on other travel purchases
• 1X points on all other purchases

Cardholders also earn a 10% anniversary points bonus with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. At each account anniversary, you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total spending made with your card during the previous year. As an example, if you opened your card July 1, your membership year would end the following June 30. If net spending that year was $10,000, you would earn 1,000 anniversary bonus points.

The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card earns ThankYou® Points (per dollar spent) as follows:

• 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel℠
• 3X points on air travel and other hotel purchases, restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations and EV charging stations
• 1X points on all other purchases

For restaurant spending, the two cards have the same earning rate of 3X points per dollar spent, but for several categories, the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card has better earning rates. For consumers who don’t want to bother using different cards for grocery shopping, dining, gas and certain travel expenses, the Citi Strata Premier℠ is a good single card solution.

One important consideration is how travel expenses paid directly to providers are categorized. Chase has a broader definition of travel than Citi.

• The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card earns 3X points on air travel, hotels and travel agencies only.
• The Chase Sapphire Preferred travel category includes airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites and campgrounds as well as operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges, highways, parking lots and garages as merchants earning 2X points.

If you have significant travel spending that’s not booked through bank travel portals and isn’t for air travel, hotels or travel agencies, you’d earn just 1X points on these other travel purchases with the Citi Strata Premier℠.

For grocery shopping, where and how you shop is important when considering which card has better earning rates. The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 3X points on online groceries, excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs, and the Citi Strata Premier earns 3X points for shopping at supermarkets.

For individuals who want to maximize points earning between these two cards, general recommendations are:

• Use the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for Lyft rides (5X points), Peloton equipment and accessory purchases (5X points), select streaming services (3X points) and travel purchases that qualify as travel with Chase (2X points) but aren’t air travel, hotels or travel agencies.
• Use the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card for purchases through Citi Travel (10X points), supermarkets in-person shopping (3X points) and gas or EV charging stations (3X points).
• Use either card for dining (3X points).

For other spending—where the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card earn 1X points—we recommend maximizing point earnings by using a credit card that earns a higher multiplier on all spending, such as the Citi Double Cash® Card (2X points, 1x point at the time of purchase and 1x point when you pay for those purchases) or the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (1.5X points). If choosing between the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card for non-bonus spending, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers slightly better earning rates with its 10% anniversary bonus. 

Other considerations, as discussed under card benefits, might make it beneficial to modify the point maximization approach in certain circumstances. For example, people may choose to pay taxes on airline award tickets with the Chase Sapphire Preferred (2X points) to ensure that travel protections apply to the trip.

Points Redemption Value

Value depends on the redemption method and may be impacted by other accounts you have with Chase or Citi.

We don’t recommend redeeming flexible currency at less than 1 cent per point. So, we’re not providing details about low value uses, such as using points for shopping at Amazon or other retailers. 

Options for redeeming points at or above 1 cent each include:

• Redemptions for cash back, statement credits or gift cards: Both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Citi Strata Premier cardholders can redeem points at 1 cent each for these uses. The Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders sometimes have opportunities for a 25% bonus for taking statement credits to offset purchases in specific categories through the Pay Yourself Back® promotion. For example, through December 2024, purchases for “Select charities” listed on the Chase website are eligible for this promotion. Both programs may offer other temporary opportunities for greater value, such as a sale with gift cards being discounted by 10%.
• Booking travel with points through Chase Travel℠ or Citi Travel: When booking travel this way, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card provides better return. The Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders get 1.25 cents per point redeemed, and the Citi Strata Premier℠ cardholders get 1 cent each. If you book a flight that normally costs $200 through these channels using points, you’d need 16,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points vs. 20,000 Citi ThankYou® Points.
• Transfers to airline or hotel partners: Details about Chase and Citi transfer partners and transfer ratios are discussed below. Value differences usually are related to different partners available through the two programs.

Citi also offers some customers a 10% rebate on the first 100,000 points redeemed each calendar year. This rebate applies if you have the Citi Rewards+® Card and other Citi cards or accounts that are in the same ThankYou® Rewards account as the Rewards+ card. The rebate applies to points earned from all linked cards and includes all redemption methods noted above.

Transfer Partners and Rules

There are differences in rules about transferring points to partners, but both the Chase Ultimate Rewards and the Citi ThankYou® Rewards programs have two requirements to enable full points transfer functionality:

• The individual who transfers points must have a card that earns Ultimate Rewards points or ThankYou® Points.
• The card must have an annual fee of at least $95.

More details about transferring points are included in other articles about Citi ThankYou® Points and Chase Ultimate Rewards.

The transfer rates discussed below are the regular rates, but both rewards programs sometimes have bonuses for transferring points to specific partners. For example, in late July 2024, the following transfer bonuses were available:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards: 70% to Marriott Bonvoy and 30% to Air Canada Aeroplan
• Citi ThankYou® Rewards: 25% to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, 20% to Wyndham Rewards and 15% to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

As an example, transferring 1,000 Chase or Citi points during a 30% transfer bonus yields 1,300 points in airline or hotel programs.

Airline Partners

If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, the regular transfer ratio from Chase or Citi to airline programs is 1:1, with a minimum transfer of 1,000 points. For example, transferring 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club yields 20,000 Avios.

As of September 2024:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards has 11 airline partners.
• Citi ThankYou® Rewards has 14 airline partners.
• Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways loyalty programs use points currency called Avios, which can be moved among these programs. Having the ability to transfer points to any of these programs provides the ability to book awards through other programs that use Avios.

Some airline programs are transfer partners with both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou® Rewards programs, and other airline programs are partners with only Chase or Citi, as shown below.

Airline program	Transfer partners		Comments
	Chase	Citi
Aer Lingus AerClub	X		Avios program with points sharing
Aeroméxico Rewards		X
Air Canada Aeroplan	X
Air France-KLM Flying Blue	X	X
Avianca LifeMiles		X
British Airways Executive Club	X		Avios program with points sharing
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles		X
Emirates Skywards	X	X
Etihad Guest		X
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands		X
Iberia Plus	X		Avios program with points sharing
JetBlue TrueBlue	X	X
Qantas Frequent Flyer		X
Qatar Airways Privilege Club		X	Avios program with points sharing
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	X	X
Southwest Rapid Rewards	X
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus		X
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles		X
United MileagePlus	X
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	X	X

Excluding programs that are transfer partners with both Chase and Citi and programs that use Avios, transfer partner differences are summarized below.

• With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can transfer points to three airline programs that aren’t Citi transfer partners: Air Canada Aeroplan, Southwest Rapid Rewards and United MileagePlus.
• With the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, you can transfer points to eight airline programs that aren’t Chase transfer partners: Aeroméxico Rewards, Avianca LifeMiles, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Etihad Guest, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles.

If you’re wondering which credit card offers better airline transfer partners, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It’s important to consider your own travel preferences and other sources of obtaining points and miles in specific airline loyalty programs.

For many people, earning points through both of these credit cards—and possibly credit cards that earn other flexible currency, such as American Express Membership Rewards or Capital One Rewards—is a good approach to maximize options for award flights. If you already have flexible currency in one or more programs and are trying to decide between opening the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, it’s useful to consider how each program’s transfer partners complement your current options.

If you’re just getting started or only plan to open one card, here are some general guidelines about choosing between the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Citi Strata Premier cards based on airline partners.

• The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card may be useful for frequent United Airlines or Southwest Airlines travelers who travel mostly in North America. Although transferring Ultimate Rewards points to these airlines usually doesn’t provide the highest redemption value, Chase Ultimate Rewards is the only major flexible currency program that supports transfers to United MileagePlus and Southwest Rapid Rewards.
• The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card would be the better option for people seeking the ability to book awards through the Air Canada Aeroplan program. Air Canada is a Star Alliance airline that also has many non-alliance partners. Given Aeroplan’s reasonable partner award pricing and relatively easy-to-use search and booking tools, it’s a valuable airline program for many travelers.
• The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card may be useful for travelers who are comfortable leveraging foreign airlines’ programs to extract greater value from points and miles. Several non-U.S. based programs that are Citi ThankYou® Rewards partners (but not Chase Ultimate Rewards partners) are useful for niche redemptions or offer less expensive award rates. Some programs are better suited for people who are more experienced using points and miles, or who are willing to work through obstacles such as more stringent program rules, limited online booking functionality and customer service challenges.

Let’s consider an example with multiple options for booking a United flight, using points transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou® Rewards.

United had nine nonstop flights between Chicago (ORD) and Los Angeles (LAX) on May 7, 2025, with Saver award availability in economy class. No flights had Saver award availability in first class, and the lowest first-class award rate was 60,000 MileagePlus miles.

Here are details for one of the flights.

United MileagePlus elite members and United co-branded credit cardholders sometimes have access to additional award space, so if you’re interested in booking awards through partner programs, you shouldn’t log into your MileagePlus account when searching. We found some discrepancies between flights that United identified as having Saver awards and availability when searching individual partner airline programs.

We checked multiple airline programs for award availability on United nonstop flights on that date. The table below summarizes award availability and award rates for three Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners and three Citi ThankYou® Points transfer partners. Other partners not shown might have award availability on these flights, but their award rates are higher.

Booking program	Transfer partner(s)	Economy award details
		Nonstop flights with awards	Points or miles required	Taxes and fees
Air Canada Aeroplan	Chase	8	12,500	$34.95
Avianca LifeMiles	Citi	6	12,500	$30.60
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	Chase & Citi	8	14,000	$5.60
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles	Citi	7	10,000	$5.60
United MileagePlus	Chase	9	15,000	$5.60

Some observations from this example that might apply to other searches are:

• While United awards have dynamic award rates, all nonstop flights with Saver award availability on May 7 cost 15,000 miles in economy.
• For partners with award availability on this date and route, partner programs’ award rates are fixed, based on each program’s region- or distance-based award rates.
• Although booking United flights through United MileagePlus is the most straightforward approach, other airline programs have lower award rates for this date and route.
• Total taxes and fees vary among programs, with Air Canada Aeroplan and Avianca LifeMiles having significantly higher fees because these programs impose a partner booking fee.
• Although not shown in the table, airline programs have vastly different fees and policies for changing or canceling awards.

Hotel Partners

Unlike airline partners, hotel programs that partner with Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou® Rewards programs don’t overlap. Transfer ratios also vary, given vast differences in hotel programs’ points value.

All hotel program transfers possible with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card are at a 1:1 transfer ratio:

• IHG One Rewards 
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt

Points and miles enthusiasts generally consider transferring Ultimate Rewards points to World of Hyatt to offer the best value. Common point valuations for Hyatt points range from 1.5 to 2 cents each, while typical values for Marriott points are around 0.75 cent per point (cpp) and IHG points are around 0.5 cpp.

Furthermore, IHG One Rewards often has sales during which members can purchase points for 0.5 cent each. During these sales, you’re better off redeeming Ultimate Rewards points for cash back and buying IHG points. 

For example, redeeming 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points for cash back would provide $500, and transferring Ultimate Rewards points to IHG would yield 50,000 IHG points. If you bought $500 worth of points at 0.5 cent each, you’d have 100,000 IHG points.

Hotel transfers possible with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card include:

• Accor Live Limitless (ALL) at a 2:1 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 500 Accor points.
• Choice Privileges at a 1:2 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 2,000 Choice points.
• Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club at a 5:1 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 200 Leaders Club points.
• Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer℠ Hotel Rewards at a 1:4 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 4,000 I Prefer points.
• Wyndham Rewards at a 1:1 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 1,000 Wyndham points.

In considering whether Chase or Citi are better for hotel redemptions, it depends on your personal hotel preferences and travel patterns. 

Interesting opportunities with Citi include:

• Choice Privileges: Although the program increased award prices in 2024 for some hotels in the Preferred Hotels & Resorts collection and some of its own hotels, it’s possible to obtain good value with Choice Privileges, especially considering Citi’s strong transfer ratio of 1:2. 
• Leaders Club: Leaders Club offers potential for good redemption value through transfers to Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club. If you’re not familiar with this program, Leaders Club is the loyalty program for about “400 … carefully curated, independent luxury hotels” that are part of Leading Hotels of the World. Although the 5:1 transfer rate seems unattractive, Frequent Miler estimates that Leaders Club points are worth about 8 cents each, which translates to getting 1.6 cents per point in value when redeeming Citi ThankYou® Points.
• Wyndham Rewards: Wyndham redemptions for Vacasa vacation rental properties have been a popular sweet spot for several years. Even with a devaluation in early 2024, good value may be possible redeeming Wyndham points at Vacasa, Cottages.com and Wyndham Vacation Club properties.

Card Benefits

Both cards offer other benefits that may offset part of the annual fee or provide value in other ways. To facilitate comparison, we’re summarizing benefits in a table and providing more details about selected benefits.

Benefit	Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card	Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
Annual hotel discount (once per year)	$50 off hotel booking through Chase Travel℠	$100 off a single $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) hotel booking through Citi Travel℠
Travel protections	Trip cancellation /interruption insurance Auto rental collision damage waiver Baggage delay insurance Lost luggage reimbursement Trip delay reimbursement Travel and emergency assistance services	Common carrier trip cancellation and trip interruption MasterRental coverage Trip delay Lost or damaged luggage
Purchase protections	Purchase protection Extended warranty	Damage & theft purchase protection Extended warranty
Concierge services	Complimentary Visa Signature® Concierge Service*	Complimentary Citi® Concierge
DoorDash DashPass subscription and DoorDash statement credits	Complimentary access for one year to DashPass $10 off monthly on DoorDash non-restaurant orders	N/A
Ennismore hotel VIP access	Access to benefits at Delano, Hyde, Mondrian, Morgans Originals and SLS hotels	N/A

Annual Discount for Hotel Bookings

Even though the Citi Strata Premier℠ offers a $100 credit—compared to the $50 Chase Sapphire Preferred credit—the $500 pre-tax minimum for a single booking with the Citi Strata Premier℠ is an obstacle for some people. Many points and miles enthusiasts prefer to book more expensive hotel stays with points and/or book stays directly with the hotel to obtain better rates and benefits.

Travel Protections

Both cards offer several of the same types of coverage, but coverage details vary, and overall, the Chase Sapphire Preferred has stronger benefits.

Travel protections were added to the Citi Strata Premier during May 2024, so there hasn’t been much reported in terms of real-world experience with their coverage.

Travel insurance is complicated, and language in coverage documents often is confusing. Without delving into the detailed coverage documents—which cardholders can download as pdf files—some differences were apparent in reviewing online benefit details that were available when logged into applicable credit card accounts.

Car Rental Coverage

The Chase Sapphire Preferred provides primary coverage, while The Citi Strata Premier provides secondary coverage. With secondary coverage, your personal auto insurance policy, if applicable, provides primary coverage. As is usually the case with car rental coverage through credit cards, both cards provide collision coverage but not liability coverage.

Trip Cancellation / Interruption and Trip Delay Coverage

Trip cancellation / interruption and trip delay apply to situations where your trip is impacted by a covered event, before or during your trip.

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card:

• Trip cancellation / interruption covers expenses for a trip that is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations. Maximum reimbursement is up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for prepaid, nonrefundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours and hotels. Although not referenced in the summary, as of October 2024, the benefits guide includes an additional coverage limitation of “the actual amount charged to the covered card and/or redeemable rewards used for a covered travel expense.”
• Trip delay coverage applies if your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay. The cardholder and traveling family members are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.
• Coverage applies when paying for part of the covered trip costs with your card. This is important if you’re paying for flights using airline loyalty program points and miles, since paying taxes and fees on the Chase Sapphire Preferred makes the trip eligible for travel protections. 

The general scope of trip cancellation / interruption and trip delay coverage with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is similar to the Chase Sapphire Preferred coverage, but the amount of coverage and specific details vary. Citi’s trip cancellation / interruption coverage maximum benefit amount is $5,000 per covered trip. For trip delay coverage, the Citi Strata Premier℠ coverage maximum is $500 per covered trip.

Citi’s trip cancellation / interruption and trip delay coverage applies when paying in full for the trip with your Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, but the language leaves some ambiguity about whether award tickets would be covered. 

Citi’s details state, “You must charge the full amount of a covered trip to your Citi Strata Premier^SM Card or in combination with your Citi Strata Premier^SM Card and accumulated points on your eligible account or redeemable certificates, vouchers, coupons, or discounts awarded from frequent flyer program or similar program.” It’s unclear if the terms include using airline points or miles for an award ticket.

If you have multiple cards with travel protection benefits, you should review the benefit documents and compare details on coverage maximum amounts and applicability when deciding which credit card to use for travel purchases.

Baggage Coverage

Coverage provided by the two cards are different.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred provides two types of coverage:

• Baggage delay insurance, which reimburses cardholders for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over six hours by passenger carrier, with a maximum of $100 a day for five days.
• Lost luggage reimbursement, which is for lost or damaged luggage. This coverage provides reimbursement for the difference between the actual cash value (replacement cost less depreciation) and any reimbursement provided by the common carrier.

Like other Chase travel protections, paying award taxes and fees with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card activates coverage.

The Citi Strata Premier offers lost or damaged baggage coverage, but it doesn’t appear to provide coverage for reimbursement of expenses when baggage is delayed but not permanently lost. To be eligible for coverage, Citi requires that the full cost of the trip is paid for with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card and/or accumulated ThankYou® Points from an eligible account.

Purchase Protections

At a high level, both cards have similar benefits for purchase protection. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card’s purchase protection is similar to the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card’s damage & theft purchase protection. 

• Chase’s coverage is effective for 120 days after purchase and provides for replacement, repair or reimbursement up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account. 
• Citi’s coverage period is within 90 days of purchase or delivery with maximum benefits of $10,000 per incident and up to $50,000 per year per account.

Both cards also have extended warranty protection, with some differences in details. 

• Chase’s coverage extends the period of warranty coverage by one additional year on original eligible warranties of three years or fewer. Maximum coverage is the lesser of the cost of the item or $10,000 per claim and a maximum of $50,000 per account. 
• Citi’s coverage extends the manufacturer’s warranty for an additional 24 months, with maximum coverage limited to the lesser of the actual amount paid for with the Citi card (including ThankYou® Points) or $10,000 maximum coverage per item.

DoorDash Benefits with Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase offers two benefits with DoorDash:

• The complimentary DashPass membership includes both DoorDash and Caviar. The 12-month membership normally costs $120 and provides $0 delivery fee and lower service fees on eligible orders. The benefit must be activated by Dec. 31, 2027.
• After activating the DashPass membership, members receive a monthly $10 discount that can be used on one eligible DoorDash non-restaurant order. The discount applies to the subtotal before fees, taxes and gratuity.

If you use DashPass, the Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits are useful.

Final Thoughts

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Citi Strata Premier cards both are strong mid-range travel rewards credit cards. For many people, it makes sense to have both cards, since their benefits and uses complement each other.

By strategically using each card for purchases in specific categories, you can earn 2X to 10X points per dollar spent on many purchases. If you want to have only one of these cards, it’s important to consider your specific spending patterns to determine which card is a better fit.

Both cards offer opportunities to earn statement credits to offset the annual fee. The Chase Sapphire Preferred has a $50 annual hotel credit through Chase Travel℠ and $10 monthly DoorDash credits. The Citi Strata Premier has a $100 annual hotel credit, but earning the credit requires a minimum $500 hotel purchase through Citi Travel℠.

In terms of redeeming points, the choice between these cards depends on personal preferences and how you use points.

• Redeeming for cash back, statement credits and gift cards: This generally isn’t the best use. With both programs, points typically are worth 1 cent each for these redemption methods. Both cards may offer limited opportunities to get more than 1 cent per point.
• Booking through each programs’ travel portals: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card provides better value because 1 Ultimate Rewards point is worth 1.25 cents towards Chase Travel℠ purchases. When redeeming points through Citi Travel℠, 1 ThankYou® Point is worth 1 cent.

Transferring points to airline and hotel partners: It’s important to consider whether Chase or Citi transfer partners align better with your expected future travel. This analysis is more straightforward with hotels, because Chase and Citi hotel transfer partners don’t overlap. Some airline programs are transfer partners with both Chase and Citi. Additionally, multiple airline programs can be used to book flights on a particular airline, as illustrated with the United Airlines flight example.