Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Citi Strata Premier: Preferred Has the Edge

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card have a lot similarities. Both charge a moderate $95 annual fee — not exactly cheap, but still a ways off from premium card prices, which range up to $695 or higher. Both feature generous bonus offers and earn elevated rewards on popular purchases like travel and dining.

In other words, these two cards are closely matched.

If you’re stuck on trying to decide which of these two travel credit cards to get, here’s a look at how they stack up and what you should consider.

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Where the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card shines

Rich ongoing rewards for everyday spending

For many popular everyday spending categories, the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is a points-earning powerhouse. You'll snag triple points at restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations, which are the biggest line items in many household budgets.

Beyond that, you can earn triple points when you book directly with hotels and airlines, and an eye-popping 10x points if you're willing to book some eligible travel through Citi instead.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card also earns elevated rewards in popular — but arguably less expansive — spending categories. It, too, offers 3x points on dining, but if you want that rate at supermarkets, you'll have to make those purchases online. There's also no 3x gas category, although you do get triple points on eligible streaming — but only 5x points for booking through Chase's travel portal.

So unless you order all of your groceries online and pay for multiple streaming services, you'll likely earn more points with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card than with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

However, when it comes to actually redeeming your points, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has the edge. More on that later.

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$100 annual hotel savings

This benefit, good once per calendar year, gives you $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more when you book through Citi and pre-pay for your stay.

You usually won’t earn hotel points or elite night credits when you don’t book directly with the hotel, but the $100 credit is a nice 20% savings off a $500 stay. If using this credit fits with your travel plans, you can more than make up for the card's $95 annual fee.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card also comes with an annual hotel credit for stays booked through Chase's travel portal, but it's only worth $50 — half of the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card's benefit.

Yet another caveat, though: If you rarely spend $500 on a single reservation, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card could be a better option, since it comes with no such spending requirement.

Where the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card shines

Points are worth more for travel

The Ultimate Rewards® points you earn with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card take on a higher value when you redeem them through Chase's travel portal. Instead of being worth 1 cent each — like the points from the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card are — they’re worth 1.25 cents a piece.

That 25% boost in value can really add up. That means that instead of 60,000 points being worth $600 in travel, they’re worth $750 in travel if you book through Chase. That extra $150 can mean an extra night at a hotel or upgraded seats on your flight.

More popular domestic transfer options

Both the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offer the option to transfer your points to a handful of travel partners at a 1:1 ratio. If you’re willing to put in a little more work to find award availability, transferring your points to one of the following airlines or hotels can often yield much higher value for your points.

And when it comes to transfer partner choices, Chase’s options will be more appealing to many. For one thing, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card lets you transfer points to major domestic airlines like United, Southwest and JetBlue, and U.S. hotel giants like Marriott, Hyatt and IHG.

Here's an example of how you might use one of those Chase transfer partners above to snag outsize value for your points: NerdWallet values Hyatt points at 2.2 cents each. That means if you transferred your points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card card to Hyatt, you have a good chance of redeeming them for 2.2 cents a piece, instead of 1.25 cents through Chase's travel portal.

Citi, too, has a long list of transfer partners, but few of them are domestic.

That doesn't mean you can't still find great deals with a Citi partner — you can use many of the international carriers above to fly U.S.-based airlines, thanks to airline alliances.

But for those who like to keep it simple, Chase offers better partners.

» MORE: How to tell if a credit card sign-up bonus is worth it

Travel insurance and purchase protection

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers the following insurance and protections:

• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance: Up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for non-refundable travel expenses if your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness or severe weather.

• Auto rental collision damage waiver: Gives primary coverage and provides reimbursement for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.

• Baggage delay insurance: If your luggage is delayed more than 6 hours, you’ll be reimbursed up to $100 a day for 5 days for essential purchases like clothing and toiletries.

• Trip delay reimbursement: You’ll receive up to $500 per ticket to use toward lodging and meals if your trip is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay.

• Purchase protection: New purchases on the card are covered against damage and theft for 120 days, up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

• Extended warranty protection: When you make a purchase on your card, the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty will be extended by an additional year on eligible warranties of three years or less.

The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card also offers travel protections, but compared to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, they're somewhat limited. For example, the rental car coverage with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is secondary — not primary — within the renter’s country of residence, meaning you'll likely have to go through your own insurance company first before using the card's coverage.

Anniversary bonus points

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers an additional kicker each year that you won't find with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card. You'll earn bonus points each anniversary year that equal 10% of your total purchases made the previous year. So if you spent $15,000 on purchases, you would receive 1,500 bonus points.

Which card is better for me?

Both the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card are rewarding, mid-level travel credit cards that earn points that can be used toward travel, transferred to partners, or even redeemed for statement credits or gift cards (though you won’t get the best value that way).

When looking at earnings alone, the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card comes out on top.