Originally Posted by
Caspavio
spent that qualify for credit has always counted towards spend for sub. this is true for all issuers not just citi. also, since you paid a large af to citi for the strata elite, it is not correct to say that you ended up paying $76 for a 26gb hd. also, the credit may have caused you to overspend, because you may have opted for a cheaper hd had you thought that you are paying the full $276 (which technically you are) or that there could be a better deal elsewhere or that you were on the fence about the hd and made the jump because of the credit
the premier has always been a more versatile card. many people do not wish to book via citi portal, and hotels/car rentals are often more expensive that it more than negates the 12x. you also do not have to deal with all the credits and have better overall multipler. the question has always been, what's strata elite's place since there is premier
It was actually the 26 TB Seagate deal that was on Slickdeals a couple weeks ago that I was already eyeing so it's not like I went out of my way to buy something that I wasn't looking for. Also, for Citigold Private Client, my first year fee is waived so credits this year are indeed "free" money.
If the Elite rolled in the Premier's other points, like on gas, supermarkets, and a lower multiplier on non-portal travel bookings, it would be a killer card.