Is Citibank Launching Its Own Airport Lounges To Compete With Amex, Chase, And Capital One? – View from the Wing

Doctor of Credit posted and then deleted a note that Citibank had trademarked STRATA LOUNGE.

They rebranded ThankYou Premier under the Strata name and are expected to introduced a premium version of the card. Could this just be something along the lines of Citigold lounges, or are they planning to get into the airport lounge game the way that American Express, Chase, and Capital One have?

Actually there is a small international airport lounge footprint for Citi to begin with, like the Citibank lounge in terminal 2 of the Jakarta airport.

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I’d be surprised to see this if it comes to fruition. Citibank hasn’t been nearly as aggressive in travel rewards cards (or consumer cards generally) in quite some time. Since losing their shared Hilton co-brand to American Express they haven’t added other partners. The relaunch of ThankYou Premier as Strata didn’t contain as much differentiation as I expected. And I’ve wondered whether consumer card would be on Jane Fraser’s chopping block, possibly even selling the business? But then again there’s word of gaining exclusivity with their American Airlines co-brand relationship.

Airport lounges take a long time, and the biggest challenge is finding the space. More competition is certainly a good thing. American Express and then others coming into the space have upped the game not just for the U.S. airport lounge scene, but spurred real improvements in airline lounge food and beverage offerings as well.

Of course, the downside is that credit card access has meant too many passengers chasing too little space. So while card issuer lounges are really quite nice, managing the crowds has made them less so in practice much of the time.