These cards typically offer generous mileage or point bonuses for singing up and give cardholders the opportunity to earn hundreds of dollars in rewards per year. As such, their annual fees can range from $30 to $90.

A credit card annual fee used to be standard. But as credit cards have grown competitive, it’s possible to get a great card with great rewards with no fee. So what does annual fee get you?

Mostly, the opportunity to cash in more rewards than you could from a free credit card.

To make paying the annual fee worthwhile, however, you must use your card enough.

For example, if an airline credit card with a $85 annual fee gave you one mile for every dollar spent and a round-trip ticket could be redeemed for 30,000 miles, you would need to spend $30,000 a year, or $2,500 a month, on the card to earn that ticket.

If you’re a big spender or are using the card for business expenses, that might be doable.

Assuming that round trip ticket is worth $300, however, you would still need to spend $8,500 per year, or $708 a month, just to break even on the fee.

The bottom line? Only pay an annual fee if you know you’re going to be racking up the purchases on your card. Otherwise, it’s a waste of money.

How did I pick the best rewards credit cards?

My criteria were simple: a fair reward rate (at least 1% on all purchases with the chance to earn more rewards on particular purchases), the ability to redeem points for cash, and a wide variety of fairly-valued cash-alternative reward choices.

1. Blue Cash from American Express

Blue Cash from American Express offers a whopping 5% cash back on all purchases. That’s hard to beat. Unlike some other cards, there’s no limit on how much you can earn.

2. Chase Freedom Cash

As far as cash-back rewards programs go, the Chase Freedom Cash Card offers a great value, giving you 1% cash back on all purchases, 3% back on gas, groceries, and fast food, and the ability to save up $200 in rewards and get $250!

By comparison, other rewards programs I evaluated do not provide the option to earn bigger rewards on specific purchases and actually make you trade more rewards points for the cash equivalent (for example 250 points to get $200).

3. Discover More Card

Discover was the first credit card to offer cash back to its cardholders, and it continues to offer a superior cash rewards program on the Discover More Clear Card. Cardholders earn 1% cash back on all purchases and 5% back in eligible categories. The cash rewards never expire, can be redeemed in $20 increments, and their value can be upgraded by exchanging them for certain gift cards.

Credit card rewards are paid back to cardholders as a percentage of the total amount changed to the credit card.

The most basic credit card rewards programs pay cardholders 1% back on every purchase. For example, if you charged exactly $500 to a credit card every month for a year, your total purchases would equal $6,000. One percent of $6,000 would equal a $60 reward.

The American Express Clear Card offers this simple no-guesswork reward system.

Some credit cards provide a higher reward payout for certain purchases. For example, some cards may pay between 2% and 5% in rewards for purchases made at specific stores (like the Starbucks Duetto Card or Borders 3.2.1. Card).

Other credit cards pay a higher reward for purchases in specific categories such as gas or groceries.

Some cards also offer ways to increase the amount of a reward by spending it in certain ways. For example you could turn a $20 cash reward into a $40 gift card at certain stores or restaurants, which is common with the Chase Freedom Card and Discover More Card.

While every credit card reward program works slightly differently, most calculate your rewards at the end of every month and display your reward balance on your statement. With most credit cards, your rewards can be redeemed once you reach the $20 or $25 level.

Thanks to the heavy competition among credit cards, cardholders can enjoy rewards programs without paying an annual fee. Many airline cards, however, still charge annual fees for the ability to earn multiple frequent flyer miles for every dollar spent.

For somebody charging thousands of dollars a year and flying that particular airline frequently, the mileage s rewards earned can far surpass the cost of the annual fee. The Delta SkyMiles Card is an example.

Credit card rewards are a good value for cardholders who do not carry a balance on their credit cards. Since you will be charged an interest rate of more than 10% on any credit card balance, rewards do not make up for the interest rate you pay.

Additionally, on most credit cards, cardholders do not earn rewards on the interest and fees paid or cash advances.

But you can get a credit card with bad or no credit! You just need to know where to look, and what to expect.

The same credit cards marketed to consumers with average credit may not be available to you if you have been late on more than a couple payments in the last few years, have defaulted on a loan, or have no credit at all.

There are certain cards, however, designed for borrowers with less-than-perfect credit. Some of these include the Horizon Gold Card, the Tribute MasterCard, and the Continental Finance Visa.

These cards work just like any credit card. The only difference is you will be asked to accept less favorable terms such as a higher interest rate and lower credit limit. This is because with no credit or poor credit, you are a higher risk to the credit card company.

The good news is once you have your card, use it regularly, and make on-time payments, your credit limit will go up and your interest rate may even come down.

Plus, once you have had a card for a year you have probably improved your credit score and can apply for a new credit card with better terms.

If you are overextended with credit card debt but still need a new credit card to manage your finances, you may also want to consider a secured credit card.

Secured credit cards work like regular credit cards but have one important difference. Basically, you pay first.

That is, you make a deposit into a bank account and the amount of that deposit becomes your credit line. Deposit $500 and you can charge $500 on your card.

If it sounds like an debit card or pre-paid card, you’re right. However secured credit cards has an important feature that debit and pre-paid cards don’t, and that’s the ability to reserve a portion of your credit line when making hotel or rental car reservations. This cannot be done with a pre-paid credit card and only works with some bank debit cards.

Browse our top rated bad credit credit cards now or learn more about the difference between secured and unsecured cards.

Secured credit cards look and work just like any credit card when used at stores, restaurants, and even hotels.

Anybody can obtain a secured credit card and setting it up is easy.

Upon approval, you send the credit card company a deposit (usually between $300 to $5,000) which is used to open a savings account. The company then issues your credit card.

In most cases, your credit line will be equal to your deposit.

As you charge things on your credit card, your savings account is not touched, and the money in it earns interest.

At the end of the month, you pay a secured credit card as usual, choosing between a minimum payment, the full balance, or a part in between.

Secured credit cards are similar to debit cards and pre-paid credit cards but have one important advantage. You can use secured credit cards to reserve hotel rooms, rental cars, and other items. Making reservations is impossible with pre-paid credit cards and often difficult with debit cards.

The only time anything would happen to your security deposit is if you fail to repay your secured credit card, in which case the bank will use your deposit to cover the charges.

With most secured credit cards, after one or two years of responsible card use, the company may extend an offer of unsecured credit.

Additionally, when fees are deducted from this it can reduce your available credit to only about $100.

Having that $100 in available credit may not seem very useful at first, but it’s important to remember that your first credit card (or first card after some credit problems) should be used to build or reestablish your credit and not so much as a financial tool.

If you have a credit card with a very low credit limit, try to use it at least once every month, and then pay the card off once a month. Be SURE to be on time!

After six months, call the credit card company and ask them to increase your credit limit, which they most likely will.

It may be a small increment at first, but repeat this process every six months and after a year or 18 months your credit limit should grow to something useful. Also, after you have made on-time payments for this long, you may want to apply for another credit card with a lower interest rate. Chances are a new card will give you a higher limit, too.

If you are still struggling with poor credit, realize too that any credit limit on a new credit card will reflect other credit you have available, too. Somebody with poor credit but three open credit cards will get a lower credit limit that somebody with poor credit who currently has no credit cards.

You can transfer a balance during while applying for a new credit card online or after you have received the card either on the card’s website or by calling the credit card’s customer service number.

You may also use balance transfer checks the credit card company will send in the mail.

If transferring a credit card balance online or over the phone, simply provide the names and account numbers of the credit cards from which you wish to transfer balances, and finally the amount you want to transfer. Your new credit card will then process payments to the other credit cards in one to two weeks.

Credit card balance transfer checks are simply checks you can use to make a standard payment to other creditors. When the check clears, the amount will then be reflected on your new credit card balance.

It is important to note that while most credit card balance transfers are processed quickly, you should still plan on making scheduled payments to your old creditors, even if you anticipate the balance transfer will reduce the old account to zero.

Sometimes you may pay off an entire credit card balance using a balance transfer only to find the next month you still owe a few dollars to the old card.

This is because of how credit cards calculate interest, and you may owe interest on an old balance even if you paid it off last month.

So check the old accounts the month after a balance transfer, as you want to avoid being late which will cost you fees and could damage your credit score.

Intro APRs are low interest rates extended to new credit card customers for a set period of time (usually six or twelve months). Intro APRs may apply to new purchases, balance transfers, or both.

Some intro APRs are as low as 0%, in which case the customer pays no interest on new purchases or balance transfers during the introductory period.

If the intro APR applies to balance transfers but not purchases, new purchases will be subject to the standard interest rate.

Credit cards apply payments to balances carrying the lowest interest rate first, meaning you will be paying down your balance that you are paying the intro APR on while new purchases at the standard APR will not be paid down and will continue to accumulate interest.

Additionally, credit card companies may revoke the intro APR if you are late with a payment or go over your credit limit. If this happens your rate will become the standard rate or possibly a higher default rate.

Credit card companies offer balance transfers to both new and existing customers as a way to entice you to carry a balance on their credit card so the company can earn money from the interest you pay.

Most often, credit card companies will offer 0% or low APR balance transfers for six months or a year to new customers. Some American Express cards offer a 4.99% balance transfer rate that does not expire.

This means that if you have a credit card debt with a 15% or 20% interest rate, you can move that debt to the new card and pay little or no interest on the debt for the term of the balance transfer offer. For this reason, balance transfers can be a wise way to reduce credit card debt.

Customers should be aware, however, that credit card companies apply payments to balances with lower interest rates first.

What this means is that if you transfer a balance to a new credit card to take advantage of a 0% balance transfer offer and then use the card to make purchases, those purchases will fall under the standard interest rate.

From that day forward, your payments will be applied to the transferred balance at 0% interest, while your purchases (and the interest charged on them), will continue to accumulate at the standard rate.

Additionally, some credit cards charge fees of up to 3% or the balance and a maximum of $100 or $150 for each balance transfer. While the savvy consumer can usually still save money by using balance transfers with fees, it’s important to read the fine print of any balance transfer offer to find out what you’re actually paying.

Most online credit card applications automatically run your social security number through a computer that automatically evaluates your creditworthiness for the credit card.

If you meet the credit card’s requirements and there are no discrepancies between your application and your credit report (such as you changed addresses or employers), you may receive an instant online approval.

Many times, after completing the online credit card application, the site will say that you will receive a decision within one to two weeks. You may receive an email faster.

If the credit card company needs to verify any information on your application, they may also call you.

Typically, credit card decisions take no more than two weeks.

If you are denied a credit card, you will receive a letter with a very vague reason why you were denied. You can only guess why you were denied for a particular credit card, but you can follow instructions in the denial letter to request a copy of your credit report to check for errors.