Credit cards charge annual fees for different reasons. Some cards issued to consumers with below-average credit charge fees to help cover the risk involved in lending to these customers. Many rewards credit cards also charge annual fees to offset the cost of providing their specialized rewards programs.

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.