Note: You’ll need good to excellent credit to qualify for a rewards card.

Other things to consider:

  • Annual fee: Rewards credit cards typically have an annual fee of $50 to $100. With premium rewards cards, fees range from $200 to $550. While these high-end cards, such as the Platinum Card from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserved come with a variety of travel perks, including access to airport lounges and credit for travel expenses, they don’t make sense for the occasional traveler.
  • Higher interest rates: Rewards cards of any kind have higher interest rates than traditional credit cards. If you don’t pay your balance off in full each month, don’t even consider getting a rewards card. That interest can wipe out the value of those rewards.

TOP-RATED TRAVEL REWARDS CARDS

The best travel rewards card is the one that works the best for you, based on your spending patterns and travel habits. You need to do your homework to learn the ins and outs of various programs. Compare how you’d earn rewards with that card and how you can spend them, as well as introductory bonus (if any) cardholder perks, and annual fee (if any).

Note: These highly-rated cards have no annual fee: Bank of America Travel Rewards cards, the Capital One VentureOne Rewards and Quicksilver cards, and Discover it Miles.

“It really is about finding the balance between the cost of holding the card and the value of the points you can get from the card,” NerdWallet’s Rathner said. “You always want to tip the scale in favor of getting more value as a reward than you would pay to hold the card.”

To get you started, here are some links to “The Best Travel Rewards Cards of 2019 according to NerdWallet, Credit Card Insider, The Points Guys, CreditCards.com, WalletHub, CompareCards and LowCards.com.

MORE FROM BETTER

Want more tips like these? NBC News BETTER is obsessed with finding easier, healthier and smarter ways to live. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.