Credit cards come with multiple features and are generally geared toward a specific purpose. There are credit cards that are for frequent flyers, for driver's, for businessmen and women, for students, and more. Then there are also credit cards that are focused on special types, such as low interest, balance transfer, rewards, rebate, and cash back.

Choose The Type

Choose one of these types based on what your primary expenses are - in order to get the most benefits out of it. If you travel a lot by car, sleep in hotels, and eat in restaurants often, you should get either a gas card, or a driver's card. Two gas credit cards offered by different companies have different features. Ideally, though, you want a card that has two or three different options that you can use.

There are also some specialty cards to select from, too, if you want a little more exotic type of card. One of these may give you points that provide discounts at Disneyland, free CD's or DVD's, discounts on your utilities, cable TV, or even cruises.

Balance Transfers

If you have any credit card debt now, you may want to get a card with a balance transfer option. This allows you to put the old balances onto the new card and possibly pay no interest for up to 15 months. This could be the opportunity you were looking for to consolidate the other credit cards and reduce your debt. Look for a credit card that does not charge for balance transfers.

Rebates

Most credit cards give you points for your purchases. These can be used to either buy new merchandise or get discounts on particular purchases. Some will give you up to a 6% rebate (or cash back) on the gas, food, and medicine that you buy. Other purchases receive up to 3% on some credit cards. Before you get the card, however, see if the points expire after a while.

Interest Rate

Nearly every credit card has an interest rate. Oftentimes, it is 0% APR during the introductory period, but then, it will go to the regular interest rate afterwards. Since this is the rate you will be paying before long, you want to remember to look for as low of a rate as possible. The best interest rates are only available to those with good or excellent credit. Be careful and make sure all your payments are on time because some companies will immediately take away the introductory offer and put you into a high interest (possibly as high as 29%) category.