There’s an inevitable question you’re likely to face before every big trip or travel-related purchase: Do I need a better credit card, One immediate benefit is the signing bonus. If you’ve already saved up the cash to charge and immediately pay off the balance on a big purchase, you can often rack up enough points to take a whole trip. But credit cards marketed toward travelers — whether through rewards on travel-related spending or other perks like airline credits or free Uber rides — also have their downsides, usually in the form of higher fees.

Even at a modest annual percentage rate (the weighted average is around 16%, according to CreditKarma), carrying any sort of balance will almost certainly eat up any perks you’re able to earn. As a point of comparison, The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly estimates that one of the most generous credit card programs returns around 9.5%, and that’s only on certain purchases. And for many consumers, travel cards rarely pay off as well as cash back credit cards, which often automatically rebate as much as 2% on all your purchases.

They also don’t come with the need to spend certain amounts or use certain travel providers in order to get the most benefits. It can be hard to find credit cards that come with no annual fee and no international transaction fees, a key feature if you’re hoping to spend some of that vacation time abroad. 100 in foreign transaction fees, according to a recent study by CompareCards.

That means that it’s important to pay particularly close attention to the trade-offs. Here are some of the most highly ranked credit cards in terms of fees, signing bonuses, and special perks for this summer if you’re thinking about getting into the points game. • Bank of America Premium Rewards was the top pick in WalletHub’s most recent ranking, published yesterday. 95 annual fee to consider. The card offers two points for every dollar spent on travel and dining, and 1.5 points on other purchases.

1,000 in the first 90 days. That said, it carries no annual fee. • The Platinum Card from American Express was this year’s top pick from Kelly. 1,240. American Express’s high end travel card also comes free Uber credits and lounge access. • Chase Sapphire Reserve is still Kelly’s pick among the pricier premium cards. 300 travel credit and lounge access. 4,000 in the first three months to unlock the 50,000 point bonus, a hefty spend. Of course, perks are only one of the three central trade-offs to think about when you’re shopping for a credit card.

See our Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express review for more information. 1 spent on Delta airfare and in-flight purchases. 0.0075 apiece, and occasionally more, though redemption value varies by method. Redemption minimums start at 10,000 SkyMiles. 1,000 within 3 months of opening your account. That’s more than enough for a round-trip award flight within the continental United States. Low balance transfer fees and no foreign transaction fees help as well. If you own a business, check out the Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card, which is virtually identical.

Find out how you can apply for Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express here. 1,000 within 3 months of account opening. 50 statement credit when you purchase a Delta flight with your card within 3 months of account opening. 1 spent on all eligible Delta airfare purchases. 1 spent on all other eligible purchases.

Redemption. Redeem for Delta airfare and other items, subject to variable minimums and point values. Introductory APR. There is no introductory APR promotion. 95 annual fee, waived for the first year, but no foreign transaction fees. Other Perks. Cardholders always get priority boarding and first checked bag free. You also get a 20% discount (via statement credit) on all in-flight food, beverages, and entertainment purchases with Delta.

See our American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles Card Review for more information. Find out how you can apply for this card here. 1 spent on all other eligible purchases. 4,000 in eligible purchases within 3 months. The best way to use your accumulated ThankYou points is to redeem for travel purchases (with no blackout dates!) at the ThankYou® Travel Center.

0.01 or less for most other redemption options. ThankYou Premier has a few other worthwhile perks, such as point transfer privileges with several major travel merchants. But the ideal user is a frequent traveler who cares less about flying in style than racking up as many points as possible. The 3x earnings on gas purchases made this a great gas credit card, too - something the Chase Sapphire Preferreds of the world can’t claim. 4,000 in eligible purchases within 3 months of account opening. 1 spent on all eligible travel purchases, including gas station purchases. 1 spent on everything else.