Are you thinking about opening a new credit card? Do you want to find one that gives you perks?

If you’re going to carry a credit card, you might want to make it one that works for you. There are several kinds of credit cards that carry rewards that might make it worth your while.

The trick with using these types of credit cards is learning to pay the full balance every month. You aren’t getting any benefit from them if you aren’t. So if you’re not already in credit card debt, try to become a responsible credit card holder. And if you are in credit card debt, start trying to dig yourself out of it so you can start reaping the true benefits of your rewards cards.

You should also make sure your card doesn’t charge an annual fee. If it does, it might not be worth it.

Let’s look at the two main types of rewards cards there are and what types of people will benefit from them.

Cash Back Credit Card

Cash back credit cards pay you just for using them for shopping. You’ll sometimes get up to 5 percent cash back for purchases you make with your credit card. For other cards, 1 percent cash back is a more typical rate.

Sometimes the credit cards will offer more cash back during a quarter for specific purchases. For instance, one Chase cash back card offers 5 percent on certain purchases during some quarters while offering 1 percent on other purchases. The catch is that you can only earn 5 percent cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases in the bonus categories every three months. But you can get unlimited 1 percent cash back on any other purchase you make.

If you are good at paying off the full balance on your credit card each month, you can earn money just for charging your groceries and gas that you’d be buying anyway. That’s a great deal for you if you’re committed to paying off the balance.

This type of rewards card is good for anybody. After all, we all like getting cash!

Travel Rewards Card

People who like to travel might like the travel rewards cards offered by multiple companies, including Bank of America. If you know you’ll be traveling regardless of whether you have a credit card or not, you’ll get a lot of use out of this type of card. You might be able to score a free flight if you spend enough – and as long as you’re paying off your balance each month, that will be a great perk.

With these kinds of cards, you earn points for every dollar you spend. Then you can redeem your points to pay for flights. If you’re not a flier, it’s no problem with this card. You can also use this card for cruises, hotels, and rental cars.

If you tend to be a homebody, this probably isn’t the kind of rewards program you should use. You’d get more use out of the cash back programs instead.