Before you can even begin to compare actual credit card offers, you have to decide what type of credit card is right for you. For example, do you want a rewards card, a no annual fee credit card, or a low interest credit card? Or is a frequent flyer credit card the right type of credit card for you?

Here are some questions you can ask yourself before reviewing offers to help you decide if a frequent flyer credit card is the best option to consider.

Do you travel often enough to make a frequent flyer credit card worthwhile?

If you travel often, you’ll get more out of a frequent flyer card than someone who rarely does. After all, if you’re never going to fly, why would you want to earn frequent flyer points with an airline instead of another kind of reward?

Do you use your credit card to pay for purchases often?

You might need to charge a lot of purchases over the course of a year in order to earn enough frequent flyer points to redeem them for a free flight. If you rarely use your credit card, you might just end up with a large annual fee for the frequent flyer programme and card, but never actually earn enough to redeem your points. If you are a heavy credit card user, a frequent flyer card like the NAB Qantas Platinum credit card might make more sense.

Are frequent flyer points really a priority?

As much as you might like the idea of earning rewards points towards travel expenses, is that really your top priority? For example, if you just barely have enough to pay all of your monthly bills, getting a low fee or low interest card for more immediate savings might be a better idea. If you’re already spending a lot on travel though, a frequent flyer card could certainly save you more money in the long run.

Can you afford the annual fees?

Frequent flyer credit cards can have higher annual costs to the cardholder than other types of credit cards — even more than other rewards cards. That’s because you’ll occasionally get hit with a double or triple-whammy, even if the advertised annual fee looks low.

How does this happen? Well, you start off with the credit card’s own annual fee. Then you add the annual fee (and possibly a joining fee) for the airline’s frequent flyer programme, even though that’s not technically through the credit card company itself. And sometimes there’s also a separate annual fee for the rewards programme that allows you to earn points using the credit card.

Sometimes the card fee and rewards programme fee are both included in the advertised annual fee. Just check that in the fine print if you do decide that a frequent flyer card is right for you. Hopefully this series of questions will help you figure that out.