A good credit reward card can contribute to your retirement account, offer gas rebates, score theme-park or vacation tickets or take thousands off the price of your next auto purchase. Rewards at hotels, airlines, and retailers bring more to the possibilities but, adds to the confusion. Here are some tips to find the best reward programs for you to increase your buying power.

Who should apply for reward cards?

It used to be that if you pay off your balance each month, reward cards are definitely worth considering. But now, many have come out with very competitive interest rates below 10 percent, so if your credit is good enough to qualify, you need not necessarily discount a rewards card, unless it hinders you from paying down your balance in any way.

Invest some time to maximize payoff

Anyone who wants to get the best deal must patiently compare offers, then manage them consistently afterwards. Scrutinize spending to give maximum rebate value for the dollar.

Calculate your spending to make the rewards worthwhile

If you charge $3,000 a year on a card that costs $45 annually, for example, it will take over 6 years to earn a free airline ticket with most cards. In that time, you will have paid $270 in fees -- enough to buy a discounted air ticket on your own.

Flyer miles

Frequent-flier miles were the first comers of the rebate credit cards. They typically value at 1% to 2% rebate or one mile per dollar spent, so choose the ones that offer the highest return.

Some airline cards have a use it or lose it policy, as do many travel or hotel rewards. If it will take you a long time to earn your reward, you will want to make sure it will be there for you. American Express, for example, has programs that never expire and provides miles that, can be used on a number of different airlines. If you travel different airlines but need a Visa or MasterCard (accepted by more merchants), you can choose a bank-issued travel awards card.

About auto rewards

Car rewards tend to be the most generous in terms of what percentage rebate you earn but has its limitations. For example, if you earn 5% toward the purchase of a vehicle, but only on select vehicles. You can always exchange to another card rebate program after you have reached the maximum reward to keep the discounts and continue to charge more.

Gas rewards

With ever increasing gas prices, you can augment earnings by also applying for gas reward cards. Cardholders can earn higher rates on all gasoline purchases.

Entertain yourself

Many theme-parks and attractions; such as, Disney and Universal, have credit cards that give you points toward tickets, movies and other great stuff.

Get cold hard cash

The easiest way to accumulate true savings is by taking advantage of no-fee cash-back cards. To get the most benefit, choose a card that gives you at least a full 1% back on all purchases. Also choose a card that comes with retail card benefits where rates increase 5% to 10% when spending at participating merchants and retailers.

For a complete comparison list of the tremendous amount incentive reward card offers to choose from, visit SpyFind's Credit Rewards Center to find the ones right for you.