Top 5ive Best Credit Cards

NO MATTER WHAT you're into, be it charity or cigars, there's a credit card out there for you.

We've rounded up the best cards in five popular categories, from the best gas rebate cards to those best for students. With credit-card companies fighting for customers, ask not what you can do for your card company, but rather, what your card company can do for you.

Forget the free T-shirts and alma mater-branded cards. Many card issuers' "student" credit cards aren't much different from any other regular card out there, says Linda Sherry, spokeswoman for Consumer Action, a consumer advocacy organization. "It's a difference in marketing," she explains.

Take the Blue and Blue for Students cards from American Express: They're identical, according to AmEx spokeswoman Desiree Fish.

But here's one student card that really does make the grade: the Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card for College Students. The card rewards those who do well in school (you get 2,000 bonus rewards points twice a year for a 4.0 GPA, 750 points for a GPA that's 3.5 or higher, and so on). You also get 25 bonus points each month that you pay your bill on time and don't go over your credit limit, and five points for each dollar spent on textbooks. (Click here for a table with more card details and links.) "It's a unique card that, at least on the surface, encourages students to use it responsibly," says Curtis Arnold, founder of card information web site CardRatings.com.

For more student credit card recommendations and tips on using them wisely, click here. And for a table with details on the credit cards, click here.

Rewards choices abound these days, from Amazon.com gift certificates to free coffee. Needless to say, which one you pick is a matter of lifestyle and personal taste. But if you're looking for a rich rewards program that offers choice between travel, merchandise, various gift certificates or cash-back rewards, it pays to stick with the big players.

American Express's Membership Rewards program is the oldest and remains one of the most comprehensive programs around, but competitors like Citi's ThankYou Rewards have quickly caught up. Membership Rewards is the only program that allows users to transfer points directly into their airlines' frequent-flier mile programs, though the benefit is only available with its charge cards, which carry annual fees.

Citibank's ThankYou network, on the other hand, offers innovative ways of accumulating points (you can earn points for having a checking or savings account at Citibank, for example) and redeeming them (you can redeem points for a credit towards your card balance or student loan with Citibank). But when it comes to redeeming points at the lower levels, it isn't as generous (you need 1,500 points for a $10 Gap gift card with ThankYou versus 1,000 points with Membership Rewards). On the positive side, nearly all of Citibank's rewards cards are fee-free.

Bottom line: It's a tie. Go with the program that better suits your needs.

If you'd rather take cash, don't settle for 1%-back cards. Many cards these days offer bonus rebates, most commonly 2% or 3%, on specific purchases. Bonus gas rebates are popular and can be very generous. The average rebate on gas purchases earned by users of special gas rebate cards was 5%, a reward that's tough to find in other rebate categories, according to a Cardratings.com survey.

Aggressive spenders may benefit most with American Express's Blue Cash card, which offers 5% cash back on purchases at gas stations, supermarkets and drug stores and 1.5% on everything else, once you spend $6,500 in a given year.

A favorite among lighter spenders: the Platinum Discover Gas card, which offers a 5% rebate on all gas purchases, up to the first $1,200 spent at the pump. Afterwards, you earn the same rebate as other purchases. And if you redeem your rebate for gift certificates from select merchants — including Gap, Blockbuster or Sharper Image — rather than receive a check, the average cash-back rate could go as high as 7% or 8%, Arnold says. In a disappointing move, another favorite — Citibank's Dividend Select Platinum card — recently scaled back from 5% cash back on purchases at the gas pump to 2%. For a video of how to get the most back from your gas rebate credit card, click here.

Click here for a table with card details.

If you're a better spender than saver, find a card that will help you save when you spend. The Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards Card has the most generous rebate rate — 1.5% of all purchases will be deposited into a 529 Plan (you must invest a Fidelity-managed 529 Plan; for specific state plans and credit-card details, see our table). The popular Upromise card by Citibank, on the other hand, will give you a 1% rebate on all purchases and 2% for purchases at Exxon and Mobil gas stations. Rebates will be deposited in a Vanguard-managed 529 Plan (for eligible state plans and credit card details, see our table.) For more on 529 Plans, click here.

For general investments, consider the Fidelity Investment Rewards Card, which allows you to convert World Points (MBNA's rewards program, now owned by Bank of America) into investment dollars at a generous 1.5% rate. Finally, if you're in need of pure cash, take a look at the One Card from American Express: 1% of your purchases are contributed to a high-yield savings account, which currently earns 5%. The drawback: The annual $35 fee, though waived for the first year, will cut into your savings.

Click here for a table of card details.

If you carry balances, your best bet is to go with a low-rate card. Otherwise, the interest you pay on rebate cards — typically higher than that on cards not affiliated with a rewards program — will far outweigh your rewards, Sherry says.

The tough part: The cards that offer the most favorable rates typically come from smaller, local banks that have stringent application requirements, warns Cardratings.com's Arnold. "You'd have to fax in your pay stub, and they're going to look at your application very carefully," he says. That's because the smaller a bank is — and the lower interest rate it charges — the less risk it can afford to take that a card holder will default on his or her payments. Consider this: While the average default rate at the big banks is 3% to 4%, Arnold says, the default rate at Arkansas-based Pulaski bank, which offers a card with an impressive 7.99% APR, is just 0.3%.

But if you have perfect credit, these cards are tough to beat. The Simmons First Visa Platinum has a 7.25% fixed APR, while Pulaski's APR runs as low as 7.99% (but comes with an annual fee of $35 or $50 for the classic and gold cards, respectively). Among the big issuers, Capital One is excellent with 7.89% APR on its Capital One Platinum Prestige card, reserved for people with excellent credit, namely those who have had a loan or credit card for at least five years and at least one of their credit cards has a limit of $10,000 or higher. These strict requirements prevented the card from taking our No. 1 spot.

For more details and links to the featured credit cards, click here.