 TITLE: Is It Worth Paying an Annual Fee for a Credit Card? CONTENT: When You May Want to Pay an Annual Fee\n--------------------------------------\nBefore automatically ruling out a credit card that has an annual fee, it's worth doing some math to see if you can benefit from the card despite the fee. If the value you get from the card's rewards and other benefits exceeds the annual cost, paying the fee could be worthwhile. Here are some scenarios in which it could make sense to pay an annual fee:\n### Lucrative Rewards\nIf a card has a high-value rewards offer or introductory bonus, you may earn enough to cover the fee and still see some upside.\nFor example, the Credit One Bank American Express® Credit Card has a $95 annual fee, but there's an opportunity to earn even more in cash back. Cardholders can earn 5% cash back on the first $5,000 spent on gas, groceries, cable, internet, cellphone service and satellite TV each year. That's $250 in potential cash back for that category, plus you can earn an extra 1% cash back on everything else. If you shop heavily at the grocery store and commute by car daily for work, you may easily earn enough cash back to cover the card's $95 fee and still make a profit.\nAnother example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, allows you to earn a generous intro bonus of 100,000 bonus points if you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months you have the card. That's worth $1,250 when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, which is more than enough value to cover the card's $95 annual fee.\n### Money-Saving Perks\nA card with an annual fee might offer savings opportunities in the form of its benefits. At first, you may balk at the $550 annual fee you'd pay with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, but it's one of the most popular travel credit cards for a reason.\nFirst off, the credit card offers you a $300 travel credit each year. Plus, you can get complimentary access to VIP airport lounges (through Priority Pass Select after enrollment), 1:1 point transfers to other loyalty programs and a credit every four years or 4.5 years to pay for Global Entry or TSA Precheck.\nAfter you earn the $300 travel credit, you can earn 5 points per dollar spent on flights and 10 points per dollar on hotels and car rental bookings through Chase Ultimate Rewards. In addition, the card offers another 3 points per dollar on other travel bookings and 3 points per dollar on dining, including takeout. There may be lots of opportunities to receive credits and earn rewards to offset your annual costs.\n### Help Building Credit\nAs mentioned, credit cards geared toward borrowers with limited credit or poor credit may also have annual fees. While paying an annual fee may not be ideal, opening up a card with an annual fee and using it to build credit could have long-term advantages.\nIf you keep credit usage low and make your card payment on time each month, the card could help you build credit so you're better positioned to apply for loans and credit cards in the future.\nBefore opening up a credit card, be sure to compare rates and fees to see where you can get the best deal. Then after opening up the card, try to pay off the entire balance each month because it'll help you avoid interest. Otherwise, paying an annual fee on top of interest charges each month can get pretty expensive. END