I have a really cool job that allows me to travel to national conventions and speak about social media. Who can complain about a free trip to Miami Beach in January? I love that part of my company and am always thankful for those opportunities. Oftentimes, the convention will make my travel plans but sometimes I need to make my own plans and get reimbursed from the organization.

I have a Citi credit card with travel points that I use for that. The credit card has a $1,000.00 limit. Although Citi will try to increase the limit, I always deny them. I want to keep the limit small because this is the credit card I use for travel and internet purchases. This card also has reward points for anything you may want. I have mine connected to my Amazon account and many times get free items by purchasing with my points.

Although I am not a fan of credit cards because, let’s face it, sometimes people use them like they do not have to pay the money back. But in the day of the internet sales and convenience sometimes they are needed. I rarely use them but must for my company and travel. Again, keeping my limit low and only using this card for internet purchases helps me stay organized.

From my experiences, Capital One and Citicards have the best available reward points which can be used for gift cards, hooked to your Amazon account for purchases and travel points.

So how do you find the best credit card for your needs?

You can get your credit report free of charge once a year from www.annualcreditreport.com. It’s convenient to keep an eye on your credit report to see if things find their way on your report by mistake. I see mistakes from the “Other Tammy Finch” on my report probably once a year. Even though our birthdays and SSN are not even close, credit reporting companies can sometimes be lazy and only look at the name.

Then, compare interest rates and different rewards, from airline miles to points, into a dollar value, and making a side-by-side comparison at www.NerdWallet.com. Think about what you will be using your credit card for. Some cards offer higher reward points on certain types of spending, such as groceries or travel.

Then, keep your limit low. If the card is compromised in some way, most times the credit card company will fix those charges. However, it’s good to be safe and not let any potential thieves get away with much money.

When spending time purchasing on the internet, make sure you are at a website with https (rather than http) or shows a small padlock icon at the top or bottom of the page to show you are using a secured connection for your purchases. This is standard for any website that sells items unless you are using PayPal, which has built in security.

Sometimes it is confusing traveling around on the internet to see what is available, but being safe is more important. Keep your limit low, ask questions if you aren’t sure, and don’t purchase if the website isn’t secure. These are some good tips to keep your traveling and purchases moving forward.