Your first step should be to get a credit report. You’re entitled to one free credit report a year from each of the 3 major credit reporting agencies. Once you get your report and credit score you can determine which cards to apply for. A credit score close to 300 means you have bad credit and should apply to a bad credit credit card. A score near 600 means you have good credit and should apply to any card you’d like.

For those that have bad credit, you might want to consider a credit repair service. Some things you can do on your own for free include, checking your report for any mistakes and reporting them to the credit reporting agency. You should also start to pay your current credit card bills on time. This is the only way to build your credit back up, which takes time but is effective.

If you have a credit score of 600 or better, the sky’s the limit for you. You can get a cash back credit card, or 0% interest card, or an airline credit card. It all depends on what you want. For those with less than perfect credit, should either apply for a high approval credit card, or should work on improving your credit before applying for a card.