It used to be that the platinum credit card was a thing of standing, a statement of how far youve come in the world. Now, platinum credit cards are still surely handy, and they sure still work very well to get you ahead in life, but they arent quite as uncommon, nor as special. Thats because in part there are a ton of them on the market. And many, to be honest, dont hold muster when it comes to delivering top-notch, platinum service to their customers.

The best basic tests to consider when weighing one platinum card against anotherto see if one is a real-deal platinum card and the other a pretenderis to measure up the major factors that go into a credit card agreement. The first and possibly most important is the annual percentage rate, or APR. This rate basically is the percentage fee that the credit card company will charge you on your outstanding debt on an annual basis, broken down by month. The higher the annual percentage rate, the higher your interest payments, the lighter your wallet will feel at the end of the year.

Other factors to consider when weighing platinum credit cards are the annual fees and their awards programs. Annual fees, as common as they still are, are gradually being phased out. The credit card business is tough these days, and companies use whatever leverage they have to get ahead of their competitors. So there are also plenty of platinum cards out there with no annual fees. Narrow your search to them.

Awards programs are also a great way to differentiate between one platinum card and another. Most any cards these days have some form of awards programs, but one program can be better than another. For example, some programs are cash back. The higher the cash bate rate, the better the program. (Again, keep your eye out for annual rates, though.) Or perhaps you want an awards program that offers prizes, such as travel, hotel stays, or gifts. Other programs can help you earn cash toward certain things, like airplane flights or new cars. No matter the ultimate prize, you can compare these programs by looking at the ratio of dollars you spent to the "awards points" you earn.

Last but not least, try not to judge a platinum card if they require no monthly payment, or they claim lower monthly payments. Believe or not, monthly payments are a good thing. They help you at least slowly pay off your debt, so the higher they are, the better for you. In fact, always try to pay off more than your minimum monthly payment.