How do I know if a card is worth the annual fee? One way to estimate if a card is worth the annual fee is to look at our PurchasePower rating for the card and type of award you're saving up for. Just multiply the PurchasePower percentage by the number of dollars you think you'll spend on the card in a year. If the number you get is greater than the annual fee, then it's probably worth it. If not, you may want to think about other options. ($ spent on card per year X PurchasePower percentage) = $ value card returns per year Here's an example: Nick wants to use his Citibank AAdvantage Platinum World MasterCard to save up for a Europe Business Class ticket on American Airlines. He plans on spending about $2000 a month, or $24,000 a year on his card. The PurchasePower chart shows the Citi AAdvantage card returns about 3.9% when you use it toward a Europe Business Class ticket.    3.9% * $24,000 spent on card per year= $936 The annual fee on the card is $85, which is much less than the $936 in value he's banking each year, so the card is worth keeping.