Last year alone card issuers sent out more than 3 billion mail solicitations. Internet shoppers can also encounter a deluge of options: a survey in February 1999 by bankrate.com uncovered 297 different online card offers from 59 issuers.

With so many choices online and off, how can you ferret out the best offer for your situation? Undoubtedly, Web-savvy consumers have an edge.

"The Web is a very efficient way to find information about credit card deals," says Gerri Detweiler, educational advisor for Debt Counselors of America, an Internet-based debt counseling service (www.getoutofdebt.org). "Banks change their offers frequently, so you can stay current this way."

Before you begin your search, you should be aware that it's a good idea to limit the number of credit cards you own to two. This makes it easier to keep track of your balances and also to avoid the increasingly onerous fees and penalties that issuers have been imposing. Owning just two cards can also help protect your credit rating, since lending institutions tend to view people who own multiple cards --even if they have not charged their limits on them--as having the potential to run up financially ruinous bills.

Consumer, Know Thyself

The best credit card for you depends on your personal credit habits. People typically fall into one of the three categories Detweiler describes in her book, The Ultimate Credit Handbook:

• Credit users frequently carry a balance from month to month, often paying only the minimum each month. If you're a "credit user," choose a card with the lowest interest rate you can find. "Anything in the 10- to-13 percent range is good," says Detweiler. But she says to be wary of cards offering ultra-low introductory rates: "It's not uncommon for rates that start out around 4.9 percent to shoot up to 21 or 22 percent after the introductory period. Ask yourself if you can really pay off the balance before the rate goes up, or are you willing to hunt down another low-rate card then?"

• Convenience users pay off the balance in full every month. If you're a convenience user, interest rates are less important, since you don't keep a revolving balance. Look for a no-fee card, which are now easier than ever to find. Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action, points out that his organization's 1998 survey of 117 cards from 74 banks found more than 50 percent of issuers offer a card with no annual fee.

  "There's no reason to be carrying a card with a fee, unless it's for a purpose, such as generating miles on an incentive card," he says. McEldowney does pay a hefty annual fee of $60, but flies between 50,000 and 75,000 miles a year--which nets him about one free ticket a year. "If you don't travel that much, you could spend more in fee and interest charges than you would save on an airline ticket."

• Combination users pay off the balance in full at least half the time; any balance carried is usually paid off in several months at most. Combination users will have to do a little math to decide on the best card. Take a look at your credit card billing statements to see how much you paid in interest for the last year, and how much for your annual fee. If there's not much difference between the two, you can likely cut your costs in half by choosing a card with a similar interest rate and no annual fee. You'll of course save even more if you can scout out a card with a lower interest rate and no annual fee.