Since I'm usually halfway into a command line before wanting to search (CTRL-R in bash) I have the following in my .bashrc

bind '"\e[A"':history-search-backward bind '"\e[B"':history-search-forward 

This means that if I type cd then press up/down I can see all the options that I have cd'd to. Basically I use this for often used dirs. Like "cd w" and I'm ending up going through all the workspaces I use lots.