Language changes over time and as life hacking/etc gain prominance the connotations will change because the activities are more relatable to most people. The "majority" of people don't even understand what the hell churning, tricking, mileage run, or I'd venture even "status," mean in the context of travel. And to be fair most of the terms the media uses for things FT people do originate within this subculture, so I guess I just don't really see what you're all up in a huff about. Basically, given the origin of the word hack, how it developed with hackers and is still used by some of the technically proficent that overlap here, it's not at all suprising that this is happening.

""In other words to "hack" at an original creation, as if with an axe, is to force-fit it into being usable for a task not intended by the original creator, and a "hacker" would be someone who does this habitually.""

"In a very universal sense, hacker also means someone who makes things work beyond perceived limits in a clever way in general, without necessarily referring to computers...That is, people who apply the creative attitude of software hackers in fields other than computing."" Blah blah.