I agree that "hacker" has a negative connotation, a connotation that some FTers deserve, IMO, because while they might not do anything illegal, they certainly exploit the rules and oftentimes the spirit of the promotion. That kind of behavior can be detrimental to the non-hackers because in order to close the loophole, they'll kill the program for everyone.

Personally, I consider myself a "Mileage Hound." I will apply for credit cards in order to pocket bonuses, but I limit myself to 2 per year. I routinely switch my spending to the cards that offer me the best return, but I never pocket the miles and then cancel after 6 months. I usually keep all cards at least two years, with the notable exception being the BritishAirways card. I liked the card features, especially the 100,000 mile bonus and 1.25 earning rate, but its annual fee ($95) was way too high to justify keeping it once I discovered that booking a "free" trip involved paying hundreds of dollars in taxes and surcharges.

And recently, I've begun cancelling tertiary (aka "in the drawer") cards if the issuing bank decides to significantly raise the annual fee.