You're right. Every credit card application has a negative impact on your credit score. It's up to you to research your score, expected impact and do what you feel comfortable.

Conventional experience is that each credit card application has a 2-5 point drag on your credit score, but over a few months your score can rebound or even go higher if you use your credit responsibly and have a low utilization rate (ratio credit used to total credit line).

Generally credit scores over 740 are considered excellent and sufficient for lowest rates on insurance, automobiles or mortgages. However, if you're expecting to make a major auto or home purchase, you should probably not apply for credit cards within 12 months of the expected purchase.

Note I am not advising you apply for "whole bunch of credit cards". I am giving you an example where applying for 1, waiting for 3 months and then applying for another would give you what you need for a round-trip trip to Europe. Most people on FT would characterize this is a gradual dip into the world of credit card applications without being overly aggressive. I myself have around 15 credit cards, and a credit score around 780.

Read and listen to people that have experience in this area, but ultimately you should do your own research, and do what you're comfortable with. Ease into it - there's no rush!