Agree 100% everyone should ask what you want to achieve before even considering starting. General archetypical goals of travel hackers I've seen are:

  1. Maximum number of trips
  2. Minimum cost for trips (cheap or free travel)
  3. Free or discounted luxury travel (business class, luxury hotels, etc)
  4. Maximum cash back (to the point of being a full time job)
  5. Maximizing elite status (for business travel, etc)
  6. Short term, saving up for one or two big bangs (honeymoon, bucket list item, etc)
  7. Any combination of above and more.

Each one of those goals require a different strategy. If you're aiming for maximum cash back, I personally think the work involved in the CC game would be worth the time but everyone is different. A sign up bonus generally represents 7-10% cash back on the bonus spend so I'm ok with spending a bit of time updating spreadsheets and keeping track.

On the other hand, I have some friends who do not want to bother due to the stress and overhead involved (finances can be difficult). For those types, I usually recommend foregoing the CC game and putting everything on a no annual fee 2% card.