I saw a documentary in NZ recently that blew the trumpet of the B747 from day one to the B744. The Boeing lot are a pretty proud bunch of lads and ladesses but the one that came through as the proudest was the 'Winglet Guy'. He was one of the many thousands of people who assemble the 747-400 and his only job was to bash in the close tolerance pins that secure the winglets. He had a munting big hammer and a munting big smile. His point was that he had the one job that made the B744 stand out from all the others.
I reckon that even if they used (not saved) a tonne of gas on each transoceanic leg, who cares? They make a wing look very pretty. I suspect that Joe Pax has no idea what is behind them but likes the look of them nontheless.
MAPt