OldLurker
Yes it is, for the reasons RVF750 mentioned…on a long haul flight you may well step up (rarely down but it happens) several times during the cruise and as you say the pax hardly ever notice….
I hope the Prof on the article was making a slightly light hearted comment….from a practical POV it’s the handling of all traffic approaching a block of contrail prone airspace all wanting to step up/down to avoid that probably much much more of a real world problem.