ItchyFeet, I am one guilty of asking for 'direct' etc when possible, provided the distance shortened and the change in groundspeed are favourable. At 60$ a barrel for oil, I am probably more often looking for the shortcuts...what til the doomsday sayers are proved correct and oil goes up even higher...I'll be even more of a pain in the...
I've taken to telling my First Officers of late that my justification for the increase in radio traffic by doing so, is that (atleast here in Canada) the Air Navigation system is a 'user (the Airline) pay' system. Therefore, for our company's money spent, I want a high level of service. As well, I like to mention that one of the prime movers in switching to RVSM (and the risk associated with decreased separation), was the increase of direct routings etc, thereby saving the airline industry, and hence the travelling public more money and time. I like to avail myself of those benefits...
I'll have to be honest that at the outfit I work at, we gain monetarily from our company's financial fortunes, so I might have a stronger motive than some. The reality is though, that as PROFESSIONAL pilots, part our profession is to be efficient as possible, within the guidelines of something we call airmanship.
Some might even defend decreased fuel burnt with decreased hydrocarbons deposited in the atmosphere. Some might, but I won't for now.
I might add that there is a time and place for everything, and experience continues to educate me when that right time to make requests is. The controllers here are generally quite helpful when they can be. Most of the time I actually feel like a part of a large team when integrating my own flight within the big ATC system.
Anyway Itchy, those our my two cents. Hope this helped clarify part of the issue.
JD