Yeah, I had a flight last week heading northeast out of FLA and looked at the winds a couple of thousand of feet below us and it seemed they were stronger. On a hunch we descended to 370 from 390 (OPT read 395) and picked up 18 kts ground speed (This was for the last 160 miles of the flight prior to TOD)...looked at the Boeing Wind Altitude Trade, and it seemed to agree it was a good move. I'll look at it in the future more closely...
I have heard of at least one company (a friend works there) that is considering some expensive program that will plan for step descents due to forecast stronger winds. For now, our company will have to rely on the professionals upfront earning their pay.
JD