I fly the airways for better routings, better fuel management and the gain in TAS not so I can get a better service than others in the same airspace.
and
How many of your trips to Jersey have been in VMC at FL100 because you don't want to fly at 3000' in VMC
.. but if you could go in VMC at 3,000 feet why go airways? I cant see how you will get a better routing or necessarily why you will use less fuel. I can understand in a SEP why a higher route might have some safety advantageous, but you can just as easily go high VFR outside the zone. In the zone you may well be at relatively low level anyway.