As a Co-Pilot, I was fortunate most of the time to fly with Captains who were not worried about carrying extra fuel if they felt they needed it. They were the most comfortable to fly with. Some others I was able to convince to add fuel for various reasons. Some simply would not. Those I avoided. When I elected to fly Captain, naturally, I had all the fuel I wanted. Did I get called in the 'office' occasionally? Yes. I never changed my philosophy.
Whether or not fuel was an issue on this flight we do not know. The fuel load had not been made available yet I do not believe. It would be interesting to know how much 'extra' fuel was aboard. There again, flying too high might have been because of fuel issues. However, if you're too heavy, you're going to burn more than you save just trying to get up and maintain the higher altitude. Maybe it's time to institute a 'fuel surcharge' and divide the cost of an extra thirty minutes fuel among the passengers. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.