I have never had the luxury of going flying just for the ride to enjoy the view. We are paid to get our pax to their destination as fast as reasonably possible, in good shape.
One thing hardly mentioned here in the discussion is wind effect. Climbing may be beneficial, or not, depending on the day. Generally speaking I simply aim to find the best available groundspeed.
If it means an IMC transit, so be it. We have the luxury of being able to fly VMC/VFR or IMC/IFR in Class G airspace more or less as we please (OAT/icing level permitting), although our maximum altitude is almost always below 4,500 feet, to stay below controlled airspace. Sometimes we will change from VFR to IFR a few times on the same flight.