it is important to have enough fuel to fly lower. one time, flying from NY to florida, the turbulence was awful (but not severe). went down to 14,000' for a smooth ride. burned ony 50 more gallons of fuel, but it was worth it.
sometimes it does not pay to go as high as you possibly can. one must be clever with turbulence.
I will say this though, the passengers these days are very inexperienced with things in aviation. not like the old DC6 and seven eights days.