I am sure every airline has issues with the tightening of the fuel belts, though those issues may vary. At my airline, I tend to have no problem going to outstations, as we are receiving almost an hour's worth of tanker fuel so as to not buy as much at the outstation. However, I do see quite a few problems when traveling to the hubs. Probably the biggest issue is that our dispatchers do not enter the altitudes we are likely to be assigned while on the arrival. I have seen a planned step climb from 350 to 370 when in reality I am on the planned arrival, being descended from 240 to 15,000. I don't pick a battle fo principle with dispatch. But I do read over every plan closely, and try to see where I know I can outperform the computer numbers. Sometimes it may mean flying slower than planned (and is there a reasonable expectation that ATC will allow the slower speed), or getting a "standard" shortcut. If I can't find a way that I am likely to beat the plan, and I don't believe that the plan takes into consideration every likely contingency (like the Philly Factor), then I will not go without my comfort fuel. That being said, I have no problem diverting. If it takes a rash of diversions to get stingy dispatchers fired, or to hurt my company's performance, then so be it. In general, though, the tight fuel plans still get me on the ground with about 1.3 times the required reserve fuel on a VFR day. It is enough for me for domestic short haul, and I have no reservations about declaring a fuel emergency if needed.