Do you throttle down for cruise?
When I fly I'm almost always on cruise power.
Generally what I'll try to do is:
1)Climb to alt at full power
2)Level out and stay on cruise for drop
3)Full power for egress out of enemy territory
4)Full or cruise dependent on how much fuel I've got left once over friendly territory
I like having the extra fuel if I'm getting chased by multiple cons.