FBU 4EVER! From Norway, joined Jan 2001, 998 posts, RR: 7 Reply 1, posted (11 years 8 months 3 weeks 5 hours ago) and read 14994 times:
No,the cruising altitudes depend on a lot of factors.
Aircraft performance,weights,flight length,winds and weather at altitude,direction you're going,other traffic all influence the choice of flight level/altitude a flight will have.
Bio15 From Colombia, joined Mar 2001, 1089 posts, RR: 7 Reply 2, posted (11 years 8 months 2 weeks 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 14943 times:
Basically, it depends on the course you're flying and if you're flying VFR or IFR. There is a list of standard Flight Levels depending on your heading. You will be cleared to these by the traffic controller, and yes it also depends on weather as FBU said.
XFSUgimpLB41X From United States of America, joined Aug 2000, 3952 posts, RR: 36 Reply 3, posted (11 years 8 months 2 weeks 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 14929 times:
You cant be VFR above 18,000 MSL. These are the possible altitudes. The altitude selected depends on best fuel economy, wind speed, weather, and magnetic direction of flight.
Heres some examples:
Jetguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 4, posted (11 years 8 months 2 weeks 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 14922 times:
As far as jet aircraft go, the general rule is to climb as quickly as you can, to as high as you can and stay there as long as you can. But as everyone has pointed out there are a lot of other considerations involved. As a general rule of thumb for the aircraft that I fly we can climb 2 times the distance. For example, if we've got a short 150 mile leg we can climb to 2 times 150 or FL300 (Flight Level 300 - 30,000 feet) On trips over 200 miles we can climb to our normal crusing altitudes of 39000 to 43000 feet. We typicall plan our descents to have a 3 degree descent angle or about 2500 to 3000 fpm.
Metwrench From United States of America, joined Aug 2001, 750 posts, RR: 2 Reply 5, posted (11 years 8 months 2 weeks 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 14915 times:
If you are a scheduled air carrier flying published routes, ATC will tell you what Airway to fly, and at what altitude to fly at.
IAHERJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 677 posts, RR: 8 Reply 6, posted (11 years 8 months 2 weeks 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 14903 times:
They may tell you what the'd like, however the pilots can refuse a routing that would not work out for passanger comfort/or fuel burn. The airline dispatchers file the flight plan a few hours before departure and ATC issues a PDC which is printed out at the departure gate. That is the same as getting a clearance verbally over a frequency. That route may be the same as what the company filed, or it can be a new route that ATC would like you to fly due to weather or traffic conflicts. Normally it is only a minor change and may or may not involve flying at a cruising altitude different from what you expected and used for calculations. The crew must calculate the new fuel burn through the FMS,or other computer on board, or through the dispatcher. It only takes few minutes and fuel can be added if necessary. Then you launch and try to request more direct routing and the altitude you prefer. Normally you get what you ask for down the road.
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From Norway, joined Jan 2001, 998 posts, 
From Colombia, joined Mar 2001, 1089 posts, 
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