3e XP: how fast is too fast?

[Xeriar]

I'm not too fond of them myself. We only have a limited amount of time; I don't have the patience to include encounters that don't advance the story or aren't interesting in their own right. In published adventures I often end up either
1) Editing out nuissance encounters, or
2) Combining them into a more challenging encounter.

In the campaigns I'm in (all run by the same DM - big plot mess), after the characters reach level ten we start ignoring low-level patrols and events unless they're central to the plot.

Case in point, two powerful warriors scouting around an enemy city start obliterating its patrols. Most are just absorbed into the story, but there is one big fight nearer the end.