[Rubenandres77]

For me it depends on the kit.

For airplanes I prefer no tabs, but joining strips. Because of the final finish of the skin

In the couple of figures I built (The Princess of the Cristal and the 60cm Sailor Moon) the tabs were as you said "staggered" or intercalated. I found that method helped a lot when assembling, because even without instructions you will know what goes where. But that makes the assembly of some parts tricky to handle. Still I prefer that to all tabs in one side.