You may like reaching in from the top but trust me as someone who had glass for years, the difference in having conditions just right and stressing about keeping them right make a PVC enclosure worth it. With time and training you can easily get your snake to be comfortable with any direction you come in to handle them.
So ask yourself this: Is it more important for you to have an easy time to scoop my snake out or is it better for your snake to have perfect conditions?