Originally Posted by mecabq

Exactly. QR, EY, and EK would involve back-tracking. GF is not such a bad airline; for a short-haul flight, it's no worse than the others if you get a wide-body. At least, the other airlines are certainly not so much better as to be worth the double travel time.

By the way, we are talking about a 2.5-hour flight here, so having to settle for mere business class is not the end of the world.