Hmm. It appears that this is an actual thing other people have heard of; I have never heard of such a thing in almost twenty years of flying. I can see the benefits to such a flight if refueling is needed, but we were on what would otherwise be a 9 hour trip (in fact, the flight there was a 9 hour trip) so it could be made without refueling. So it just seems really bizarre as to why they would do this - what's the math on their end that makes this a benefit for the airline?