Absolutely. I recently took a trip transcon on AA. I could have gone direct on a 737-800 (in Y with a chance for a stickers upgrade) at an earlier time or connected on a 777 & 767-300 (in the J seats, b/c AA often will often utilize 3-class metal as a 2-class service). Also, there was more of a chance that I would get upgraded to F (which I was, and believe you me, F accomodations on a three class plane such as an international configured 777 is much better than F on a MD-80 anytime) on the connecting flights.