Well, if (say) you are starting from the east coast, it is just under twice the distance of a great circle route. From elsewhere in the US, it might be more than twice. I would not fly the wrong way around the world without a very very good reason. Whether being able to use award miles is a sufficiently good reason is not up to anyone else to determine. Of course QSuites is a very nice way to fly longer distances, but even that reaches a point of diminishing returns.