This crappy nuance rears its ugly head again. 6 years ago this month I burned a $400 HPN-BOS am rt (and was in my NYC office well before noon) to get to EXP (in its first year of public existence) because I miscalculated HKG-YVR-JFK on CX as (roughly) 8,800 miles (as flown) vs the 8,000 of the (then theoretical) nonstop route. Poppycock and balderdash.