Virtually 100% of my travel is non-business (though I hesitate to call it "leisure"), and all of my RTWs have been in F. For me, the ability to sleep well on long flights is extremely important, and the extra room and good in-flight beds make the marginal cost of F an excellent value. That might or might not apply for someone else, but I can't imagine making such a blanket statement.

The OP is buying OWE ex-DFW .... so the "marginal differerence" is about USD 4K (haven't looked up the exact price but it is in that range) ... so do you buy your AONEx paying the US F price? And think it is money well spent? FWIW 90% of the OWEs that I have bought have been in F but some have had only 2 segments with real-F service so not that much different from J/D. Scheduling to get the few long-haul F flights is difficult if time constrained. The flat beds on QF/CX/BA are remarkably close to their F bed quality; the only real difference now is the amount of noise and activity in the cabin along with square footage. Sure F is better, but it is not that much better for most people, unless the cost differential is squeezed by buying at the low-cost countries. Even then you can buy a lot of hotel and restaurant quality for the F differential. As an aside The Wing often has food as good or better than the onboard F catering (and CX has the finest catering of any airline). Not the wines, though -- those are still reserved for on-board F.

I agree with number_6�s analysis. Unless one is willing to travel to a country where the price differential between first and business class is small (e.g. less than $1,500), you are better off saving your funds and flying business class. On BA/QF/CX, business class of today is similar to first class of the mid-90�s. And on these airlines, most have business class on the upper deck of a 747 which to me is almost first class. Although business class on the other OW airlines is variable, it is still comfortable. Also, don�t forget the mileage based global explorer ticket. Certain itineraries may be better suited to the GLOB ticket. I believe that any further advice must await the requirements of the traveler.