i find it helps also out of courtesy to the other pilot. Just the other day we did a dtw to lan turn, 22 min in the jet. Things are really busy in those 22 minutes and it helps the non fly (and the pilot flying) out a lot. For example we took off, i was flying, called for ap on at 600, he called departure, and then i took the radios so he could prepare for the approach into lan,, get atis, set up fms, call the station, etc. etc...

i guess what i am trying to say is that yeah,, i love to hand fly the plane to 28999, but some times it is prudent to get the ap on a little sooner to help facilitate all the other things going on.