On a recent trip through Australia I did a number of intra-oz flights. In at least three of the cases we performed intersection takeoffs, a couple at MEL/YMML and one at BNE/YBBN. I have at least a thousand domestic flights within the USA, and although I wouldn't bet my life on it, I can't remember ever doing an intersection takeoff there.
The MEL/BNE runways are quite long - even with the intersection takeoff the available runway was over 8,000 feet in each case.
Am I wrong that this is super rare in the USA? Are there airports where intersection takeoffs are commonly used, and maybe I just never fly through those? The advantages are obvious, it saves taxi time and fuel, and a 737-800 on a 75 minute stage can't be anywhere near gross weight anyway. In the USA, airports like HOU/MDW have runways that are shorter than our takeoff roll, which strongly suggests there's no outright safety issue... and these airports handle hundreds of 737-800s a day identical to the QF/VA ones I was on here. What other things am I missing here? Are the aussies just more time/fuel conscious than us yanks? ;-)