Is it common? It's really rare that I need to go to the end of the line and not switch to insert mode. If I do want to go to the end of the line and switch to insert mode, then what I want is A not $. Of course, there's a chord either way, but I'm surprised if you're finding it easier to type 999l than A.
Oh, no - I use A all the time. My use case is generally more v$ followed by some other movement backwards then c,d or y, or Ctrl-V $ and move upwards/downwards.
