Originally Posted by
slaman
Went through this same dilemma... could only choose J-class one-way... so I opted for on the way there.
If you are vacationing, you want to be well-rested and ready to enjoy HKG when you arrive... travelling there in J will reduce jet-lag and travel fatigue so you can maximize your vacation time.
You're paying so much money to vacation, that should the priority, not how you feel when you return.
All very true. What sealed it for me, however, was that I (i) was unlikely to make full use of the J seat during the flight to HKG; and (ii) had no real use for the lounges on the way to HKG (but would have a substantial ability and perhaps "need" to use them on the return flight to YVR).
Also, and this was just specific to this trip, but once I arrived in HKG, I just spent the night there and then was off on another (8 hour) flight to another destination. So I was going to be fatigued, at least to some extent, regardless.