Actually Chards and Stillalbatross, assuming you're an F/O on a base not willing to come to HKG for some reason (and thus not able to take advantage of housing), a freighter command would normally be a payrise as well as a promotion: more money and command directly on your base = win for anyone not willing to relocate to HKG.
Pay difference was about 1.5 to 2% from pax F/O pay on a base to Freighter command on a base when I looked at it. But the roster disruptions and days away were crap, I don't hate my family that much. I am a B scale whore, I took what suited me, a job on B scale pay, and because of me the A scalers recently got zero.
No doubt because of freighter pay my days of getting a payrise are also about to come to a halt. Why pay A scale, guys will take B, why pay B scale, guys will take Freighter pay.
You take what suits you, it's what we all do.