In the case you give, I would use a redirect, with Response.redirectOther as described in http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.java.restlet/2971 -- for exactly the reason Stephan describes. This is established practice as codified in the HTTP RFCs, and ensures that any random well-behaved user agent will do the right thing.
But if you are writing your own client or otherwise control the clients behavior completely, of course you can selectively ignore such practices in favor of greater efficiency. - R
