Bingo all you want, a little bit goes a long way in terms of professionalism. When I get the impression im just cash, all credibility is lost and I'll pay the man but he wont get my return business.
"hey great, lesson btw those 15 minutes and 23 seconds we talked as we put the plane away, I gotta charge you for that"
Sometimes, to project the impression you really care you might have to show that your interested aside from dinging your student for every second you talk. I cant even blame it being from the southern states because my CFI is 100% German but he's really interested in training me vs gouging me.
Thats why even though he's 10$ more an hour then any CFI around, I pay him gladly. He talks with me before and after the flight and only charges me for the time the motor is running. Unless its a designated ground lesson.
Edit: Thinking back, my first lesson with my current CFI was so out of the norm in terms of professionalism and courtesy I tipped the man 50$ because I felt he was worth more then his rate. And he's never once asked for a penny during our before/after mini discussions.
If you’re poker faced about the money, it may not matter. If not, then you’re probably being penny wise and pound foolish.
As a recent student, and not as a CFI, I think it makes really good sense to pay the guy who charges $30 per hour for passing along his knowledge and experience for his time. That's what he's selling. (Note - The school charges $60, and I’m guessing that his cut is $30)
I would NEVER want my CFI to think that I think that he shouldn’t charge me because that would mean he wouldn’t give me his full attention. He’s got rent to pay and a family to feed just like me.
Some days, we just did ground. Other days, we did something like a pre-flight lesson for 45 minutes, 1.2 of flight, and then 15 minutes or so of post-flight ground. His charge to me then would have been 2.2, i.e. 1.0 hour greater than the hobbs time. On other days, we met at the plane, flew for 1.0 hour, and did .2 of post-flight ground, and then I got charged for 1.0 hour of rental and 1.2 hours of instructor. It wasn't unusual for them to be a little out of sync.
I don’t think it would have been wise to make any sort of signals that any of his time spent training me should be complimentary regardless of when or where it occurred.
My CFI rocked. I’m grateful that I drew him and don’t begrudge him even one penny. He earned it all.
