private pilot licence finance?

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muleywannabe

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is there such a thing? I have quite a bit of cash rat holed but would like options if they are available as well?
 
TMetzinger said:
I strongly advise against borrowing money for private pilot training.
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+1

Best is to figure out a reasonable estimate of the total cost for aircraft/instructor rental, supplies, testing, DPE, etc. Do what's necessary to earn or save at least 2/3'rds of that figure into it's own savings account. Once the 2/3 mark is achieved, start the training. While training, continue to earn/save the remaining 1/3.

Whilst training, fly frequently (2-3 times per week) and stay on top of your game so that you finish at a lower cost than expected.

This has worked well for me and others. I love the fact that I finished training with no debt and money left over.
 
Henning said:
Depends on your credit. Are low interest credit cards still available?
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Possibly... but often with the catch that any missed payment kicks the rate to a very high level, and getting it back down to prior low rate is a big challenge.

And you might have some sort of "membership" fee which is often a disguise for pre-paid interest.
 
As others have said, financing any flight training especially Private is not a good idea. On the other hand, Pilot Finance does provide financing, which is who I used for mine. Keep in mind the interest rate is high ( 19% ). If I hadn't financed mine, I would have been able to stay more current after getting my ticket, as the payments ate me alive until loan was payed off.
 
I would try to avoid finance options if at all possible,unless this is a career choice. Find a school that gives you a discount for cash up front.since you are using your money you will have an incentive to complete the program quickly.
 
frfly172 said:
Find a school that gives you a discount for cash up front.since you are using your money you will have an incentive to complete the program quickly.
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I disagree. Unless you can be certain the flight school itself is financially sound (and you can't), don't fall into this trap. I did, and the flight school folded a few days AFTER I had written them a check for 10 hours of flight time. Caveat emptor.

To the OP's original question: You can finance flight school the same way you'd finance anything else. Bank loan, credit cards, etc. But as others have noted, unless it's a career you're pursuing, don't go into debt. If you can't afford the lessons, how are you going to afford to fly afterward?

A happy medium may be to pay for everything with a cash-back credit card, which you PAY OFF EVERY MONTH without fail. All you have to do is carry a balance for one month to wipe out all of the tiny discount you earn.
 
19%?!? Holy crap, that's C paper. If your credit is so bad that you can't borrow at under 10% you need to work in cash.
 
DaleB said:
unless it's a career you're pursuing, don't go into debt.
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With respect, I'd really advise against debt if the airman is going for civilian aviation career. As often discussed, the demands of high total time, and time in expensive-to-rent aircraft versus the crap pay many right seaters can qualify for makes the idea of "debt for your career" not the best of ideas.
 
Henning said:
19%?!? Holy crap, that's C paper. If your credit is so bad that you can't borrow at under 10% you need to work in cash.
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Henning: That was with a 630 FICO . Pilot Finance just is high interest. It does appear that they have gotten more reasonable though: now shows as low as 9% . Hence why I am paying CASH for my IR :)
 
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AggieMike88 said:
With respect, I'd really advise against debt if the airman is going for civilian aviation career. As often discussed, the demands of high total time, and time in expensive-to-rent aircraft versus the crap pay many right seaters can qualify for makes the idea of "debt for your career" not the best of ideas.
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I don't doubt that for a minute. I didn't feel qualified to offer an opinion on training for a flying career, but the very little I have seen/read/heard about it all indicates it's a really bad idea.

Of course I know a lot of recent college grads with marginally useful degrees and more debt than any sane person should ever have. They'll spend the next 20 years getting an education of another sort, I guess.
 
Flymeariver said:
As others have said, financing any flight training especially Private is not a good idea. On the other hand, Pilot Finance does provide financing, which is who I used for mine. Keep in mind the interest rate is high ( 19% ). If I hadn't financed mine, I would have been able to stay more current after getting my ticket, as the payments ate me alive until loan was payed off.
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Missed that you used them. High interest is not terrible if you can get it paid off in a reasonable time, say one year.
 
Just finished up CFI. All said and done, I put $678 dollars on a credit card private-cfi. I was awarded 2 scholarships, paid lots of cash and had a very understanding wife. It can and has been done, stick with a budget and keep on training.
 
I was only curious was all, I have the cash to pay for it. that is not an issue. just figured there was some cheap financing out there. I am highly adverse to borrowing money but if there was some freebie stuff, I am in. haha
 
Only freebie/low-low interest financing I know of is the GI Bill. And that can "generally" only be used for getting a commercial/instrument ticket, or an add-on at the commercial level.
 
muleywannabe said:
I was only curious was all, I have the cash to pay for it. that is not an issue. just figured there was some cheap financing out there. I am highly adverse to borrowing money but if there was some freebie stuff, I am in. haha
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Lol, no such thing in aviation or finance. If you can get a good rate on a signature loan from your bank or credit union, but your cash would have to be making good money for it to pay off.
 
DaleB said:
Of course I know a lot of recent college grads with marginally useful degrees and more debt than any sane person should ever have. They'll spend the next 20 years getting an education of another sort, I guess.
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Came across that quite a bit when I hung out on Dave Ramsey's discussion forum. Many people talking it up that their personal road to success was to return to school for an upper level degree in a field that would be very difficult to get any sort of positive financial footing. They were already in debt, hadn't even done Baby Step Zero, and think that stacking on student loans and obtaining the degree automatically gets them the six-figure income.
 
muleywannabe said:
I was only curious was all, I have the cash to pay for it. that is not an issue. just figured there was some cheap financing out there. I am highly adverse to borrowing money but if there was some freebie stuff, I am in. haha
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There is scholarship and grant money available if you go to an accredited college. Many of the folks at my A&P school are getting Pell grants that cover a large percentage of in-state tuition. I don't qualify because I already have a degree.
 
muleywannabe said:
I was only curious was all, I have the cash to pay for it. that is not an issue. just figured there was some cheap financing out there. I am highly adverse to borrowing money but if there was some freebie stuff, I am in. haha
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Look for scholarships. They exist and if you look you may just find yourself with free money.
 
alfadog said:
There is scholarship and grant money available if you go to an accredited college. Many of the folks at my A&P school are getting Pell grants that cover a large percentage of in-state tuition. I don't qualify because I already have a degree.
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I've found that that sort of money is easier to get for A&P programs than flying programs, except at expen$ive aviation univer$itie$.
 
I agree with those that suggest don't finance. I'd put $300-400 in advance in my account at the school when I was flying a lot just to save the time of having to run my CC every time I came in. My CFI could jump out of my plane and then go do the paperwork and all I had to do was come pick up the receipt. My school seems pretty solid - been around decades with a lot of students so I wasn't worried at all - especially for those amounts.

My neighbor was talking about doing that (paying it all down up front) and I talked him out of it. Too much to risk and too little to gain. I mean, if a school was going to give you a 20 or 30% discount then maybe it's worth thinking about. But my guess is most won't do much - maybe a few percent off. For that, not worth the $10k risk, IMHO.

Learning to fly without career aspirations - ie; PPL is just the first step to ATP, etc... is an arduous enough process for those with jobs, kids, etc... Some can do it in a few months, most I'm assuming can do it in a year or slighty less (like I did) and many take years. Life gets in the way...$$ get tight and the first things that go on hold are non-necessary things like getting a pilots license. Don't lock yourself in. Hell, you may figure out 10 hours in that it's not for you.

First thing you should do though is go get a medical done. I've heard several horror stories from various CFI's about students who got a couple grand into the hole, got close to solo and then went to get their medical and had problems. Some were fixed - in months - others never got fixed.

Save the money - or at least enough to get you through about half way - then start...but keep saving the way you were initially. You'll be a lot happier that way, I promise.
 
+1 on getting the medical certificate issued as early in the game as possible.
 
My school does up front money but only in $1000 blocks. For that money they place $1150 in my account. That way I get some savings, easy payment, and little risk. I believe money that has been invested in 529's is also eligible for pilot training. It is considered a valid student expense.
 
I pay by cc and then pay it off in full every month. Racks up air miles. I don't have to pay a surcharge.
 
I believe the most important consideration is whether you can maintain the pace of your training uninterrupted by financial constraint. When you have the money, pay cash as you go. If cash is tight, borrow, either by credit card, a lender like Pilot Finance, or friends and relatives. Flying skills atrophy very quickly and unlike most athletic skills, the loss of flying proficiency is deadly. So whatever financial measures it takes to maintain the cadence of your training, do it and just keep moving forward.
 
DrMack said:
I believe the most important consideration is whether you can maintain the pace of your training uninterrupted by financial constraint. When you have the money, pay cash as you go. If cash is tight, borrow, either by credit card, a lender like Pilot Finance, or friends and relatives. Flying skills atrophy very quickly and unlike most athletic skills, the loss of flying proficiency is deadly. So whatever financial measures it takes to maintain the cadence of your training, do it and just keep moving forward.
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That would be good advice for someone who has a financially beneficial use for aviation. Otherwise the better advice is "Keep saving until you have $10k in the war chest then go get your PP&IR in one shot." Or "until you have $5000 and get your PP." borrowing money because you don't have any money is just a plain bad idea.
 
DrMack said:
I believe the most important consideration is whether you can maintain the pace of your training uninterrupted by financial constraint. When you have the money, pay cash as you go. If cash is tight, borrow, either by credit card, a lender like Pilot Finance, or friends and relatives. Flying skills atrophy very quickly and unlike most athletic skills, the loss of flying proficiency is deadly. So whatever financial measures it takes to maintain the cadence of your training, do it and just keep moving forward.
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I would have to disagree with this as well I wouldn't borrow money for flying either save it up or pay as you go and go when you can. It took me just about a year to get my PPL did it in just under 60 hours with the last 10 in the week or two leading up to the test just to make sure I was spot on. The positive thing about it taking so long was I got to fly in all sorts of conditions warm summer weather and cold snowy winter weather.
 
Hello all.

If I may contribute to this thread, I was wondering if it is okay to open a separate bank account like a savings account just for sport/private pilot flight training?

Like I said before, my plan is to transfer X percentage of my income when I get a job to flight training and I would like to put that percentage of money into that account at every paycheck I get.

Thoughts?
 
N918KT said:
Hello all.

If I may contribute to this thread, I was wondering if it is okay to open a separate bank account like a savings account just for sport/private pilot flight training?

Like I said before, my plan is to transfer X percentage of my income when I get a job to flight training and I would like to put that percentage of money into that account at every paycheck I get.

Thoughts?
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Sure, why not?
 
Kevin... Establishing additional accounts for savings goals is what I do. It keeps me from spending that money on something not part of that goal. If a small disaster happens and I need that cash, it's there for me. (And needing to eat out, see a movie, buy a toy are not disasters). When I get paid, I first pay myself, splitting into my savings goals. Then per my monthly budget, I pay my obligations, such as housing, food budget, utilities, clothing, etc.

If you don't already use a written budget, start doing one. Having a written plan for every dollar coming in and going out is a bit of work, but brings lots of peace.

Book recommendation for you:

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Link to purchase

Kevin, even if you disagree with a small portion of what the book teaches, what you do agree with, once put into action, will serve you well for a very long time, especially at your young age.
 
Just save some money, take that first lesson, and you will change your finances to take more lessons. I stopped eating out, and for a guy who doesn't cook unless it comes out of a box and into the oven that was hard to do. Now I am about to finish, and I lost a few pounds lol
 
Thank you guys. much appreciated. Like I said, I can swing the flight lessons, not a problem, I planned for it but thought if there was some breaks out there, I would take them. I should have known that if it involves money and people working....there are no breaks, haha.
 
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