Will it be more cost effective that way?
Maybe, in theory. That is to say, if you do everything by the book you might be able to save a penny or two at the expense of red tape. Will it be worth it in the end? Probably not. There will be red tape involved. At the end of the day, you might be able to save a couple thousand dollars I reckon (if you make no mistake) but that will be the proverbial drop in the bucket of what you're facing if you contemplate a life of flying.
Tips on avoiding double spends:
- If PPL is your ultimate goal, why not shoot straight for this from the start? Skip RPL and its endorsements (and by that I mean, just skip the flight test altogether) and carry on with navigation exercises once the RPL training syllabus is done.
- If CPL is your ultimate goal, you can also skip the PPL theory exam and do all 7 CPL subjects instead.
Or is it more cost effective to just plot along in GA?
Hands down, the
most cost effective way will be to commit yourself to obtaining your licence in as short and compressed a time frame as you can possibly afford and endure. The smart way to do it would be to have your theory and medicals done and then line up flights back to back. This way you'll minimise the need to remediate and your "muscle" memory will be as fresh as can be.
Also, be smart and keep your ground time to the bare minimum to pinch every minute of flight time out of what you're being actually charged.