MJ,
I do not believe that there is any requirement to log anything on a flight to regain the 3 landings in the past 90 days other than the fact that the 3 landings were completed as sole manipulator of the controls. Thus the problems of what to log the flight as do not arrise. Perhaps the rules need to be changed to require the 3 take-offs and landings to be made as pilot of the aircraft. This could include P1, P1/S and Student (dual).
You do however make a very good point about who should pay for the flight and quite correctly point out that the flight must be cost sharing between both PPLs or paid in full by the pilot in command.
----
When dealing with club checkouts by PPLs one big question which has not yet been asked is - What happens of the PPL who is a passenger discovers that this pilot being "checked" is dangerous. The PPL has no authority to take-over the command of the aircraft and must simply sit there and suffer while their fellow club member does their best to kill them both. If the club member suceeds in doing so, it will and end up in court and I don't think that the Judge could say that the Club met it's obligations under the duty of care.
The same can be said about instructors who fail to report dangerous practices.
We all know that today the majority of "Trial Lessons" are simply public sightseeing flights operating under a loophole. It isn't possible to close that loophole and maintain the ability to attract students into the industry. Thus the CAA has it's hands tied to a certain extent. However, further abuse of the system such as has been reported here can only lead to the CAA putting serious restrictions on training organisations.
I bet that the profits made on "trial lessons" subsidise the training for those that decide to continue their training.
There is also the problem that while instructors are protected by Flight Time Limitations which are designed to prevent accidents caused by fatigue, PPLs are not.
Have we come up with enough reasons why this is illegal, dangerous and must be reported yet?
Regards,
DFC