Some interesting posts fellas.
As one who has lived/worked on both sides of the pond, this "buy your own type rating" is nothing new - at least not in the US. Seems the adage of what happens in America eventually becomes the norm over here.
Some years ago, I decided NOT to do a certain type (I already had it on two other ICAO licences plus the time on type) even though I was kinda desparate. The reason? Simple, I was not convinced that it would enhanc my overall qualifications. Heck, if I could not get my foot in the door with the experience I ALREADY had, what guarantee was there that a bit of paper would do the trick? It was one of the best decisions I ever made & saved me not just a bunch of money, but a lot of grief, too. Fast forward 10 years, get laid off because your comapny goes bust and the government stepped in and gave me a free type rating worth a cool $14000! My advice, don't do it unless you are going to get something in return. And I don't mean interest payments!!
By the way, Sothwest have been around for some 25 years and made a profit each and every year....and they require you to have a 737 type rating before they will hire, as well as plenty of PIC turbine time...SIC is no good, even if you have 10,000. But that's another story....