My advice (from a Cathay pilot's perspective) is not to buy time. The ONE that was hired with "bought hours" was terminated about nine months ago. Cathay recruiting are wise to the scheme and bought 727/737/Lear etc hours stick out on your resume (CV) like a dog's b*lls. Money (or lack of it) should never be a deciding factor whether someone gets a job or not. the sooner the jackals that sell these "ratings" are put out of business, the better.