What is "Valuable Consideration"?
PPLs posing as CPLs is obviously illegal. Does it happen much? I doubt it, considering how hard it is for real low hours CPLs to get charter work. I wonder if the people who assure low hours CPLs on here that their qualification is worthless, are the same people complaining about huge amounts of charter work being done by PPLs! Get real folks. It just can't be happening that often. Occasional anecdotal evidence does not equal widespread abuse of the system.
Hire and reward - as Heliport says, never mentioned in LASORS, or the document VeeAny drew my attention to. "Valuable Consideration" is the phrase used. Is that clear and precise? Yeah, as mud! No wonder everyone puts their own interpretation on it. But having opinions doesn't mean they're right, especially in law.
Perhaps we should distinguish between two types of free flying here...
1) My helicopter needs to go for maintenance, or my aunt needs to get to her sick friend in Scotland; please can you fly the helicopter for me.
2) If you fly the helicopter, I'll give you some more free flying in exchange.
For the first of these, the PPL is simply helping out. The fact that he may or may not enjoy helping out is irrelevant. And nowhere, but nowhere, in the regulations does it say that a PPL is required to pay for his flying (cost sharing rules excepted).
In the second, there is clearly some valuable consideration being given.
Let's not muddy the already muddy waters further by using phrases such as "hire and reward" and then assuming that because we've used them, they're in the regs.