MikeCR, I think I remember talking to you and being impressed before...once more....congrats, that's an awesome feat. For what it's worth, I went integrated for the simple reason I could afford to without taking the debt and I figured being a bit older at the start, finishing as quickly as possible was the best thing for me.
Colomiers has posted pretty much exactly what I wanted to say, very succinctly. In any walk of life, in any job, you will find your fair share of monkeys....but you'll also find some great mates for life if you look for them.
Prophead...the problem being, whilst your point about int students needing to live whilst on course is valid to some degree, even if you are still working, those living costs don't go away. The quid pro quo of offsetting your living costs (by working whilst training), is that you can't dedicate all of your money or time to flight training, so it normally takes longer, unless you go full time mod...in which case it's equally valid to apply these costs to both routes. Finally, whilst you save initially, for the sake of validity you should also consider the final amount you LOSE by taking longer to get "the same licence", in terms of overall career earnings and seniority - the point colomier latterly raised. It really is horses for courses...unfortunately some can't even see there IS a second side to the argument, let alone comprehend it and then make an informed choice....which leads me to ....
Shaun. Ahhh, Shaun. You place me in a dilemma. I really can't be arsed to respond to someone who frankly clearly can't see that there is any other possiblility than the choice they personally made. I'll just wish you well and hope that at some point in the future you begin to understand that if the airlines that typically take the int guys stop hiring, then the fact those int guys AREN'T being picked up by the traditional airlines, means there's more competition for every other job....and that's definitely not good for anyone.