Mcgoo
The problem as I see it is that on these foums people are trying to push a personal point of veiw.
For instance "You can eat like a king in the USA for a lot less than over here" This if this statment was objective it would read " you can eat very badly in the USA for a lot less than you can over here".
Unlike most of the peope on this forum I have lived, trainned and flown for a part 121 airline in the USA and look at things a bit more objectivly.
OBA are not the cheapest it the USA but they do have a track record of coming up with the goods, I found that the cheapest operators in the USA could of most of the time NOT come up with the goods largly due to the appauling state of the aircraft (I am told that the OBA fleet is a bit on the "well worn" side to look at but the operation simply could no run if the maintenance was not being done to a high standard as reliability would suffer to a point at which the business would not be viable).
The fact of the matter is that the cost of 100 hours flying is about the same on both sides of the Atlantic in you live in the UK (may be slightly cheaper in the UK) by the time you get to 150 hours the USA is slightly cheaper if you do it all in one trip, after that the USA wins hands down on price.
The one thing to remember ith the USA is that i is not worth dealing with any one who is offering rock bottom prices, quality only will come with prices about 30% above rock bottom, It is no use getting to Florida with two weeks holiday in which to build hours only to find that the aircraft is "tech" and won't be avalable for ten days!
nh2301
I have no doubt that you can get an aircraft for roughly half the UK price but it is all the aditional costs that increase the hourly rate to about the same as the UK the other problem is finding a reputable company to rent the aircraft from, as I have said in other posts two companys in the USA failed to produce the aircraft when they had agreed to do so, the third company that I approached was very professional but charged about 25-30% more for a top rate service and I did my CPL/multi & IR with them.
As I was living in the USA at the time this was not a problem but if I had been on a two week hoiliday it would have been a disaster.
Last edited by A and C; 25th Jun 2008 at 11:54.