The £6k or £9k or whatever it costs to get the licence in the first place is not, in comparison, a big deal,
I personally think training for a PPL in the States is a false economy.
If that is all it costs, someone I worked with spent £17k getting his in Manchester in just over 12 months. One of the things that seems to push prices up here is all the addiiontial costs the school doesnt mention to you at first such as away landing fees, approach fees, etc. The flying afterwards is cheaper as you dictate how much you want to do, you can even look at group flying to reduce your costs (cue Rod1 selling the LAA
- which I am all for by the way
)
(The other hidden cost of getting a licence in Florida, by the way, is that you'll still have to pay for some lessons when you get back to the UK in order to learn your way round the UK's weather, airspace and RT.)
Also, the savings from learning in the states are not that great, once you have factored in transport, accommodation and possible additional required training/testing.
Some unscrupulous schools will try and tell you need another 10hrs or so on return to the UK but thats b*ll*cks! I came straight home and just did a 1 hr checkout to hire.
Airspace you pick up pretty quickly, if you have done your JAA PPL in the US then you will already know it anyway as you will have had to pass an exam in it.
Weather is weather, the US gets crap weather as well no matter what people try and tell you. Florida I hear gets some pretty interesting storms.
Transport is something I have to pay here anyway so dont even bother factoring that in..
If you can get the time off work then go do it in the US. You WILL save money compared to here, not just in finshing earlier but in all the associated costs of cancelled lessons.
However, do you research before you book. As with any outfit, UK or US, there are some cowboys out there so ask around and get reccommendations as one of the down sides is you wont really be able to visit the school before you book.
I would also suggest doing your exams in the UK before you go, then you just have to concentrate on the flying.
And finally, if you are worrying doing in the US will affect your chances of going commercial then it wont. I know several people who did the FAA -> JAA route (and as a bonus you end with TWO licences dont forget), and and are now flying commercially on such aircraft as A320s, King Airs and CJs.
J.