Ausma - I was in your shoes a few years ago. I had a permanent Cabin Crew contract with a BA franchise airline in the UK, and left it to start flight training. I evaluated different options, took some advice from pilot colleagues, and finally headed to Florida (PPL, night Q, MEP[L], hour building). The main reasons for going Stateside were (and still are) time and money. However, I didn't want to face the extra work and expense of converting from FAA to JAA, so chose a JAA-approved FTO, so all licences/ratings were JAA from the outset.
I chose an ATPL groundschool in Britain (having no technical or scientific background and not being a native English speaker, I preferred to do full-time, residential groundschool). CPL then took place in a JAA-approved FTO in... South Africa (there was one at the time), since the US FTO had stopped offering JAA courses. IR and MCC followed in the UK.
The reason for going as far as Florida or South Africa had to do with limited finances, but it's important to choose the FTO offering the best
value for money (not necessarily the
cheapest quote) and the FTO and conditions that suit
you best. That means getting a lot of info on several FTOs, then doing a selection based on a number of factors; as you mentioned, location is one, flying weather another. Also, choosing between the modular or integrated route. However, by going far one can sometimes
save money; in that respect, it's hard to beat the flight training costs offered in the US or Canada.
Training under JAA rules (provided you want to eventually work in the old continent) simplifies things as no conversion is required. However, there are some JAA-approved FTOs in the US and even one in Canada I believe. There are also some good FTOs in Spain for instance. The Flying Academy in Brno seems OK, but some of their quotes (PPL, night qualification, hour building rates, MCC course) look a bit steep! Others (CPL, IR) look quite reasonable...
Always remember that any quote provided by an FTO is based on the
minimum legal hours; in reality, you have to plan for unforeseen circumstances (some extra training, weather or licensing delays, etc.), so a
realistic budget should be 20-25% higher than the FTO's "minimum hours" quote.
PM me if you need more specific info - I don't want to "advertise" for any particular flying school on the forum.
Cheers
