Hi,
Firstly, yes this question has been asked many times before. But I will try to help you out as best I can. Im sure others will have there own opinions but Ill let you see it from my perspective.
First off, when choosing a school, try to go and visit them. That is the best place to start. Meet the instructors and staff, see the facilities and ask to see the aircraft you will be trained in. Some schools like MFS have brand new aircraft and you will be charged accordingly. Other schools have older aircraft and thus the price will be cheaper. eg Tristar. I must point out though that all schools should be following the same syllabus, so ultimately a PPL is a PPL, regardless of where you go. However, there are better instructors than others and sometimes its just luck of the draw who you get paired up to. Once you decide on a school, maybe it would be a good idea to ask on PPRUNE if anyone can reccommend a good instructor.
Tristar does have good rates, but I have not heard good things about their reputation. Also, check out their aircraft!!! Most of the staff there are friendly though, so again, go in and see them and ask what they can offer.
MFS are expensive. Nice shiny new aeroplanes but as I said, you pay for that. A reasonably friendly team there too.
MFT are middle of the road. They have a good team of instructors. Aircraft aren't terribly new. But that aside I have heard great things about them and their CFI.
RVAC, well, rvac is rvac!! Not had a great wrap over the past couple of years. Enough said there.
MAS I dont know enough about
OXFORD generally only do cadetships for Jetstar and the Swinburn Uni.
When asking about prices, you need to find out what the hourly rate will give you. Some questions to ask
Does the hourly rate include
- Landing fees
- Briefing Time
- are there any fuel surcharges
Also ask to find out what an average student will pay for a PPL. Most schools will give you a quote based on sitting a test after doing the minimum legal amount of training. You will find that a PPL can cost $18000 plus once you do things like buy a headset, pay for a medical, security check (ASIC), buy text books and equipment etc.
If I were doing it all again, I would go to MFT. I think others will agree with me on that. As I say,hopefully others in the forum will be able to give you an insight into schools at YMMB.
Best of luck
