Butters - pleased to help out.
Yes, we did look at Modular, and it would have been cheaper. But we came to the conclusion that there is a hell of a lot of stuff to get through - was it 14 exams in the written section, before you get near anything with wings?
So it seemed to us that to penny pinch by going modular could save a few bucks, but the size of the hill to climb just to get to Goodyear (only possible if you have passed the written) was such that it was better just to blast through it on a full time course - i.e. integrated.
I have great admiration for the guys doing modular, but we decided for my son, it was better to go integrated and get that consistent, week in and week out training.
You are correct about having a concern about finishing with debt. But I think you have to retain a sense of perspective about this. You are going through a training course for a profession - in the same way that lawyers, accountants, doctors, dentists do. They all finish off with quite big debts when they qualify - it doesn't seem to worry them as they know their training will bump them up to a much higher "snack bracket" when they should be able to repay their loans.
Pilots are exactly the same - yes, you'll have debts, but you'll earn more as a FO in Europe an a LoCo than you will as a rampie in Saskatoon!
In the case of commercial aviation, you also have to understand that, much as you will hear endless bitching about the unfairness of it on here, in the great majority of cases it is the norm that you will have to also pay for a type rating - check out the Interviews, Jobs and Sponsorships forum.
There are some who steadfastly refuse - and since they post so frequently online, I guess they have the time to do it as they presumably are not working. For our part, we were always prepared to pay for the TR - so on finishing, he went straight into a SSTR course with a decent, well respected LoCost airline.
I'm not sure that many airlines offering SSTR courses do so just to take your money (as the cynics on here say - maybe FR is an exception) - and they really do want to find F/O's who they have trained so know their SOP's etc. So if you get on an SSTR course, it really is a form or "probation" - just knuckle down and do your best and you'll normally find that the right seat on a big shiny jet is possible.
OD