500 above: im 30, i have a stable engineering job, living in a beautiful island with a dog and apartment, so trust me, i would never jump into a hectic and catastrophic financial situation without guarantied signed contract.
I hope the stable engineering job isn't with CY!
No decent company would ask you to fork out 40000 plus hotac etc. Be very cautious. What next, will they ask you to pay recurrent fees twice a year?
Weren't you asking on here a while back about paying for a Falcon 900 t/r? (For the LCA based one on Flying Groups AOC presumably, the thread was deleted shortly after)
Good luck.
Edit:
If the operator contracts you then sends you to Dubai for the sim, why would they want/let you choose another training centre such as Amsterdam? It doesn't sound right.