Speaking as someone who has lost the best part of 20 grand I whole heartedly agree with Clive Hughes and his book and never pay anything to any FTO that you cant afford to loose!!!!!!!!
The company I was training with, was a large school in Kent, it was CAA approved and NVQ approved, what could possibly could go wrong with such high levels of approval, with the oversight of two government branches, who both check the financial viability of the company!!!!!!
Please heed this advice, bitter personal experience proves if you don’t you will loose out.
Credit card payments do help this, but it is no guarantee.
At one time the FTO I work for was considering an escrow account. This is not as safe as you would think, as I know of a couple of pilots who did this for an apparent type rating on a HS125 for an Italian company, who was fictitious, they lost their money too!
My FTO certainly advocates pay as you go and the use of credit cards. It is beneficial for us as well as the students.
SO DO NOT PAY ANYTHING YOU CAN NOT AFFORD TO LOOSE, trust me!!!!!