This was my suspicion

What continues to amaze me is that now the pandemic is almost over, there are many signing up for integrated programs in excess of $140,000 or equivalent. Now that Skyborne have purchased the assets from FlightSafety in Vero Beach, Florida, expect an influx of students undertaking integrated training with Part 1 in the USA (PPL & Hours) and Part 2 (CPL/IR) in the UK. The marketing and advertising budget from such companies is so high compared to the average modular school but it obviously works......people have such short memories, they have forgotten about L3 and they are easily impressed with "big is best". Goodness knows where they get such large amounts of money from?

USA is a great training option, always has been. If potential students could just do the right amount of research they could see clearly that they could achieve everything they need at half to two thirds the price quoted above and get the job at the end they want when the market returns to normal, which it most certainly will.

My advice, go for an approved modular UK or EASA ATO in the USA which also has FAA Part 141 approval for Part 1 (up to around 150 hours) and return the the UK (or EASA Land) for Part 2 and DON'T spend almost twice as much as necessary, even if the sales pitch sounds incredible.

Let the games begin!

My advice: go to a part 141 school (actually the only option for a foreign student) - but avoid anything to do with EASA or CAA. That's just and excuse to charge more.
Look to leave with FAA private/instrument and around 175 hours (100pic of course, but with 50of those IFR)
That leaves 5 hours for PPL, 5 hours for IR and 15 hours for CPL.

rudestuff - Whilst I follow some of your logic, wouldn't you agree, that with so many FAA schools which have very low training standards, going to a school that has dual qualified instructors (FAA & UK/EASA) would prepare the student far better for the final conversion back in UK or Europe?

Some US schools just have the FAA instructor who has undertaken the so called FCL.900(c) conversion, certainly not the same, in my opinion, as a fully fledged UK or EASA CPL/IR FI. So my point is simple, chose, if possible, to train with a fully qualified UK/EASA instructor in the USA who has the FAA qualification and take all the benefits of the FAA courses taught with a European emphasis so the conversion is a breeze! Be interested to know if you agree with this?

I agree with you on cost, don't pay a ridiculously high price for this advantage, but it must be worth worth paying something more to get an instructor who is qualified in both systems and knows the differences?

Final point, 30 years ago, before UK approved training in the USA was available, many returned from the US with their fresh FAA license and spent a fortune converting simply because they were not trained to a good standard, particularly on the IR. I actually was involved in a school that made a lot of money doing those conversions 30 years ago when the expected 5 hours became 25 hrs! Then we had 25 plus years of having approved UK/EASA ATO's in the USA and a major assault by the UK/EASA schools saying loudly, people should train in Europe if they want to fly Europe - what poppycock of course, as most people train in the US anyway. Today, students, if they do the right research, could have the best of both, but as I said in my last post, they have to do the proper research and not be blinded by the BS and hype especially from the schools with large marketing budgets!

The smaller modular schools seem not to have the marketing budgets to compete, probably because they only charge half as much for the same course, so it becomes the vicious circle..... looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

I’d find it hard to believe that any school just now would be raking it in. Airlines have gone for the jugular across Europe so the initial investment just doesn’t make any sense anymore.

Look in the States, though. They are so short they are trying to recruit Aussies on E3 visas. It's weird. $50K to $90K pa

Alex is right, schools are losing instructors to the airlines fast in the USA and the shortage of experienced highly qualified instructors is just around the corner, in fact it has started. I think we will be back to 2019 recruitment levels my mid-next year in the USA.

From the intel coming my way, the UK/EASA approved schools in the USA are extremely short of instructors compared to student demand. A couple of the longest established schools are down to just 2 or 3 instructors which is a fraction of previous numbers. All this will mean higher prices and a lot of glum faces from people who might kick themselves for not training during the COVID era when prices were, quite frankly, ridiculously low. Whilst I understand why the industry almost ground to a halt, the media was overwhelming, I have always been skeptical of the gloom and doom merchants on forums like this. IMHO, cautious optimism is better for one's health and feels better!

Of course, GO MODULAR - certainly my record stuck in the same groove!