Is this Quote overpriced?
Posted by SlenderNimrod1@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 65 comments
What do you think of this quote for PPL at my local flight school?
Quote is an estimate for national average time, located in Florida.
I've only checked out one school but it seems a little steep?
It's a pay as you go school so I'm also unsure how this gets billed and how to make sure you don't get overcharged for things like fuel, instruction time etc
Any advice is appreciated!
Wild-Language-5165@reddit
That's super fair! $142/hr for a Piper 100i? They must make it up in volume of flying, that plane realistically should be going for about $190/hr.
Problem is, 95% of schools only quote at 40 hours of flight time and don't include any pre/post breifings and quote 5 hours of ground training. Which makes it look like it should only cost $8,000. Then when you see a more realistic quote, you wonder why it is SO much more expensive, when in reality, it's not.
draakken35@reddit
looks like the plane rate is dry as they have a separate line for fuel. So 142 + 57 = 199, and now the wet rate looks much closer to the going rate.
Wild-Language-5165@reddit
Ah, yes, you're right, I overlooked that it was dry. That sounds about right for that airplane tho, still fair for that price. Brand new plane with latest avionics.
RunzWithGunz@reddit
My flight school charges $120/hr wet, and that's cheaper than other local schools that fly the same plane.
SaratogaFlyer@reddit
$142 dry - with fuel they’re quoting $199.50
AirwipeTempest@reddit
Yes in the sense they overestimated the price to be conservative oppose to it being overpriced purely for greed. Pretty accurate. Might even be less than that. I did ride at 70h in 22 for about $17k.
NoRemorse920@reddit
Man do I feel fortunate. I got my ticket in 2016 for 9k.
Obviously prices have skyrocketed, and I was able to complete it in 44hrs, so that helped a lot.
flyingforfun3@reddit
52 hours in 2010. 5.5k with ride.
152 with instructor was $95 an hour wet.
LaddieNowAddie@reddit
A wet instructor is worth the money.
mongooseme@reddit
2003 with in 42.3 in the logbook when I handed it to the DPE. $5,026.
I can't imagine paying $18k to get a private pilot certificate. $84/hr seems high for the instruction but maybe that's the rate now.
AirwipeTempest@reddit
No idea how average people are gonna become pilots in 10 years.
arbpotatoes@reddit
Probably won't be PPL or flying anything with more than 2 seats ever
Pilot-Imperialis@reddit
No, if anything this seems pretty honest and accurate. My only issue with it is that the national average for someone to pass their ppl these is 70 hours, not 57. So expect to pay a bit more than this. But overall considering this is a nice plane, yes this is fair.
10FourGudBuddy@reddit
142 an hour for a piper is pretty good pending avionics at least in our area. The cheapest rental is a crappy 152 at $175/hour.
It took me 100 or so hours and I was
WhiteoutDota@reddit
Does your CFI not do briefs and debriefs? No mock oral or two before your checkride? You never sat down and discussed things that the online ground school didnt cover like specifics of your aircraft? Your CFI scammed you.
TurnipNo9566@reddit
seems like the new normal & it’s crazy to me. 4/5 of my instructors did this. had me do all the ground on my own, finish the computer test, then we did maybe 1 hour of review before the checkride. everyone learns differently so it might be fine for a lot of people and it’s a good way to save money but i 100% benefit from some “classroom” learning. my most recent instructor does group ground school for a discount and i won’t do it any other way now
Dry-Progress869@reddit
Wtf i spent 35k on this
J2ADA@reddit
For a PPL, that's about what you will be paying. Total flight hours 40 to 60.
flyingforfun3@reddit
I can’t attest to the price because it’s been a long time for me, but I can say I think it’s good they are quoting for more than 40 hours. Most people get theirs done in the 55 hour mark.
I personally think doing your private in anything beyond a 6 pack of gauges is silly. They ask for more per hour and you don’t need them for most of your training. I think there is definitely a premium rate for being in Florida
No-Brilliant9659@reddit
This is reasonably priced.
Guap-Zero@reddit
What part of Florida? 142/hr and it's not a wet rental is kind of crazy... Instruction is also expensive...
Guap-Zero@reddit
I take it back...it's not "crazy" for 142 dry...just slightly elevated...as is the instruction...which I'm guessing you'll possibly need more than 17 hours of...
Anyway... my school is 160/hr wet and instruction is 60/hr....but steam gauge 172
topgun966@reddit
Am I just getting old, that $142/hr for a dry rent seems really high? Yes, I am. So in that case, this isn't that bad.
cazzipropri@reddit
It's not, especially in the northeast
topgun966@reddit
When I first went to flight school, it was $55/hr wet for a C172 lol. Yeah, I am getting fricken old.
cazzipropri@reddit
When I did my ppl it was $70/h tach time, so more like $58/h wallclock... Maybe we are not that far.
DadOnTheInternet@reddit
Holy shit the check rides are $900 now?!?!! I remember paying $150
cazzipropri@reddit
$142/h for the pilot 100i is very fair
AltitudeEdge@reddit
It’s on the high end of average but it’s pretty close.
PhillyPilot@reddit
I’d expect it to be expect to pay a little more. About 10 more hours
Beergoggles222@reddit
That looks pretty accurate from what I see. Hourly rate for the airplane is pretty good, and the rest of it looks closer to reality than the ones that quote you for a 40 hour minimum PPL and no extra costs.
texas1982@reddit
$900 check rides. That's robbery but the DPE sets the rate.
This is all probably reasonable in 2025, but if ask how many hours students typically have when they get their license and how far out the DPEs are booked.
TxAggieMike@reddit
Many around DFW are $1000 for PPL IFR and CPL
ltcterry@reddit
National average is more like 70 than 57.
No idea why they have fuel broken out as a separate item. Seems kind of silly. But the numbers don't seem unreasonable other than "57."
B_O_A_H@reddit
Looks fairly realistic, especially at $140/hr for the plane. It’s good that they overshot it instead of quoting 40 hours to make it look cheaper than it will likely be. I spent $11k In February for my PPL at low 40s
Correct_Cap_6087@reddit
It's not a realistic quote in my experience. You can probably expect to pay substantially more than that.
Shuttle_Tydirium1319@reddit
I’m gonna say expect to pay a bit more actually. Most students get PPL in 65-75 hours or more. They’ve got you quoted at 57 hours.
Ok_Currency_787@reddit
Man when I did my private I think I got it done at like 80 or 90. I waited months for my checkride and kept building time lil
walleyednj@reddit
I did it in 2022 for $8000, but my brother was my CFI and my plane cost $100 a hour to fly.
Ok_Currency_787@reddit
Man that’s really good. I paid $130 an hour for the plane and $65 an hour for the cfi
k3wio@reddit
The hourly rates are a little high (partially because it's a brand new plane with really nice avionics) but it's not insane.
SlenderNimrod1@reddit (OP)
I took a discovery flight and yes the plane is super nice!
Would it be better to find a school or even a smaller establishment with some older planes that have some analog gauges to gain some analog experience (if that is even beneficial) and possibly save some money on the hourly?
pootislordftw@reddit
I did all my training up until multi in G1000 piper archers at a 141 flight school, and doing my CFI now in a 1970's cessna 172, I prefer the round dials for non-instrument flight training. The G1000 display seems kind of oversaturated with information which gets in the way for practicing maneuvers or working the pattern, as others have said. You can pretty easily transition between them later on in your training career, but I think the six pack and com stack is all you really need to start out flight training, and it should be a good amount cheaper to rent.
Virian@reddit
I would suggest learning to fly on the cheapest plane you can find. You don’t need a fancy plane with the latest avionics to beat up the pattern over and over. An old plane with round dials lands the same as one with a G1000.
Save the money for the fancy plane until you’re working on your instrument rating.
BluProfessor@reddit
There are so many opinions on this. Personally, I think learning on round gauges is better for development and understanding and the transition to newer glass displays isn't bad. Odds are, at some point you'll be flying a round gauge plane at some point and it's just easier if that's your baseline.
You'd probably save a bunch of money learning to fly an older plane, at least.
pootislordftw@reddit
So weird to see the single PFD with a G5 as the backup and nothing covering the dash on the right seat, but in flight training with an EFB the G1000 MFD really didn't serve that much purpose besides redundancy.
937OYE@reddit
The only thing you’re getting a deal on is checkride 😂
10FourGudBuddy@reddit
The plane cost isn’t bad. I suction is ridiculous.
My ppl checkride was $600 last year.
Bloob09@reddit
This is reasonable. Expect to pay more with more supplies and hours. Never pre pay. Doesn’t hurt to quote 3 places though.
Easy-Trouble7885@reddit
Damn $900 for a PPL checkride... My IFR was $500 and was considered outrageous lmao
BluProfessor@reddit
My CFI was $1000, my IR and Commercial we're $600 each!
Av8tr1@reddit
You guys want to feel young. My commercial check ride for SEL was $300. I paid $52 an hour wet with Congressional Air at JYO. Still have the receipts. We had to fly to HGR so I could rent a Cutlass for .5 and do 3 touch and goes and cycle the gear to meet the commercial requirements. Was the only complex available in the area at the time.
ATrainDerailReturns@reddit
Book cost is high
Most books are free online pdfs from the FAA.gov
My school also only is 64 an hour for ground but we do way more than 17 so we would be more than that
Other than books nothing seems crazy
carl-swagan@reddit
15-20k is about right in the current market. $200 wet for a newer aircraft with G3X avionics is a solid price.
AdventurousSepti@reddit
It is reasonable for what it is. 1) This is a modern aircraft with glass cockpit. Another school could cut $3,000 off this using older, cheaper, round gauge aircraft (60 hrs x $50/hour less). 2) Time is realistic IF you fly 2 or 3 times a week. Fly less and it will cost a lot more. 3) Look for a EAA chapter near you. Our chapter has given two $11,000 PPL scholarships, and EAA has now increased to $12,000. Many other scholarships available. Buy book on Amz Cleared for Take-off by Ishitha. She is now 18 and wrote this book about scholarships and financial aid for youth to get PPL. I'm not sure if this is OK, Check with local EAA chapter, but there are two scholarship programs. One is direct $12K grant to a chapter and they administer, and the other if local chapter pays $2,500 national EAA will grant the rest of a $12K scholarship. Can you donate the $2,500 to local chapter? 4) Nobody can know exactly what your cost will be. Maybe you will take 55 hours (40 is minimum and not realistic), maybe 75. Depends on how fast you catch on, how much you practice whatever turns out to be difficult for you, And how often you fly. Every lesson starts with review of last one. If last one was 3 days ago you will have good muscle memory and review will be 10 minutes so that flight is 50 minutes of new material. If last flight was 2 or 3 weeks ago then review will take 30 minutes and you will only get 30 minutes of new material. See how flying often cuts cost? By a LOT! Don't start training until you have the $$ and time. Our chapter's last scholarship person started March 2024 and intended to finish end of 2024 summer. But he didn't fly a lot, more like 2 or 3 times a month. Now Sept 2025 and he still does not have PPL. He's gone through the $11,000 plus his family has paid over $9,000 and probably at least $3,000 to go. Now he is flying 2 or 3 times a week and making faster progress. I saw one young person whose parents paid $40,000 for PPL, but that was an extreme case. In addition to flying there is a ton of book learning and study required. And yes, you can get a $300 headset, but if you are serious about flying, get a $1,100 name brand noise cancelling headset. Of course, if you get a EAA Ray Scholarship you will probably get one of those free, but only after solo. 5) Join national EAA and a local chapter, join AOPA, see if there are local or state flying organizations. Join all you can and get INSIDE aviation instead of looking in from the outside.
TheGacAttack@reddit
As an estimate, this looks "reasonable" and appropriate. The specific prices for a few things could be high in some localities, but I don't know where this is. If it were near me in the Midwest, the dry+fuel+dual total would be considered very high per hour.
If they are asking you to prepay this, that's bad. If it's really just to set expectations and help budget, then I'd say they're being very helpful and realistic.
LikeLemun@reddit
57 hours is a reasonable estimate. Nothing looks too far off here. Fuel may be a little over depending on location and you can probably get a lot of your supplies cheaper on somewhere like FB marketplace, but overall a good quote
NotYourAverageJoe99@reddit
This seems pretty reasonable in terms of hourly costs. What happens if you go over the allotted hours in the quote?
ResoluteFalcon@reddit
This is almost exactly what I paid.
trashme8113@reddit
It’s pretty close to normal.
Superninjahype@reddit
FAA states the national average is about 75hrs.
misclurking@reddit
Add in $1k for additional supplies... you'll probably want a cellular iPad (cellular gives GPS), foreflight subscription, and a headset (budget $300 for one). And a few hundred bucks or whatever the first medical goes for.
I'd say this is reasonable for what you are asking for. If you want a way to save, but there are tradeoffs, you can also consider a flying club. My instruction costs are about 1/2 per hour as you, and my plane rental (just 1% cheaper than your's) also includes fuel. The included fuel saves me the $3.3k you have estimated and the lower instructor cost probably $2k, so I'd guess a $5.3k savings could be had, though my club fees would bring that down to $4k.
There are tradeoffs, so keep it in mind. To go through a proper school, this is actually reasonable. Keep in mind stuff will fluctuate, fuel most notably.
kylekthompson@reddit
Sent you a DM
Anthem00@reddit
its pretty much inline and totally fair. . . most places will quote out at 40 so that it looks cheaper than reality.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
What do you think of this quote for PPL at my local flight school?
Quote is an estimate for national average time, located in Florida.
I've only checked out one school but it seems a little steep?
It's a pay as you go school so I'm also unsure how this gets billed and how to make sure you don't get overcharged for things like fuel, instruction time etc
Any advice is appreciated!
Please downvote this comment until it collapses.
Questions about this comment? Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please contact the mods of this subreddit.