Bottom line, most of these prices here are wrong. Both ATP's and FBO's. I went to ATP, I work at an FBO. The multi time is not $300 an hour, unless you have to buy more. And at an FBO, you won't get the multi time you need to land a decent job, INCLUDING A JOB AS AN MEI. There is too much competition among MEI's. And I'm absolutley sure someone is going to chime in a "yeah but, but, but," go ahead, but I can gaurentee you are the exception to the rule.
Break down the cost of ATP, as the full price and use the split between multi and single time. Don't forget to include ALL OF IT. Housing, checkrides, sim time, writtens, etc.
And also look at a previos post where you are building time in a 150 by C172 Captian, and the total cost is wrong. Good effort, but not quite accurate. The only part that includes ground instruction is th AF course. I will tell you first hand (because it's what I do, and what all my fellow instructors do) that I include a minum of .3 ground for each flight for the breif/de-breif.
*_*_*_*_*_*THE BOTTOM LINE*_*_*_*_*_*
Go down to a few of the local FBO's, AND ASK THEM FOR A GENERAL PRICE QUOTE. If they say they can't give you one, then they will probably rip you off. Remember, all you are looking for is a ball park. And I can tell you where I work, it's between $6k and $9k for a PPL. After you time build on your own, it's usually around $5k to $7k for an instrument rating. And another $3k to $5k for you commercial single. AND COMPARE APLLES TO APPLES. I.E., multi time to multi time, and single to single, not this is how much the FBO can do it for, and this is how much the ATP can do it for. Figure how much it would cost you at an FBO for the equivelant multi time.
I went to ATP, and loved everyminute of it. However, it's not for everyone. It's fast, and happens at a blistering pace. It's 6-7 months of pure airplanes. All day, all night. If your that into it, it's gonna be good for you. If you want to take it slow and easy, then do the FBO route. It may or may not be cheaper. As a general rule of thumb, if you can't fly atleast twice a week, you won't retain very much of what you just learned. And where I work, we have done it as fast as ATP, it can be done.
