Here's another money saving tip that I still use to this day, put all your expenses on a Credit Card with a points program such as Aeroplan or Airmiles. Now I'm not saying put it on there to use it's credit what im suggesting is instead of walking in with a cheque for the flying club put it on the card and use the loan to pay off the card at the end of every month. You might as well get something for your purchase eh.

Now when where talking about thousands of dollars worth of airmiles you will probably have enough to get from YVR to YYZ but DO NOT use it for Flights!! redeem the miles for Gas Cards now you have just paid for a good chunk if not all of your Road trip Gas and being a noob with no money this is HUGE I REPEAT HUGE SAVINGS.

Thats exactly what I did ... I used an Air Miles Mastercard, 1 air mile for every $20 spent. I have 5 thousand air miles now (although I got alot of them from buying gas at Shell for my job) which is enough for $580 in gift cards for Shell...

I got a Sony card which was a mistake but I got a PS3 out of it. Now that I have excellent credit I got an Air Miles but obviously I wish I'd gotten one sooner.

I think BMO will give almost anyone a BMO Airmiles Card might have a low limit but if its 1500 buck limit just put 1000 on it and pay it off with the student loan before the due date never let it get to close to the limit and your credit rating will go up.

I thought I would just make a note here since this thread is sticky:

Funding in BC...

If you go through a college program, you can receive bursaries/scholarships...

If completing on your own:
There is nothing from the government for your PPL.
Once you start anything above the PPL, you can go to http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/studentaidbc/ and get student loans. I got about $9000 from the government. You do not need to repay the loans right away, it can start 6 months later. If your still poor (because you are a pilot after all), you can continue to apply for loan interest relief.
When it comes to the bank, I didn't qualify for a student loan, but I did get 35,000K at 6.5%... Its a long term loan. I did not need a cosigner at 20, but I had been building my credit for a while and a long term RBC customer.

Feel free to PM if you need any more info.

Cheers,

Wolfie

Another option is the ROTP program through the military. The aviation program at Western sponsors pilots - you get around $17,000/year salary and they pay all your flight and school tuition (plus books and stuff). You owe the military time when you're done - but you're not in debt!

Umm work your ass off and earn the money you need.

100LL81 wrote:Umm work your ass off and earn the money you need.

+1

Here's an idea.

Seriously.... What are you thinking????? Go into debt 40,000+ because you can't wait to start? Heck, if you work at mcdonalds for a year full time and live with your parents I am sure you could save 20,000 in a year. Im guessing you are still young? what is the rush, you are a lot better off just waiting a year, its not going to make any difference in your flying career

v6g wrote:- and don't go to a school that charges GST - some do some don't. 5% of $50k is a lot of money. From July 1st next year, with the HST, that price differential will be 12%.

Schools have to charge GST but you can get it all back if you are doing CPL training or if you sign a statement that says you are planning to pursue a career as a pilot. Get the school to fill out a TL11b.

Work as a Gigallo...work is fun and it pay well

Years ago, in the Seventies, I knew a Bartender that entertained well to do Ladies at the Westin Bayshore Inn in Vancouver, paid his mortgage qwick.

Cheers and good luck

This is not necessarily a suggestion, but this is how I’m doing it;

First I got a job at a bank, which made it very easy for me to get a loan. I argued that the professional student line of credit from RBC should be available to pilots as well as medical, dental and accounting students on the basis that before the high expected earnings of a doctor, dentist or accountant are achieved, they all must first do an internship or article (in the case of the accountant) for a few years. I made the banker believe that after a few years as a pilot, I too could achieve high enough earnings to take care of the loan (crossing my fingers that it's true ) This netted me 45K so I could eliminate the money factor. I also took advantage of a VISA that offered reward points and now have enough for a flight overseas. (Just pay off the CC every month with the credit line) I was/am working while training so I can pay down the debt as I go, however if you can, I strongly advise getting your training done as fast as possible with as little distractions as possible. Make your flight training your #1 priority and you will save time and money.

Full disclosure:
-the banker wanted to become a pilot (this worked in my favor)
-I quit the bank after 2 yrs for a higher paying desk job
-I’m young and feel I have time as an advantage to carry such debt

Advice: If you go this route, ONLY USE THE LOAN FOR FLYING!!

Hello All,

This thread regarding where to attain funds for flight training brought memories of my frustration with that issue seven years ago.

We all become pilots for the interest, love and excitement of aviation. If this interest transpires to military aviation then I ask you to consider this. Do you find yourself interested when seeing a Hercules, Hornet or Cormorant etc on an airport ramp? Do you also find yourself interested when seeing a LAV or Warship on the news, documentary or in person?
If you can relate to the above and desire a career in civilian aviation, then perhaps a secondary career in the Canadian Forces Reserve is meant for you.

Seven years ago I was a high school graduate who was medically disqualified for ROTP pilot. I was accepted at the University of Western Ontario with 14 000 yr tuition and limited means to cover that. I enrolled in the CF as a MARS Officer at my local Naval Reserve Division. This proved to be the single greatest life decision I had made.

I graduated debt free with savings, underwent experiences unimaginable in the civilian world and gained a set of life long friends.
There are many possibilities for a career in the Reserves with units located in many populated areas. Whether as an Officer or NCM, the benefits of a secondary military career are endless. Here are a few that relate to being a pilot;

1) We in the Canadian Forces train and operate in a stressful environment. Over time, this experience will increase you ability to handle stress aiding your career in aviation.

2) The Canadian Forces develops its junior members. A junior member will be given responsibilities that an equivalent peer in the civilian world would normally not. You learn to be responsible and accountable at an early stage. To lay blame is unacceptable.

3) We are a team in the Canadian Forces. We understand first hand the synergy of teamwork. This teamwork is developed under stress.

4) You will be debt free, if planned well.

5) You will have a high paying secondary career to fall back on if you are ever laid off as a pilot.

Reserve training is centered on post secondary education with May to August being to peak months of training. Here are some numbers. In the first summer you’ll roughly make 12000 dollars. You do not pay for rent or food and have little expenses. While at school, you parade at your local unit once a week for 3 hours and the odd Saturday. Straight from basic, this will add 250 to 500 dollars a month depending on the amount of weekend training at your unit. I typically average 14000-16000 a year in income with combined summer/weekend training.

Making the decision to join the CF is a big one filled with many unknowns and fears. However any current or prior service CF member will look back in hindsight and find that was not the case.

If you have any questions, contact the kind folks at your local recruiting centre or myself.

BDM

I managed to get a 25K line of credit from RBC at 19 years old with no co-sign required. It all depends on your credit and your collateral. I also got an Avion card and payed off the credit card with the credit line. There is no right and wrong way to do things. If you are in a position where you can work and live for free (ie. Parents basement) then that may be your best option. I did however find that not stressing about where the money is coming from, and being able to fly on a consistent basis really helped in the long run.

Best of luck!

Any inside scopes from the BC area?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

I was lucky enough to get very good well paying jobs throughout the summer. I got a line of credit the last year of my studies from my local credit union. It was PRIME rate and I only paid interest on what I used. I didn't have to start paying the principal back until 12 months after graduation, giving me plenty of time to pay it off in large chunks.

Check your local credit union and see what they can do for you. If you have enough collateral - car, savings, investments, etc, then you will not require a co-signer.

Great advice here guys!

For those of you that got a loan/line of credit:

-Does age come into the equation? Will I be able to get a student line of credit being in my late 20's? I assume student line of credits have a lower rate?

-Using a $10,000 loan as an example: do they just hand you a cheque for $10,000 or do they give you a visa or mastercard with that limit? Or is a line of credit a type of account with that set amount in it, and you can withdraw/use any amount you need up to the limit they give you?

-Is there a period of time before you have to start repaying the loan? Or do your payments start as soon as you use the first bit of it?

-Assuming I want to take out a loan to cover the cost of all my training including PPL, CPL, CFI & ratings, do I need to go in and ask for a grand total amount or should I get a line of credit for my PPL, then my CPL 5 or 6 months later, and so on?

I will of course be making an effort to research this all on my own in the next few months but any insight is much appreciated!

SkyWolfe wrote:I think we need a sticky about funding.
Any who, RBC has a good line of credit program if you need it. I got 35k from them.

Hey! thats not fair! They only gave me $10 000. I could only pay for my night rating and a few hours towards my commercial with that!

Where I got some of my money from was from friends/family/scholarships(big contributor)/ REPS..../government loans

Indanao wrote:Well, get a job, all the loans available, then go flying, and bankrupt. Can't take the licenses back, and with no bills you could afford to work the ramp in Yellowknife.

http://www.student-loan-bankruptcy.ca/

Be careful. I am pretty sure if you have a goverment-issued student loan, bankruptcy will not remove this particular type of debt (unless you wait seven years after graduating to file).

Move to Alberta. Get a job in the patch. One of the outfits here just hired a mechanics helper for $28 hr. No experience.

Step 1 - get a 1 year diploma with good salary (insurance, trades, ???)

Step 2 work full time with a job with overtime, dump all of that into an RRSP 20,000$ / 2 years

Step 3 Withdraw RRSP 10,000 (no penalty if reimbursed as part of continuing education plan)
Year 1 = Private and night rating

Step 4 Withdraw RRSP 10,000 + 5k tax return from RRSP,s and tuition +10k line of credit
Year 2 = Multi IFR + Commercial

Step 5 Year 3 Tax return = Reimburse 5k$ line of credit,

...... Finished MIFR with 5k debt

LousyFisherman wrote:

100LL81 wrote:Umm work your ass off and earn the money you need.

+1

+2 (Go to Alberta, hard to work your ass off in Manitoba or BC, etc