Yes. You can book lesson by lesson and pay after each one, at the retail hourly rates, with no course purchase and no commitment. Plenty of our students start that way. What you should know before you choose it is that pay-as-you-go costs meaningfully more per hour than the same training inside a package, and the gap over a full private pilot certificate runs into thousands of dollars.
Neither option is a trick. A package is cheaper because we can plan around a committed student and an airplane that is booked; paying as you go is dearer because you are buying flexibility. This page puts the real arithmetic side by side so you can choose deliberately. It sits under our flight training FAQ, and the wider cost picture is on flight school cost in Los Angeles.
The Two Rate Cards
Every airplane has two hourly rates. The package rate applies inside a course you have enrolled in. The retail rate applies if you are renting or paying lesson by lesson. Both are wet rates, meaning fuel is included. Instruction is $110 an hour either way.
| Aircraft | Inside A Package | Pay As You Go | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cessna 162 Skycatcher | $179 | $269 | $90 |
| Piper Warrior PA-28-161 | $179 | $269 | $90 |
| Diamond DA20-C1 | $229 | $329 | $100 |
| Piper Arrow PA-28R | $229 | $349 | $120 |
| Piper Seminole PA-44-180 | $449 | $649 | $200 |
| Cirrus SR22 Turbo | $449 | $649 | $200 |
| Redbird MCX simulator | $120 | $200 | $80 |
| Flight or ground instruction | $110 | $110 | None |
What The Difference Adds Up To
Take our Private Pilot Comprehensive course, which is $15,400 and contains 55 hours of aircraft time, 5 hours of simulator, 50 hours of dual instruction and 10 hours of ground. Buy exactly the same thing hour by hour at retail in a Piper Warrior and the arithmetic is 55 hours of airplane at $269, 5 simulator hours at $200, 50 instructor hours at $110 and 10 ground hours at $110.
| Component | Retail, Paid Lesson By Lesson |
|---|---|
| 55 hours aircraft at $269 | $14,795 |
| 5 hours simulator at $200 | $1,000 |
| 50 hours instruction at $110 | $5,500 |
| 10 hours ground at $110 | $1,100 |
| Total paying as you go | About $22,400 |
| Private Pilot Comprehensive package | $15,400 |
The same comparison against our Private Pilot Standard course, which is $10,400 for 38 hours of aircraft, 2 of simulator, 30 dual and 3 ground, comes out near $14,250 at retail. Books and materials are included in the packages and bought separately if you pay as you go, which widens the gap a little further.
When Paying As You Go Is The Right Choice
It is the right choice more often than the arithmetic suggests, for four reasons.
You are not sure yet. Three or four lessons paid one at a time is a far better way to find out whether you enjoy this than committing five figures on the strength of one flight. Your schedule is genuinely unpredictable. If you travel for work and cannot promise a rhythm, a package that assumes one does you no favors. You want to spread cost without borrowing. Paying per lesson is the only version of flight training with no lump sum and no finance agreement. You are already a certificated pilot adding an endorsement, staying current, or renting, in which case retail is the natural rate anyway; see aircraft rental at Van Nuys.
When A Package Is Obviously Better
If you know you are going to finish, a package is cheaper and it is not close. It also does something the rate card does not show: it fixes the price. A course price is a price, not an estimate, and that protects you from the most common way flight training budgets fail, which is discovering at hour fifty-five that you budgeted for forty.
The other quiet advantage is behavioural. Students who have bought a course book recurring slots and fly twice a week; students paying per lesson book when they feel like it, fly less often, and consequently need more hours, which erodes the flexibility they paid extra for. That mechanism is explained on how often you should fly during training, and it is the single biggest hidden cost of paying as you go.
The Sensible Middle Route
Start with a discovery flight at $229, which is credited in full toward a course if you enroll within twenty-four hours. Fly two or three more lessons at retail if you want to be sure. Then enroll once you know, and take the package rate for the remaining ninety per cent of your training. You will have paid a small premium on four hours to avoid a large commitment made blind, which is a good trade.
If the obstacle is the lump sum rather than the decision, look at financing before you default to paying per lesson: interest-free direct payments over up to twelve months, or Stratus Financial over up to fifteen years with a soft credit check, both of which keep the package price. Our comparison of block time and pay-as-you-go covers the same trade-off from the renter's side, and the terms for stopping or changing a course are in our refund and enrollment policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Have To Buy A Flight Training Package Up Front?
No. You can fly and pay lesson by lesson at the retail rates for as long as you like, with no enrollment and no commitment. Most students who do this switch to a package once they are certain they will finish.
How Much More Does Pay-As-You-Go Cost?
About $90 an hour more on the airplane for our two main trainers, and roughly $7,000 over the course of a sixty-hour private pilot certificate compared with our $15,400 Comprehensive package. Instruction is $110 an hour either way.
Can I Switch To A Package After A Few Lessons?
Yes, and it is the route we usually suggest. Fly a few lessons at retail, decide, then enroll. Ask us when you enroll how your existing hours are treated, so the answer is agreed in writing rather than assumed.
Is A Fixed-Price Course Really Fixed?
The course price covers the hours listed in the course. If you need hours beyond that, they are charged at the package rate rather than retail, which is why the package still protects you at the point where budgets usually break. Examiner fees, the FAA knowledge test and your medical are paid to third parties in either case.
What Happens To Unused Hours If I Stop?
They stay as credit. Package purchases are final and we do not refund them, but the unused balance is transferable — to another student, or to a discovery flight for somebody else. The full wording is in our refund and enrollment policy, and it is a question that deserves a clear answer in writing from any school.
Related Reading
- Flight training FAQ — forty answers for new students.
- Flight school cost in Los Angeles — how hourly rates build into a course price.
- Do you offer financing — spreading a package price without paying retail.
- Block time versus pay-as-you-go — the same trade-off for renters.
- The hidden costs of flight training — what sits outside every quote.
- Flight training cost calculator — run your own numbers.
Fly First, Decide Second
You do not have to choose today. A discovery flight is $229 for sixty minutes in the left seat, logged as dual instruction, and credited in full toward a course if you enroll within twenty-four hours. If you want the numbers run against your own situation, book a free consultation. Call (818) 330-1318 any day between 9 AM and 9 PM. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406.