Pilot Finance

[SammyG]

I've been looking into how to pay for the rest of my ratings, Comm Single, CFI, CFII, Comm Multi, and MEI. I had originally planned just to somehow get a huge loan from a bank, but I found this site called PilotFinance.com, that seems to be pretty well suited for what I'm looking for.

Can anyone tell me anything about these people, are they worth working with?
And what other options/places should I seek out, now that I am actively in the hunt for the big loan to finish my ratings?

Thanks as always.

 

[BoDEAN]

We use it.
Have one student who currently uses it. I guess it is like a loan. And after every flight, he signs his receipt, and I fax it to pilot finance. From the people who have used it, seems to work well.

 

[cessna_driver2]

AOPA also has a pilot rating finace option. I've looked into it a little, but haven't gone any further.

 

[rcsimpson]

I used pilot finance for some of my primary training. They are excellent, don't charge a "money usage fee" like Sallie Mae, and are nice to deal with. I had an issue with my first school and had to leave and they(Pilot Finance) stood up to them when they tried to charge me a 10% termination fee. Good people all in all and you just sign your receipt after the flight and make one check out each month for your training. Easy . . .

 

[huncowboy]

I was at my commercial as well when I started to deal with them.

Just make sure that your FBO is on their list. If you happen to go to a larger school or academy they will not even try to make it work. Pilot Finance approved me for 25k and I only wanted like $10k I think. But I could not make them work with DCA no matter what. I even managed to talk the local DCA (not Sanford) folks enrolling into their system but Pilot Finance simply gave up on me. They wouldn't call anyone for me and just kept saying that "we could never make it work with big schools" blablabla... so I ended up maxing the credit cards instead :-( I got a bit pissed because I have spent quite a bit of calling and knocking on doors after their pre-approval. It was a pure waist of time for me.

But on the other hand, so far I have only heard good things from those who managed to get started with them. I would much rather take a usual loan like Nellie Mae if I were you. Too bad I couldn't.

 

[s0ldier93]

i used them

i have to agree that they are easy to deal with and willing to finance most people. the payments aren't even that difficult to make. being that my wife works at our bank, i can say that they didn't even check my credit.

my only suggestion is this: if you are not already up on bank/finance/ stuff, get there. then ask them about their interest rate. i think the standard is 18%. while the payments are easy, and look nice and low, ask how long you will be paying them. then start calculating how much you want to pay them a month above what they ask so that you're not paying them for years longer than you should.

i'm not saying that they are a scam or anything like that, just that you should go in with them knowing as much as possible. i researched the subject like you are doing now, and found a way to deal with them that suited me.

having said all that, it's kind of cool knowing that you can show up for a lesson, and have to only sign a sheet of paper when you are done. they do a nice job of removing the financial stress of taking lessons.

 

[de727ups]

"But I could not make them work with DCA no matter what."

Wow...I liked Pilotfinance before but now I love them. You wanna go to DCA...let them finance you.

I got involved with starting a flight school last year but it totally bombed. No big deal...maybe it was for the best. I went through the motions to get approved with Pilotfinance and I can say they were easy to deal with and honest. I'd recommend them if you are at a part 61 school. If your school isn't on their list, ask you school to apply to them...it's no big deal.

 

[huncowboy]

"But I could not make them work with DCA no matter what."

Wow...I liked Pilotfinance before but now I love them. You wanna go to DCA...let them finance you.
I got involved with starting a flight school last year but it totally bombed. No big deal...maybe it was for the best. I went through the motions to get approved with Pilotfinance and I can say they were easy to deal with and honest. I'd recommend them if you are at a part 61 school. If your school isn't on their list, ask you school to apply to them...it's no big deal.

de727ups,

Whatever… I have already finished my training without them at DCA and I am not regretting it. I thought you explained to me how you only didn’t like their ads, somehow I still have this feeling that you flat out hate anything that is not an FBO. I guess you can drop Pilotfinance from your Thanksgiving invitation list too as they do finance DCA’s p61 operation, only the p141 doesn’t fly with them. And not only DCA’s, the lady said that they were not successful setting up accounts with college or university programs. I assume because of their weird “after the fact” financing and their limitations ranging from how much an hour can cost, to minimum hours per course, and max amount of lessons per week etc… not very good if you want to speed up your training and definitely NOT every FBO will get approved either. I think they are geared toward those who aren’t planning on a career in aviation.

All the above problems seemed to originate from their limited license as she explained it to me. They sure have a weird program since initially you pay a higher interest rate and then later on they will reimburse you. Like I have said, I have never heard anything bad about Pilotfinance not delivering their part of the deal, but the “what if” is always there. What if they go out of business and you won’t see you $$? If I would have the choice, I would always try a brand name loan provider first. Unfortunately those often ask for accredited programs. But I am sure FBOs love Pilotfinance, the one I am about to instruct at is enrolled as well. So lets all get together and hug…

Although their typical clients train in FBOs, IMO it is always worth a try and if you can make it work than more power to you. I couldn't in ‘03 and it was at least partly due to the unwillingness of Pilotfinance. Once they have realized that I wasn’t going to walk over to an FBO they have dropped me and weren’t very helpful afterwards. May be they have changed their license since. I am sure their goal is to extend their services eventually.