Total Cost of your A License (Edited)

[pterodactyl1986 0]

I realize that most of the members here have completed their AFF long ago and prices obviously will vary.

Currently my local DZ offers a AFF package for under $2k, this includes 2 tandems and levels 1-8 AFF, ground school and USPA Temp membership.
Now this assuming I pass all levels the first time, additional attempts are extra, plus supervised jumps after the 8th level.

I plan on buying an hour of tunnel time in hopes of breezing through my AFF, which is roughly another 1k. All said and done I'm guessing I'll be around the 4k mark with my previous tandems and an hour of tunnel time.

What did your AFF cost you?

[fencebuster 7]

You are looking at it the wrong way. Your goal should not be to get off AFF. It should be to get your A license. And it should be your DZ's goal to get you your A license. What will they charge you for the full course to A license? That is the question you should be asking. We have done 0-A license for $3200, assuming no rejumps/failures to achieve standards on a particular category. All you can do with "off AFF" is jump solo or with a Coach/Instructor. You don't learn much jumping solo and unless you are in the structure of the USPA ISP, your progress with random Coaches or Instructors may be equally unhelpful to achieving all of the things you need to demonstrate to get your license.

We recently had an "off AFF" student visiting at my DZ with about 25 jumps. Since finishing his AFF at 8-9 jumps, he had been working on back-flying. Sometimes with a Coach. That was a disservice to the student, who should be learning belly group free-fall techniques, etc. and progressing with the things on the ISP progression card to make him a safe skydiver in the air with others with an A license.

Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208
AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I
MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger
Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

[kat00 11]

fencebuster

You are looking at it the wrong way. Your goal should not be to get off AFF. It should be to get your A license. And it should be your DZ's goal to get you your A license. What will they charge you for the full course to A license?

Definitely look at it this way with a broader perspective and maybe towards the future. AFF clears you for solo but you want to fly with people which means you need to get your A license. An A license packages include coach jumps, packing class, hop n pop, and solo jumps. You might also want to factor in gear rentals, altimeter, helmet, logbook, etc which add up quickly right after AFF.

An hour of tunnel will likely cost you $~1k. Put that towards gear and only use the tunnel if you are having troubles with AFF. Then try and get an instructor who knows your issues to help you in the tunnel. If you can't get your instructor to help then make sure you tell the tunnel you want to work on belly skills so you don't waste time on first time flyer stuff.

Then once you get your A license, you can think about tunnel time for freeflying, gear, canopy course and many other little things.

[pterodactyl1986 0]

I'm just curious about the pricing.

Ultimately it is not the most important thing. I figure between A license, second hand gear, canopy courses, and 300 jump tickets by the end of 2018 I'll be at least 15k in.

I already have a small amount of tunnel time and plan on getting more, just to make sure I'm stable and can turn effectively before AFF

[BIGUN 1,049]

We didn't have AFF back then.
Static-Line Progression only.
First jump (Abbreviated instruction since I was Airborne Qualified) $50.00
Paracommander & belly wart reserve with altimeter and stop watch dashboard $350.00
Each subsequent jump $1.00 per thousand feet + a dollar for the pilot.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Crispy. 0]

2 tandems: $289 total
A license package: $2799
50 jump ticket package after A License: $1,000
Used rig (mint condition): 5,000
G3 helmet, Viso2, and audible: I don’t know how much, but you can look them up.
Canopy courses: $150 each day plus travel and jump tickets (don’t over look these because they will save your life!)
Tunnel time: $1,000 per hr coached

All in for my first year (not including tunnel): about $12k

And it was totally worth it!!

[Pit76 5]

Last summer I did a skydive vacation in France to get through the AFF. Only the AFF course ( 6 AFF and 1 solo jump) cost me around €1250. (no transport, food and drinks included )

At this moment (winterstop here in Belgium) I have 20 jumps including 6 AFF jumps, 2 recurrency jumps and 12 solo's. After the winterstop I need to do another recurrency jump and then I want to start with the BOSS jumps (learning how to jump with other). Need to do 5 of them, or more if I fail one :)

If I didn't hesitate as long as I did I after my AFF I would already have my A license. Sucks a bit.

I already did 15minutes of tunnel and will do some more right before the winterstop is over so I can go fully for the A license.

If my calculations are right and everything goes as planned, I will have my A license around €1900, excl tunneltime.

For gear, I recently purchased a Cookie G3 and ordered a RW suit because I like to have my own gear :)

[RMK 3]

I did my AFF is South Africa in 2002 when the South African Rand (ZAR) had taken a big hit against major currencies. I got:

Tandem: £70 equivalent (video was only £14)
AFF: £440 equivalent (including 2 consol jumps)

Back in the UK, I did 10 consols at £20 each

As the Tandem wasn't inlcuded as a requirement, the total for my A License was £660

As a plus I even got a custom-made carbon fibre helmet for £40 equivalent.

Sadly now with BREXIT, our half-assed Pound Sterling won't be getting me any stunning deals around the globe.

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[sammielu 3]

I did static line, not AFF, in 2013.
With a couple repeats and going out of currency due to weather I got my A with 29 jumps. Total cost was 2700.

The way I budgeted, I kept planning to pay student prices every time I went to the dz and saved the excess for gear (and more numbers of jumps in a day vs 2 expensive instructor jumps). I got licensed on 7/4 and when winter came I had a used helmet ($100), jumpsuit ($200), complete rig ($2800), a new AAD ($1000), and 160 jumps on rental gear along the way. I've added new jumpsuits and helmets since then, and bought 3 mains (I'm a sucker for a good deal) and had my harness resized on my rig... and that's it. Oh, and traveled to boogies 2x/year, got every rating and license available, and took canopy courses every time they were offered. It doesn't get cheaper, you just do more stuff.

You can spend 15k if you want, but to be a skydivers make sure you're actually skydiving, not just buying matchy matchy gear - a LOT of the time the matchy matchy newbies quit after 100 jumps and hang on to their gear for 15 years and are mad when it's not worth any money anymore...

[keithbar 1]

Started at the ft. Campbell sport parachute club in 1980. Static line course Free! All the helicopter jumps I could make $10 a month😀 And a daily manifest fee ( to buy the pilots lunch ) usually 50 cents. Depending on how many were jumping sometimes a quarter don't think it was ever more than a buck. jealous anyone 😜

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .