Avkrell 0 #1 October 3, 2014 Just looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? Thanks everyone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Quagmirian 40 #2 October 3, 2014 A licences are earned, not bought. That sounds about right though, if a little high. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites FlyingRhenquest 1 #3 October 3, 2014 That sounds like about the right ballpark. I repeated a couple of AFF levels and did a canopy course before getting my A license. I guesstimate I spent about $20000 my first year between jump tickets, gear rental and buying my own gear. I live just across town from my DZ, so I was over there constantly. The biggest chunk of all that was my gear.I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Arvoitus 1 #4 October 3, 2014 About 1500 usd.Your rights end where my feelings begin. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites rjblake 1 #5 October 3, 2014 FlyingRhenquestThat sounds like about the right ballpark. I repeated a couple of AFF levels and did a canopy course before getting my A license. I guesstimate I spent about $20000 my first year between jump tickets, gear rental and buying my own gear. I live just across town from my DZ, so I was over there constantly. The biggest chunk of all that was my gear. ...and that is before buying beers - don't forget that very important part of getting your license. Spent 15 mins in the tunnel before AFF training to get stable position, turns, fall rate dialed in a bit; which I found to be a great help (one less thing to have to worry about in the air). My first minute in the tunnel was pretty useless and would have been a bit less comfortable in the air. I was fortunate enough to block of 2 weeks vacation to go from ground training to A-license in 8 days. Benefit of this was that there was no time off to forget what you'd learned in the air/on the ground before, during and after each jump and perhaps no/less repeat jumps. By Euro prices, sounds about the same price range. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites FlyingRhenquest 1 #6 October 3, 2014 rjblake ...and that is before buying beers - don't forget that very important part of getting your license. Spent 15 mins in the tunnel before AFF training to get stable position, turns, fall rate dialed in a bit; which I found to be a great help (one less thing to have to worry about in the air). My first minute in the tunnel was pretty useless and would have been a bit less comfortable in the air. I was fortunate enough to block of 2 weeks vacation to go from ground training to A-license in 8 days. Benefit of this was that there was no time off to forget what you'd learned in the air/on the ground before, during and after each jump and perhaps no/less repeat jumps. By Euro prices, sounds about the same price range. Heh heh. It's because of the DZ I know that a 7 gallon keg of Sawtooth is $75 I didn't even know about the tunnel until after my AFF 1. IIRC I did about 7 minutes between my AFF 2 and 3, and was sore for days afterwards. The instructors did see a difference in my flying, though. I did 2 or 3 more sessions down there while on coach status. If I had a do-over, I'd do some more tunnel time before my first AFF jump, but I'm still not convinced how much it helps early on. The only person I know who had tunnel time prior to an AFF jump had about an hour in the tunnel and still ended up freezing up on her AFF 1. But she's done great on subsequent jumps and her instructors could tell she'd had tunnel time. I'd love to do a study with a control group but it would be prohibitively expensive and I think skydiving's really too random to get any useful data. It IS very nice to have video of your early flying. The AFF newbies think us experienced skydivers are bad-ass (I still very clearly am not) so it's nice to be able to show them my early tunnel minutes and couple of AFF jumps I have video of so they can see I started in the same place they are.I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites NWFlyer 2 #7 October 3, 2014 Avkrell Just looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? Thanks everyone Yep, that sounds about the right ballpark to budget. But remember that's just the beginning - you'll spend at least that much again (and most likely more) to get your first set of gear. The "startup" costs in this sport are quite high, though they can eventually settle out to a more manageable amount (depending, of course, on what type of a skydiver/gear junkie you become )."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites BobParker 0 #8 October 3, 2014 AvkrellJust looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? And that's just the beginning. Then another 2500-3000 USD per year for the rest of your life! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites BigMikeH77 0 #9 October 3, 2014 $3,619 including FJC, USPA membership, all gear rental, jump tickets, two AFF level-repeats, 9 coached jumps, videographer for one of my AFF jumps, a packing class, and 77 gallons of gas to cover the 15 round-trips to the DZ. Not including food/beer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites runandjump 0 #10 October 4, 2014 I spent just under $4,000 working towards my A-License, which included 3 attempts at level 4 and some tunnel time. Been renting gear for a couple of months, and just splurged on new custom rig (container, main, reserve and AAD) and jump suit, which cost me another $9,000. Then, as others have said, add in the cost of beer, gas, hotels, etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites airdweller 0 #11 October 4, 2014 Well under $1000, but I did static line. For AFF, about 2500-3000 seems normal.------------------------------------------------------ "From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" C. Montgomery Burns Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Avkrell 0 #12 October 7, 2014 This is sort of a reply to all that have answered, thanks for the information! I am in college right now so that's why I was wondering prices. I have the money to do it this summer and I was thinking I would do it during an 8 day break so I could get it done. I will hopefully get some tunnel time in! Thanks again Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites jakebaustin 11 #13 October 8, 2014 I want to say I paid 3500 for mine at skydiveAZ. maybe it was 2500 I can't recall. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites pazernaker 0 #14 October 9, 2014 $2500 in the A-License in May, another $7K for my rig/AAD, a little over $4K for the 200+ jump tickets this season, probably about $400-$500 in beer dues, another $1700 in assorted things (audible, alti, first WS) and other assorted things. Skydiving is a hole in the side of the plane that you just pitch fistfuls of dollars out of. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Doug_Davis 0 #15 October 9, 2014 You doing AFF or SL? I did SL. Only spent $1500 or so I think. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites justme12001 0 #16 October 9, 2014 You will save money if you can find a S/L coarse. i think i paid $1600-1700 for mine. I've seen AFF range anywhere from $2500 to $4000 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites BigMikeH77 0 #17 October 9, 2014 QuoteYou will save money if you can find a S/L coarse. i think i paid $1600-1700 for mine. I've seen AFF range anywhere from $2500 to $4000 Save money AND focus more on canopy piloting... AFF is great but it seems like IAD/SL gives a student better opportunities to really focus on piloting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites EWRookie 0 #18 October 9, 2014 3000-4000k sounds about right.. sucks its so spendy but it is what it is.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites michaelmullins 81 #19 October 9, 2014 Avkrell Just looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? Thanks everyone At West Tennessee Skydiving it is $2318 and that is for all jumps from 14,500'. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites 1888 0 #20 October 13, 2014 Here's another way to look at it. From time there are questions regarding student retention posted in Parachutist and elsewhere. There seems to be many different philosophies, however I don't believe I have ever seen anyone address direct cost to the student. I recently thumbed through parachutist for prices of gear and contacted a nearby dropzone for the price of training up to an A license. In all cases I used the cheapest prices I could find for gear from the various advertisers in Parachutist, with one exception, the selection of a container, main & reserve. I chose the cheapest package price which included a Cypress II, rather than a cheaper price for a system that that did not include an AAD. Listed below are the results. $2,750 - 25 jumps to A license, including FJC $6,184 - Wings container, Sabre II, Pilot res. & Cypress II $ 159 - Altimaster III $ 195 - FX helmet $ 175 - Brand X jumpsuit $9,463 - TOTAL Then you gotta figure in about $100 - $200 worth of beer for 1st calls & just being one of the guys, gas to & from the DZ, meals, lodging, etc. and we are looking at around $10,000 as a minimum to get his new sport started, (and I usta thing skiing was expensive.) Lets say this guy's girlfriend/wife also decides to join him & we got a good down payment on a starter home here. Just sayin.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Hollywood5581 0 #21 October 13, 2014 Avkrell Just looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? Thanks everyone AFF 1000. JUMPS 8 THRU 25 630.00 Total 1,630.00 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
Quagmirian 40 #2 October 3, 2014 A licences are earned, not bought. That sounds about right though, if a little high. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyingRhenquest 1 #3 October 3, 2014 That sounds like about the right ballpark. I repeated a couple of AFF levels and did a canopy course before getting my A license. I guesstimate I spent about $20000 my first year between jump tickets, gear rental and buying my own gear. I live just across town from my DZ, so I was over there constantly. The biggest chunk of all that was my gear.I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arvoitus 1 #4 October 3, 2014 About 1500 usd.Your rights end where my feelings begin. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rjblake 1 #5 October 3, 2014 FlyingRhenquestThat sounds like about the right ballpark. I repeated a couple of AFF levels and did a canopy course before getting my A license. I guesstimate I spent about $20000 my first year between jump tickets, gear rental and buying my own gear. I live just across town from my DZ, so I was over there constantly. The biggest chunk of all that was my gear. ...and that is before buying beers - don't forget that very important part of getting your license. Spent 15 mins in the tunnel before AFF training to get stable position, turns, fall rate dialed in a bit; which I found to be a great help (one less thing to have to worry about in the air). My first minute in the tunnel was pretty useless and would have been a bit less comfortable in the air. I was fortunate enough to block of 2 weeks vacation to go from ground training to A-license in 8 days. Benefit of this was that there was no time off to forget what you'd learned in the air/on the ground before, during and after each jump and perhaps no/less repeat jumps. By Euro prices, sounds about the same price range. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyingRhenquest 1 #6 October 3, 2014 rjblake ...and that is before buying beers - don't forget that very important part of getting your license. Spent 15 mins in the tunnel before AFF training to get stable position, turns, fall rate dialed in a bit; which I found to be a great help (one less thing to have to worry about in the air). My first minute in the tunnel was pretty useless and would have been a bit less comfortable in the air. I was fortunate enough to block of 2 weeks vacation to go from ground training to A-license in 8 days. Benefit of this was that there was no time off to forget what you'd learned in the air/on the ground before, during and after each jump and perhaps no/less repeat jumps. By Euro prices, sounds about the same price range. Heh heh. It's because of the DZ I know that a 7 gallon keg of Sawtooth is $75 I didn't even know about the tunnel until after my AFF 1. IIRC I did about 7 minutes between my AFF 2 and 3, and was sore for days afterwards. The instructors did see a difference in my flying, though. I did 2 or 3 more sessions down there while on coach status. If I had a do-over, I'd do some more tunnel time before my first AFF jump, but I'm still not convinced how much it helps early on. The only person I know who had tunnel time prior to an AFF jump had about an hour in the tunnel and still ended up freezing up on her AFF 1. But she's done great on subsequent jumps and her instructors could tell she'd had tunnel time. I'd love to do a study with a control group but it would be prohibitively expensive and I think skydiving's really too random to get any useful data. It IS very nice to have video of your early flying. The AFF newbies think us experienced skydivers are bad-ass (I still very clearly am not) so it's nice to be able to show them my early tunnel minutes and couple of AFF jumps I have video of so they can see I started in the same place they are.I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #7 October 3, 2014 Avkrell Just looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? Thanks everyone Yep, that sounds about the right ballpark to budget. But remember that's just the beginning - you'll spend at least that much again (and most likely more) to get your first set of gear. The "startup" costs in this sport are quite high, though they can eventually settle out to a more manageable amount (depending, of course, on what type of a skydiver/gear junkie you become )."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BobParker 0 #8 October 3, 2014 AvkrellJust looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? And that's just the beginning. Then another 2500-3000 USD per year for the rest of your life! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigMikeH77 0 #9 October 3, 2014 $3,619 including FJC, USPA membership, all gear rental, jump tickets, two AFF level-repeats, 9 coached jumps, videographer for one of my AFF jumps, a packing class, and 77 gallons of gas to cover the 15 round-trips to the DZ. Not including food/beer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
runandjump 0 #10 October 4, 2014 I spent just under $4,000 working towards my A-License, which included 3 attempts at level 4 and some tunnel time. Been renting gear for a couple of months, and just splurged on new custom rig (container, main, reserve and AAD) and jump suit, which cost me another $9,000. Then, as others have said, add in the cost of beer, gas, hotels, etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airdweller 0 #11 October 4, 2014 Well under $1000, but I did static line. For AFF, about 2500-3000 seems normal.------------------------------------------------------ "From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" C. Montgomery Burns Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Avkrell 0 #12 October 7, 2014 This is sort of a reply to all that have answered, thanks for the information! I am in college right now so that's why I was wondering prices. I have the money to do it this summer and I was thinking I would do it during an 8 day break so I could get it done. I will hopefully get some tunnel time in! Thanks again Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakebaustin 11 #13 October 8, 2014 I want to say I paid 3500 for mine at skydiveAZ. maybe it was 2500 I can't recall. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pazernaker 0 #14 October 9, 2014 $2500 in the A-License in May, another $7K for my rig/AAD, a little over $4K for the 200+ jump tickets this season, probably about $400-$500 in beer dues, another $1700 in assorted things (audible, alti, first WS) and other assorted things. Skydiving is a hole in the side of the plane that you just pitch fistfuls of dollars out of. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doug_Davis 0 #15 October 9, 2014 You doing AFF or SL? I did SL. Only spent $1500 or so I think. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justme12001 0 #16 October 9, 2014 You will save money if you can find a S/L coarse. i think i paid $1600-1700 for mine. I've seen AFF range anywhere from $2500 to $4000 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigMikeH77 0 #17 October 9, 2014 QuoteYou will save money if you can find a S/L coarse. i think i paid $1600-1700 for mine. I've seen AFF range anywhere from $2500 to $4000 Save money AND focus more on canopy piloting... AFF is great but it seems like IAD/SL gives a student better opportunities to really focus on piloting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EWRookie 0 #18 October 9, 2014 3000-4000k sounds about right.. sucks its so spendy but it is what it is.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michaelmullins 81 #19 October 9, 2014 Avkrell Just looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? Thanks everyone At West Tennessee Skydiving it is $2318 and that is for all jumps from 14,500'. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1888 0 #20 October 13, 2014 Here's another way to look at it. From time there are questions regarding student retention posted in Parachutist and elsewhere. There seems to be many different philosophies, however I don't believe I have ever seen anyone address direct cost to the student. I recently thumbed through parachutist for prices of gear and contacted a nearby dropzone for the price of training up to an A license. In all cases I used the cheapest prices I could find for gear from the various advertisers in Parachutist, with one exception, the selection of a container, main & reserve. I chose the cheapest package price which included a Cypress II, rather than a cheaper price for a system that that did not include an AAD. Listed below are the results. $2,750 - 25 jumps to A license, including FJC $6,184 - Wings container, Sabre II, Pilot res. & Cypress II $ 159 - Altimaster III $ 195 - FX helmet $ 175 - Brand X jumpsuit $9,463 - TOTAL Then you gotta figure in about $100 - $200 worth of beer for 1st calls & just being one of the guys, gas to & from the DZ, meals, lodging, etc. and we are looking at around $10,000 as a minimum to get his new sport started, (and I usta thing skiing was expensive.) Lets say this guy's girlfriend/wife also decides to join him & we got a good down payment on a starter home here. Just sayin.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hollywood5581 0 #21 October 13, 2014 Avkrell Just looking for an idea of what you all paid for your A-license. Right now for me, it's looking around 2500-3000 USD. Sound about right? Thanks everyone AFF 1000. JUMPS 8 THRU 25 630.00 Total 1,630.00 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
