How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Holiday Airways?

Holiday Airways publishes $175 per hour for the 1967 Cessna 172 and $65 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 9, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,745, in a range of $16,100 to $21,400. That covers roughly 72 hours of flying and instruction plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out, including the written test, the examiner's checkride fee, a medical, and study materials. It is a PilotBound estimate built on the school's published rates, not a quote from Holiday Airways.

How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Holiday Airways?

Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Holiday Airways to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 72 hours. Pace is the single biggest variable: flying once a week typically stretches the timeline and raises the total, because time between lessons gets spent re-learning. Weather, aircraft availability, and instructor turnover all push the same direction.

Is Holiday Airways a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?

Holiday Airways does not state on its own website whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so we do not list one. It is worth asking directly before you enroll: Part 141 follows an FAA-approved syllabus and is generally what VA benefits require, while Part 61 is more flexible on scheduling.

Do Holiday Airways's aircraft rates include fuel?

Holiday Airways publishes $175 per hour for the 1967 Cessna 172, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure. A wet rate is the easier one to compare, because the number you see is the number you fly on. Rates checked August 9, 2026.

What ratings can you train for at Holiday Airways?

Holiday Airways trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction runs $65 to $70 per hour depending on the rating and the aircraft, since advanced and type-specific instruction is priced above the standard rate. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Holiday Airways's own published rates.

PilotBoundEvery hour. Every dollar.

PilotBound estimate · Schaumburg, IL · Checked August 9, 2026

What flight training at Holiday Airways costs

Website flyholidayairways.com

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Flying

Which airplane?

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Holiday Airways

$18,745

range $16.1K – $21.4K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Holiday Airways's published rates: 1967 Cessna 172 at $175/hr + $65/hr instruction, checked August 9, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$11,455

at the hours students actually take$18,745

+$7,290 on Holiday Airways's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$16.1K – $21.4K

Aircraft rental$12,600

Instruction$3,770

One-time costs$2,375

Aircraft + instruction$16,370

72 hrs in 1967 Cessna 172 @ $175/hr + 58 dual @ $65/hr

One-time fees ($2,375)

Knowledge (written) test$175
Checkride / DPE fee$800
Medical certificate$150
Headset$700
Ground school / test prep$300
Books, charts & supplies$250

Hours at a steady pace72 hrs

Examiner records (DPE dataset).

The hourly flying is priced on Holiday Airways's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Holiday Airways's prices, and several are set by third parties.

Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. Full methodology and sources →

What Holiday Airways publishes

checked August 9, 2026

1941 Piper J-3C CubTailwheel.$138/hr wet

1966 Bellanca Citabria 7ECATailwheel.$159/hr wet

1976 Bellanca Citabria 7KCABTailwheel and aerobatic.$172/hr wet

1967 Cessna 172 (N3262L)$175/hr wet

1975 Piper Warrior$175/hr wet

1979 Cessna 172 (N174HA)$185/hr wet

1978 Cessna 172 (N5623E)$185/hr wet

1973 Cessna 172 (N3563Q)$185/hr wet

1980 Cessna 172 (N5116J)$195/hr wet

1975 Piper Arrow IIRetractable.$215/hr wet

1978 Cessna 182RGRetractable and high performance.$225/hr wet

1943 Boeing A75 StearmanTailwheel biplane.$310/hr wet

1990 Pitts S-2BAerobatic.$315/hr wet

Instructionstandard $65/hr · instrument instruction $70/hr · commercial instruction $70/hr$65 – $70/hr

Rates are wet and billed on Hobbs time, effective March 9, 2025. Instruction is tiered: $65/hr for the Private, $70/hr for the Instrument and Commercial, $75/hr for tailwheel, aerobatic, multi-engine or a customer-owned airplane, and $45/hr for ground. A Piper Aztec is listed as coming soon with no rate, so no multi-engine estimate is shown. A Cessna 172 discovery flight is $199.

Not published: the examiner's checkride fee. Listed as missing rather than guessed.

See the published rates→

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What to ask when you call

The marked one is what Holiday Airways's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

What gets billed on top of the hourly rates, and roughly how much per hour does it add?
The site notes extras beyond the hourly figures. Ask for the all-in number per hour, not the base rate.
Which instructor rate applies to each rating I plan to do, and does the higher tier start on day one of that rating?
This school prices some instruction above its primary rate. Knowing when the step-up starts keeps the later ratings from surprising you.
Do you train under Part 61 or Part 141?Missing from their site
It changes the minimum hours, and for some students it changes financing eligibility.
Do you offer block rates or prepay discounts, and what is the refund policy if I stop partway?
Block discounts are common and rarely published. The refund terms matter more than the discount.
What do you charge for the written test, the checkride, and the examiner's fee?
The DPE fee alone runs $800 to $1,200 in most of the country and is almost never in a quoted hourly rate.
How many trainers and how many full-time instructors do you have right now?
Availability decides your pace, and pace decides your total more than the hourly rate does.

Estimates use Holiday Airways's published 1967 Cessna 172 and instructor rates (checked August 9, 2026), shown in USD for planning only. Real cost varies by student, weather, and pace. An honest range, not a quote.

PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Holiday Airways. School names are used only to identify the school. Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. Disclaimer & removal policy.

Common questions about Holiday Airways

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Holiday Airways?: Holiday Airways publishes $175 per hour for the 1967 Cessna 172 and $65 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 9, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,745, in a range of $16,100 to $21,400. That covers roughly 72 hours of flying and instruction plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out, including the written test, the examiner's checkride fee, a medical, and study materials. It is a PilotBound estimate built on the school's published rates, not a quote from Holiday Airways.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Holiday Airways?: Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Holiday Airways to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 72 hours. Pace is the single biggest variable: flying once a week typically stretches the timeline and raises the total, because time between lessons gets spent re-learning. Weather, aircraft availability, and instructor turnover all push the same direction.
Is Holiday Airways a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?: Holiday Airways does not state on its own website whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so we do not list one. It is worth asking directly before you enroll: Part 141 follows an FAA-approved syllabus and is generally what VA benefits require, while Part 61 is more flexible on scheduling.
Do Holiday Airways's aircraft rates include fuel?: Holiday Airways publishes $175 per hour for the 1967 Cessna 172, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure. A wet rate is the easier one to compare, because the number you see is the number you fly on. Rates checked August 9, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Holiday Airways?: Holiday Airways trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction runs $65 to $70 per hour depending on the rating and the aircraft, since advanced and type-specific instruction is priced above the standard rate. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Holiday Airways's own published rates.

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