Commercial license ---> $$$$

rewgupko Junior Member America

A commercial license is good for getting paid to fly. If someone wants to pay you to fly them somewhere, you gotta have a commercial. You have to stay within the FAR's though. You can't open up a charter with scheduling because then you are under part 135, but if Billy Joe says "Hey, how much to fly me to Dallas to watch the Cowboys," you can charge the dude whatever you want. You can, however, flight instruct, with a private.

irishcarbomb Moderator Houston, TX

Depends on a lot of circumstances.

actually, if it was scheduled...it'd have to be under 121. 135 is on demand operations.

what plane are you going to use? how did he find out you were a pilot? not as easy as you make it sound.

hahaha...then why did i spend all that money? i wish i would've talked to you first!

get your facts straight bud...for someone with all those ratings i would expect alittle better info

psachs Trusted Member Chicago

The FAA and NTSB have been pretty stringent in fining commercial pilots who improperly carried passengers for hire. If your friend who has known you for a while and knows you're a pilot offers to pay you to carry him to a meeting, that's *probably* OK. But if you tell your same friend, "Hey, I have a commercial rating, I'm available next week to take you to your meeting," that kind of thing has been construed as holding out for your services -- i.e. soliciting/advertising... and to do that, you need to be Part 135. Likewise, if you mention it on Facebook and a friend of a friend comes to you wanting to hire you as a result, you could end up in trouble. So tread really carefully there. Consult with someone more experienced than the SM hive mind.

Rosstafari Daaaang. /X

Hmm. Doesn't that advice apply for pretty much everything here?

pcarew Newcomer

Well, everyone has been leaving out the real benefits of a Commercial.

Safety and Precision.

I took my Commercial after completing my IFR ticket. Here is why:
After spending 40+ hours flying an airplane with my head stuck inside, it was really important to get back to flying with your eyeballs outside of the craft.

The Commercial is primarily all about controlling the craft using outside visual clues and references with *precision*.

It made me an all round better, more precise and ultimately (and this is probably what your wife cares about) a safer pilot.