Flexibility in taking PADI Courses?

[Root Cause]

Hello dive mentors!
How can I take the PADI Rescue Diver course, and hopefully save a little money while preserving versatility in scheduling? When I took my Advanced Open Water course, I had to pay the dive shop the entire price that was listed on their website for the online training + the in-person training, even though I had already completed my online training that I purchased directly from PADI.

I would like to sign up for the online coursework, take my time completing it, and then when my schedule allows, find the cheapest flight to somewhere that offers the in-person training. But, I don't want to pay for the online training twice. Am I missing something?

Thanks!

 

[flyboy08]

The rescue course shouldn’t be offered on line. it’s critical you take the course with a few others to practice all the skills involved with becoming a rescue diver.

I took mine with South Beach Divers Miami and it took 2 full days in the water and reading in the evening.

 

[JackD342]

Pricing for services delivered by a shop or an instructor are set by that shop or that instructor.

The best advice I can offer is to first start the conversation with the location where you plan to do the in-water portion of the training, so that you can affiliate with that shop when you sign up for the eLearning. The eLearning shop affiliation determines where the eLearning revenue share goes at the time, and is NOT redirected later on.

Whether through traditional classroom or via eLearning, the academics and the in-water are two pieces of the same puzzle for how a shop is charging for a course and earning enough profit to pay some bills. Don't expect anyone to be overjoyed if you carved out one portion of the revenue stream and sent it somewhere else before you even picked up the phone.

 

[JackD342]

The rescue course shouldn’t be offered on line. it’s critical you take the course with a few others to practice all the skills involved with becoming a rescue diver.

I took mine with South Beach Divers Miami and it took 2 full days in the water and reading in the evening.

eLearing courses are for the academic portions of classes, not for the skills development portion.

 

[Marie13]

Pricing for services delivered by a shop or an instructor are set by that shop or that instructor.

The best advice I can offer is to first start the conversation with the location where you plan to do the in-water portion of the training, so that you can affiliate with that shop when you sign up for the eLearning. The eLearning shop affiliation determines where the eLearning revenue share goes at the time, and is NOT redirected later on.

Whether through traditional classroom or via eLearning, the academics and the in-water are two pieces of the same puzzle for how a shop is charging for a course and earning enough profit to pay some bills. Don't expect anyone to be overjoyed if you carved out one portion of the revenue stream and sent it somewhere else before you even picked up the phone.

Seems to be more planning ahead than the OP wants to do. He wants to grab the cheapest flight possible whenever his schedule allows.

 

[JackD342]

Seems to be more planning ahead than the OP wants to do. He wants to grab the cheapest flight possible whenever his schedule allows.

Yep. But now he has the answer to his question "Am I missing something?" and knows why a "no-planning" plan is at odds with keeping the course cost down.

 

[Root Cause]

Thanks for your responses! I have to plan with the days I can get off from work. This is by no means "no-planning," as was alleged. It is exactly because of careful planning that I have come to this forum in search of a better solution. If I commit to a shop for a Thur-Sun in February, flights to, say, Palm Beach may be literally hundreds more than flights to, say, Panama City, and those prices can flip-flop if I instead have Monday off and can go Fri-Mon. If there is bad weather as happened with my AOW class, and I have to fly down again, I am stuck with the airfare available to that particular location for the day I have off. Then, I have spent literally hundreds in airfare that neither the dive shop nor PADI gets. It seems the answer I have received regarding "Am I missing something?" is that online and in-person training are bundled together by the dive shop much like the bundles offered by cable-tv service providers. I wonder if freelance trainers are on the rise like streaming services.

 

[Sean Walberg]

online and in-person training are bundled together by the dive shop much like the bundles offered by cable-tv service providers.

I think people are trying to tell you it's up to the LDS. My friend who I took AOW with (and he's now taking Rescue) buys his books online and our LDS doesn't have a problem giving him a reduced rate even though it's not on the web site.

 

[ChuckP]

You have a year to complete it.....

There's freelance instructors everywhere but.... their PADI costs are the same if not more than a diveshops.

Is saving maybe 50 bucks worth the effort you're gonna put into this juggling act?

Maybe what you also don't realize is that included in your online course cost is your certification fee that goes to PADI - it's like 25% of the rescue course cost - I'm unsure if those dollars can get redirected to the shop that actually does the certification

 

[JackD342]

I think people are trying to tell you it's up to the LDS. My friend who I took AOW with (and he's now taking Rescue) buys his books online and our LDS doesn't have a problem giving him a reduced rate even though it's not on the web site.

Right. @Root Cause cited one example of one course with one shop. Shop around and ask questions, it will not be exactly the same everywhere. If I am understanding you correctly, you want to be able book the cheapest flight at the drop of a hat depending on weather and/or schedule. I don't know if you also recognize the variability of whether or not a Rescue course is even on the calendar at the other end of the flight. Don't expect to pay the same price for a one-on-one course that fits your schedule to a "T" as for a group course. And if you are not committing to occupying that space in a group course until the very last minute, don't expect them to guarantee you a space ahead of time. It really sounds like you might be looking for personal/private scheduling and service, at group/economy pricing.

On the subject of bundling components of a class, just think about everywhere else in your life that is true. If one car dealer gives you a great trade-in price on your old car but not quite the best price on the new one, and another gives you a better price on new and a lesser price on the trade-in, I think you know you should NOT expect to be able to trade it in at the best price in place and then buy it at the best place in the other. It is one transaction you need to evaluate.