For one you are looking at it in the wrong aspect. People do not instruct just to get free track time. If that is your plan you need to seriously reevaluated you plan and if I was a director of a program I would not want any instructors that are using the position just for free track time. I have seen multiple people, in various orgs that you can tell they are only out there for that. It is not a good situation for the org or the customers. Most people that are instructors do it because they enjoy helping other people. They usually have been riding for years and have received a wealth of knowledge from others over that time. They find it enjoyable and beneficial to pass on their experience and knowledge onto new riders. One of the best things about instructing is being able to work with new students and providing them the information and helping with feedback to watch them develop over the day. That is one of the greatest enjoyment is seeing your students improve and make it over their skill sets they are struggling with at that point in time. If you are looking at it just based on a financial stand point, I guess it all depends on how you schedule yourself. As a instructor/control rider you choose your schedule. Most of the time it is usually events you already plan on being at, so the factor of gas and travel that you are talking about is a wash. Also most orgs allow their instructors to ride in multiple groups (if they want) to get their own time. However it is up to the rider if they want to. So it sounds like it is more a personal choice by your friend than what his options allowed.