kind of a weird question maybe but im not sure. i fly mostly for fun, do some landscape stuff and occasionally film stuff for my own youtube channel that makes basically nothing. a friend told me i should get my 107 anyway but i dont really know why if im not getting paid. is there actually a practical reason to have it or is it just a piece of paper. i looked at what the test covers and it seems like a lot of it is stuff i would never use day to day. not trying to be lazy about it just genuinely dont understand the point if money isnt involved

honestly the biggest practical thing for me was LAANC access for controlled airspace. as a rec flyer you can still use LAANC but having 107 means you have more options for waivers and flying in places that would otherwise be a no. also if your youtube ever does start making money even a little bit technically you need it, the FAA doesnt care that its not your main income. i wasnt planning to go commercial either and ended up getting it anyway, the studying actually taught me stuff i didnt know about weather and airspace that made me a better pilot so i dont regret it

the commercial thing is what trips people up. if anyone ever gives you anything of value in exchange for the footage, product, discount, whatever, that counts. so if a local business ever says hey can you shoot our parking lot for our instagram and offers you anything at all, youre technically supposed to have 107. its kind of a gray area in practice but yeah. also some locations and events require proof of certification just to fly at all regardless of whether money is involved so its not entirely useless even for hobby stuff