All I have to say about these mission packs are THANK YOU. I considered going straight for the AFT package, but I decided to grab the BFT package and work through it just to make sure I didn't miss anything that would hurt me later on.
I'm kinda both happy and sad to say that most of the BFT has been no trouble, save for it exposing a couple potentially critical flaws in my flying. The checkrides force you into some relatively stringent standards if you want a Q rating, stuff that the stock missions couldn't care less about, and it's in these requirements that the BFT pack makes sure you know what you're doing.
Never thought doing a bunch more traffic patterns would've improved my combat performance, but results don't lie. Well worth the price.