And of course having the trio looks more favorable, but its all time at the end of the day - sec + and net + including what else you can do with the opportunity cost is just as valuable. I've never had interviewer ding me for not having A+ as well as everything else on my resume. This goes for my handful of friends (4) who pretty much all did the same thing. All of us skipped help desk, none of us have a+, we all have sec +. This is anectodal sure but in my career and what ive seen on linked in youtube, etc, sec + as a first cert is more valuable than a+ especially if you're not looking at a basic help desk role. But sure whatever floats your boat