I'd leave the deck alone and go under it, as you've started doing. Hopefully the leak isn't too close to the gunite where you're chipping it back to make a coupler work. This one actually looks fairly easy.

As for the cost aspect, the only reason I even deal with fixing leaks is that I view it as an opportunity to earn future business. In itself it's really not worth the hassle. I can't just send one of my low skilled guys out. With leaks you need some experience to notice things not so obvious. So right off the bat I've effectively shut down one of my crews because I have a lead or foreman looking for a leak. Since I want to minimize his time dealing with it, I send a helper. Usually pays off but not always.

Your leak looks simple, but things happen. If the pipe is fragile enough for one leak, whats to say we don't cause another getting everything snugged back up? I also have to account for future aggravation. There seems to be a mindset amongst homeowners that whoever was the last to touch it, did it.

If another leak springs next season a few feet down the pipe, guess who's going to get blamed?

I'll usually bid one anywhere from $700-1500, depending on location and deck. I generally treat it as a "not to exceed" bid and charge the customer less based on what we actually encountered.

If you're comfortable making the fix yourself, I'd say it's an easy way to save a grand. The parts are cheap. If you want to do it, I'd be happy to help. I'll just ask for a couple more pictures, preferably one of the leak itself.