# Amazing Race 11/11/2012 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744 "2012-11-12T03:20:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/41 "2012-11-13T13:57:42Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > One thing that’s kind of bugging me is that the passport was effectively stolen. There are no provisions in the rules for stolen stuff? If someone steals from you that’s one thing. To be so stupid as to leave your passport in the cab sounds like it’s your problem and too bad for you but oh well. Remember, this is the same team that lost all their money in the previous leg. It’s a miracle they haven’t accidently boarded a flight for the Yukon. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/42 "2012-11-13T14:02:08Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Doesn’t anybody have direct flights anymore? I’d have thought Istanbul-\>Moscow would have one. (I didn’t see anybody actually check the Aeroflot desk.) And then once the two teams missed their connection in Frankfurt, they had to book new tickets through Warsaw. My understanding is that the competitors have a very limited selection of flights to choose from. Probably to make an artificial bunching point at the airports. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/43 "2012-11-13T14:06:21Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > If someone steals from you that’s one thing. To be so stupid as to leave your passport in the cab sounds like it’s your problem and too bad for you but oh well. Remember, this is the same team that lost all their money in the previous leg. It’s a miracle they haven’t accidently boarded a flight for the Yukon. The other thing is that if you lose your passport, by whatever mechanism - stolen, left behind, eaten by wombats - it can take a few days to replace it. During that time, you’re stuck in whatever country you lost it in, and the Race can’t wait for you - the various tasks are obviously planned and scheduled well ahead of time. Toni & Dallas weren’t at the finale of their season after losing their passports, because they were stuck in Moscow waiting for replacements. Not even the Amazing Race producers could expedite the process for them. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/44 "2012-11-13T14:19:16Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Believe it or not, they aren’t the first team to leave their passports in a taxi in Moscow. Toni and Dallas did it several seasons back and were disqualified. Didn’t the Goth couple (Kynt and Vyxxyn) a couple of seasons ago leave their passports somewhere? I’m thinking it was on a ski lift up a mountain. But they went back and found them eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/45 "2012-11-13T15:31:58Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > My understanding is that the competitors have a very limited selection of flights to choose from. Probably to make an artificial bunching point at the airports. I think this is only true on certain legs, usually earlier in the season or in cities with very few flight options. Most of the time contestants are free to book any flight they think will get them to their destination the fastest as long as they fly coach/economy class. When the teams choose a connection with only a 1-hour layover, I knew they were taking too big a risk. Remember what happened to Joyce and Uchenna, who IIRC also got stuck in Frankfort for a day under similar circumstances. I also remember a team many seasons ago who had to get to Honolulu quickly, so they just grabbed the next flight from where they were to Tokyo, Japan, thinking that there would be lots of flights to choose from when they got there. :smack: I’m thinking they never even got to the final destination city before the winning team crossed the finish line. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/46 "2012-11-13T15:36:15Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I think this is only true on certain legs, usually earlier in the season or in cities with very few flight options. Most of the time contestants are free to book any flight they think will get them to their destination the fastest as long as they fly coach/economy class. > > . I remember an early season where the third place team finished like a day behind. They were in Alaska when the winning team finished. Since then the producers have seemingly gone out of their way to try to bunch things up as tightly as possible. More exiciting I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/47 "2012-11-13T15:38:16Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I think this is only true on certain legs, usually earlier in the season or in cities with very few flight options. Most of the time contestants are free to book any flight they think will get them to their destination the fastest as long as they fly coach/economy class. It used to be that there were exclusions to the flights you can take but one season a team found a flight everyone else missed and got a huge advantage. After that IIRC, TAR directly limited the flights you could take instead of indirectly telling you the flights you couldn’t take. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/48 "2012-11-13T15:41:58Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Trey and Lexi arrive at the airport, go to every airline desk \*except \*Aeroflot, then have lunch at Popeyes. “Do you have red beans and rice?” ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/49 "2012-11-13T16:13:07Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > I remember an early season where the third place team finished like a day behind. They were in Alaska when the winning team finished. Since then the producers have seemingly gone out of their way to try to bunch things up as tightly as possible. More exiciting I guess. IIRC, that was the Guidos in the first season. (The same team that on an earlier leg, won the Fast Forward and then wasted so much time sightseeing that they came in \*last \*and were only saved because the team ahead of them had a penalty!) ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/50 "2012-11-13T16:13:52Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > When the teams choose a connection with only a 1-hour layover, I knew they were taking too big a risk. As we were watching it, I said out loud to my daughter, “That’s a mistake. They’re deciding between a flight that gets in at 3:00 AM and one that gets in at 5:00 AM. I guarantee you that the sculpture park they’re going to doesn’t open until 9:30 or 10:00, and all the teams will be waiting outside the gates. They should take the flight with the longer layover to be safe.” Thank you. I will kick so much butt if I ever get on that show. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/51 "2012-11-13T16:55:57Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > As we were watching it, I said out loud to my daughter, “That’s a mistake. They’re deciding between a flight that gets in at 3:00 AM and one that gets in at 5:00 AM. I guarantee you that the sculpture park they’re going to doesn’t open until 9:30 or 10:00, and all the teams will be waiting outside the gates. They should take the flight with the longer layover to be safe.” I was thinking the same thing, except a sculpture garden doesn’t necessarily close. I’ve seen sculpture areas in parks that weren’t fenced off and couldn’t be effectively closed. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/52 "2012-11-13T17:05:00Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > IIRC, that was the Guidos in the first season. (The same team that on an earlier leg, won the Fast Forward and then wasted so much time sightseeing that they came in \*last \*and were only saved because the team ahead of them had a penalty!) Yes! Man were they a hard team to like. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/53 "2012-11-13T17:38:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I was thinking the same thing, except a sculpture garden doesn’t necessarily close. I’ve seen sculpture areas in parks that weren’t fenced off and couldn’t be effectively closed. Yes but this is the Amazing Race. Assuming a bunching point beats out assuming I can make a 1 hour connection. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/54 "2012-11-13T19:29:40Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Yes but this is the Amazing Race. Assuming a bunching point beats out assuming I can make a 1 hour connection. That’s true, but it’s also coming down to crunch time. You’ve got to be looking for advantages at this point. The weak teams have been eliminated, and you can’t count on other teams making mistakes anymore. It’s the Farmers we’re talking about here, right? They’re probably the weakest remaining team when it comes to the challenges. It’s not enough for them to show up at the same time as everyone else. That raises the question of whether the weak teams know they’re the weak teams. Don’t forget that Abbie & Ryan chose the same flight, with the same risk.[sup]\*[/sup] Slightly different calculation for them; they’re strong at the tasks, so as long as there was another team on the same flight, it looked good for them. Why they made the pact is the question for them. I think the first thing you do when you lose your passport in a foreign city is contact the embassy. They won’t be able to make a replacement right away, but if somebody found the lost one, that’s where they’d take it. With the flight issue, James & Abba might have time to get to the embassy and back to the Mat still in fourth place. - Was this transfer particularly risky? I think the other teams transferred in Amsterdam and Munich; they made it, but I don’t remember what the schedules were. And no one took the Athens option, so no way to know if that would have worked or not. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/55 "2012-11-13T19:32:09Z")
so what are the rules on using the Express pass, could the twins announce as soon as they open thier first clue that they are using it and they then get the clue to take them to the mat so they could rest while everyone is running around? Or is it only for 1 task? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/56 "2012-11-13T19:37:29Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > so what are the rules on using the Express pass, could the twins announce as soon as they open thier first clue that they are using it and they then get the clue to take them to the mat so they could rest while everyone is running around? Or is it only for 1 task? It’s for any 1 task. The way they were talking on this episode, it sounds like it has to be used by the next leg, or not at all. (Understandable on the part of the Amazing Producers. It would kill the suspense if a team kept it all the way to the final leg.) ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/57 "2012-11-13T19:50:16Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > It’s for any 1 task. The way they were talking on this episode, it sounds like it has to be used by the next leg, or not at all. (Understandable on the part of the Amazing Producers. It would kill the suspense if a team kept it all the way to the final leg.) Phil tweeted that it has to be used by the end of the 8th leg, after that it’s off the table. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/58 "2012-11-13T20:11:11Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > so what are the rules on using the Express pass, could the twins announce as soon as they open thier first clue that they are using it and they then get the clue to take them to the mat so they could rest while everyone is running around? Or is it only for 1 task? My understanding is they can present it to anyone who would normally award them a clue on completion of a challenge, and that person will immediately give them directions to the final mat for the leg. So you can skip all challenges in a leg but you have to at least get to the first place where somebody okays your work and gives you a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/59 "2012-11-13T20:20:34Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > My understanding is they can present it to anyone who would normally award them a clue on completion of a challenge, and that person will immediately give them directions to the final mat for the leg. So you can skip all challenges in a leg but you have to at least get to the first place where somebody okays your work and gives you a clue. This is wrong. It’s a simple single task skip. Nothing more, nothing less. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744/60 "2012-11-13T20:24:14Z")
The Express Pass lets you skip one task, either a Detour or Road Block task and head directly to the next event. If you skip the Detour and you still have the Road Block ahead, you go straight to the Road Block (after checking it at the Detour and getting the clue). Or you could do the Detour, and skip the Road Block and go to the finish mat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-race-11-11-2012/640744.md?page=4)