Spending money
The ClubHouse: Archives: Spending money
Crazydog | Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 07:39 am   More questions about how the teams are surviving. Again on last week's show we heard that the Guidos checked themselves into a hotel. It doesn't seem like it was free or an official checkpoint, because we heard nasty Guido brag about how he saved them 50,000 lira on a hotel. At the beginning of the show, we saw that each team got $50. This doesn't seem like it would be enough to get them through the day. The only thing that we have been told they didn't have to pay for was airline tickets. I'm assuming food, train tickets, taxis, etc. are all coming out of this spending money. The teams must have a lot of money saved up from each leg. It'd be interesting to hear how each team is doing money-wise. Frankly, I don't know why money isn't more of a concern. Running out of money would be one of my chief concerns and would influence a lot of what I chose to do - cab/train, etc - and its effect on time. Or the producers could make it an issue. For example, in a detour, one choice could be the opportunity to earn $100, but it would mean losing 3 hours or something like that. |
Micknrc | Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:26 am   I've been wondering the exact same thing, Crazydog. (Are you reading my mind? )Anyone got any info on this? The main criticism I would have of this show, in fact, is the lack of info week-to-week on rules, etc. This, the missing fast-forwards, the time delay due to production, non-elimination legs and when they are... the list of what we're not privy to is getting longer each week. Maybe the producers think it's not interesting enough to take up our time with, but I would be as interested in knowing who's got how much money left in a leg as I am to know what the standings, time differentials, etc. Knowing all the rules, etc. would make me feel more involved in the game, not less. Also, by not telling all, as it were, they give the impression of making it up as they go along, or possibly to suit themselves which smacks of fraud and turns viewers off, not on. |
Car54 | Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 02:31 pm   Do they get more money in the packet they get when they check in at each site? I have seen them pull instructions, plane info, etc out of the folder, do they maybe get more money for that leg? |
Corriecat | Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 03:24 pm   Maybe they could put a little graphic on the screen occasionally like for sports stats. A team hires a driver and we see a little graphic of how much they have and the money for a driver being deducted. I think we should see where and what the fast forward is every week whether it gets used or not. Part of the fun is debating whether it would have helped anyone. |
Sunshinemiss | Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 06:27 pm   I TOTALLY agree. I love this show, and share the opinion that more info would involve viewers to a higher degree. I like the on screen graphics idea too. Is it Wednesday yet? |
Sukii1 | Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 07:45 pm   Good idea on the footnotes thing (stats). They did that in Lost, we got to see how much money each team had left. I'm curious as well. |
Jewels | Wednesday, October 24, 2001 - 07:28 am   I think that would be a great idea! My one beef with the show is that they don't show us time differences between the teams. They make it look like they all arrive at destinations with in minutes of eatother, when we know that isn't true. I am sure they do that for the suspense of the game though, if we knew they were 2 hours apart, there would be no reason to get nervous and anxious, it still is annoying to me though. |
Smileeys | Wednesday, October 24, 2001 - 09:19 pm   Car54, they do get money when they leave after the twelve hour rest and although our dollar goes farther in other countries than here, it is still hard to believe they have enough for all the cabs they have been hiring. They have only told us a few times if I recall correctly and it was around 50-100 dollars. I don't mind them not telling us during the race how far apart they are but would like for them to tell us when they complete the race. I know they tell when they leave and to deduct twelve hours but would like to know then and also would have liked to have known how much of a time penalty Guido's and Frank/Margarita received. I know it wasn't much b/c didn't change standing which I thought really sucked! |
Muse | Wednesday, October 24, 2001 - 10:34 pm   I really don't understand the money situation either. $50 would not cover a hotel room in Rome, even with a thirty dollar discount. Not unless it was one scary hotel room, and I don't see Team Guido as the type to stay anywhere that wasn't "nice". So I would like some more details on the finances of the race. I'm especially curious as to what they do with extra money. Do they get to keep it (either for the rest of the race, or just when they're eliminated), or do they have to turn it back in? But although I would like a *little* more information on the money, I am glad that it's not a major obstacle/focus in every episode. They did that with Lost, and it really wasn't very interesting. I cringed when I saw those teams begging for money in foreign countries (for the sake of a stupid game, no less!), and I would hate to see that happening in The Amazing Race, too. It would be kind of fun to see Team Guido getting delayed because they have to wait for some kind of cheaper transportation to arrive (after spending their money on expensive hotel rooms while other teams camp out on the street), though.  |
Kitt | Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 04:48 pm   I thought I saw The Guidos paying for something with a credit card last night. I think it was the flight... perhaps they have am "Amazing Race Credit card" that they are allowed to use for their transport??? I would have thought it would have been against the rules for them to use their own credit cards, but it did look like plastic they were using. Anyone else remember what they were paying for? |
Voyeur | Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 11:43 pm   I think AR missed a great sponsorship opportunity with VISA/MC or AMEX. Imagine if they get a credit card and have to take a cash advance of X dollars when they leave, and use (prominently) the credit card for booking tickets, paying for hotel rooms, and other interesting things. Yeah, they have to have somehow to book air flight, they don't get money for that in their packs. I'd kind of assumed that maybe the production people who travel with them had credit cards to book air travel, but maybe the contestants carry the cards themselves. |
Kitt | Monday, October 29, 2001 - 02:31 pm   I watched the show again, it was a cheque the Guido was signing, not a credit card. Maybe they're gived traveller's cheques for their flights instead. |
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