Besides, it's ironic because some teams that do try to do the FF end up getting put in last place (Terrence/Sarah)
That's why recently only one team goes for it (Season 15) or none of the teams wish to risk it (Season 14).
The only Fast Forward offered in AR15 was in Dubai going from the desert to the race track. Cheyne/Meghan had a reasonable lead leaving the desert, so all the other teams knew they could not beat them to the Fast Forward site.
Being anything but first at the Fast Forward site is usually the kiss of death (I can think off the top of my head that Rob/Amber beat it after the Orlando Cooling Station in the Johannesburg area in AR7 and Jon/Kelly did so after going for the Sepilok, Malaysia orangutan place in AR4, ep. 9.) Due to this risk in AR10 ep. 6, Dustin and Kandice were not willing to risk it in Kuwait when David/Mary get a clear lead on them.
To address the statement by Danooky, in AR14- ep. 7 I vaguely remember that the only FF was teams at the Phuket Zoo had the opportunity to buy presents for local charities from their own funds to participate in the Fast Forward, so none chose to do that.
AR13 ep. 8 in Almaty was that Terrence and Sarah started slightly behind Nick/Starr, but since Terrence had eaten no meat in many years he was either unable or very slow to produce any eating results. In ep. 4 Dan/Andrew chased after Ken/Tina on the Fast forward at the Auckland Sky Tower, but backed off at the last minute when they discovered they were behind.
In AR12 ep. 7 the Fast Forward getting a tattoo each at Fabio's Studio in Empoli Italy for Donald and Nicolas was the result of them leaving the aerodrome well ahead of all other teams and discouraging any from attempting it.
In AR3 ep. 6 in Marrakesh Flo/Zach dropped out when they arrived at the carpet merchant and discovered Ian/Terri and John Vito/Jill there ahead of them. Flo played a game of chance against Jill which Jill won to settle the question of who would compete and who would go on to regular tasks. However, since Aaron and Ariane were way behind, neither John Vito and Jill or Flo/Zach suffered serious consequences from going for it at least up to a point.
In AR2 ep. 2 Gary/Dave and Shola/Doyin were already inline to play volleyball when Peggy/Claire arrived and correctly discerned that they had no chance. They quickly dropped out rerouted to the regular tasks. In ep. 7 Mary/Peach attempted to reach first place with success at the Fast Forward, but they arrived after Gary/Dave had already won it. Thanks to slayton for this information in a post below.
So the thesis was that teams trying to capture the Fast Forward frequently lose as a result. In some cases, such as AR3, ep. 3 with Dennis and Andrew, it made no difference whether they went for the Fast Forward or not, as they were going to finish last in Scotland belief had was that teams no longer compete vigorously for the Fast Forward. In season 1 to 4, when there were many Fast Forwards offered each season, teams had more of a tendency to go for it. Teams recently have been more risk averse.
