Topic: Money management or (lack thereof) in the race...

[Goldeneye]

Now I do know that there haven't been many zero dollar legs (most recent known to be aired was TAR15 Leg 10) in the race recently, but ever since seeing a few teams (Mark & Michael in TAR14 especially) having poor money management, it begs me to actually want to see more of that element because money management is edited out often (from TAR14's Preston and Jennifer's post elimination interview).

I noticed that in TAR14, Legs 2 and Legs 3 started with a lot of money ($585 and $332), but I did not notice any mention of total amount in either Leg 4.

That being said, Mark & Michael's poor money management eventually led to their elimination in Leg 9 and nearly caused them to be eliminated back in Leg 4 (being over $100 short to pay for a taxi).

I wonder how expensive transportation was in Romania and Siberia and if the teams were really only given 10 rubles (about 25-30 cents US) to start Leg 4 - I'd be willing to guess that Mark and Michael held their taxi for a long time to incur that 8000 ruble fare.

I'd really like to see more money management issues come up unedited - it'd make a more interesting race and a reminder to future racers to be mindful what they do with their money.

[redskevin88]

It wasn't really money management, it was their 4-hour penalty that cause them to fall way behind from Kisha & Jen. And quite unfair, given Dandrew got away with it in Season 13.

OFFTOPIC You know, given that Kisha & Jen managed to make up time over the frontrunners, it would have been really interesting if they had finished last instead of the stuntmen...

[DrRox]

The teams on the plane to Frankfurt and Zurich spend a LOT less money getting to Locarno than the teams that flew to Paris and Milano. The Milano teams had to spend so much of their money on getting cabs from the airport to the wrong train stations and then back to the right train stations.......thats why Preston and his partner ran out of money and came in last.

After that, all the Milano teams were short on money compared to the Zurich teams.

[redskevin88]

The teams on the plane to Frankfurt and Zurich spend a LOT less money getting to Locarno than the teams that flew to Paris and Milano. The Milano teams had to spend so much of their money on getting cabs from the airport to the wrong train stations and then back to the right train stations.......thats why Preston and his partner ran out of money and came in last.

After that, all the Milano teams were short on money compared to the Zurich teams.

I didn't know that...I thought Preston and Jennifer came in last because Jennifer wouldn't run.

[DrRox]

I didn't know that...I thought Preston and Jennifer came in last because Jennifer was a pussy and wouldn't run.

That's why they call it "research."

[Goldeneye]

So far in Race 17 - we've had these money distributions...
Leg 1 - $100
Leg 2 - $137
Leg 3 - $146

I can't tell if this is more or less than the first 3 legs of Race 16, but the total of these three legs of Race 17 is slightly more than Leg 2 of Race 15 ($444) - so I think we are still on lean times here - especially considering that Legs 2 and 3 of Race 14 totaled $917 per team ($585 and $332).

If we see a small sum of money (<$100) this coming leg (not too likely) - this could well be the most budget strapped race in history, especially if there turn out to be no fast forwards in this race at all.

[DrRox]

On TAR 14, teams had to take a very early morning,long, expensive taxi ride from Interlaken to Zurick. Production planned that and gave them money to cover the cost of the taxis. Thats is why the high cash amount for Leg 2. Leg 3, the teams had to pay for  1)a train ride from Salzburg to Munich, 2)then late night/early morning taxis in Buchrest 3) then the train ride up near Dracula's castle and finally 4) the taxis around Dracula's castle.

Production knew they were going to have a lot of out of pocket expenses for travel, so they made sure they had enough cash to cover it.

[Goldeneye]

Wow poor money management, in terms of Russian taxis really hit this past leg... 10,000 rubles (or thereabouts), making it nearly $325 for taxi fare - incurred by at least two teams.

Not sure how much money was provided to start the leg, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near $325.

If people were allowed to take public transport in Saint Petersburg, the costs would have likely been slashed by at least 95% (given the Metro does run quite frequently).

[Prophet]

The editors do not reveal the teams' money amounts as much now as they used to. I can't think of any good explinations for this.