We were in the Guangzhou China airport November 17th around 11pm and saw a team of two caucasian men wearing backpacks running through the airport with a cameraman and producer in tow. They were in the baggage claim area and were in a hurry to find something and stopped at hte information desk to ask directions. The cameraman was working to capture every move. The men were both short and appeared to be related. One had a fanny pack that was visible with red/yellow/back horizontal stripes on it. We went up to them and said "Are you with the Amazing Race?". They said "No", but we are waiting for cast pictures to see if they were telling the truth or not.
The best flights from Bangkok to Guilin on the 17th are (edited in new flights in
bold):
MU548 / MU5379 (0200-1210) through Shanghai (airport change in Shanghai)
FM9446 / MF8404 (0305-1250) through Chongqing
FD3600 / NX192 (0700-1410) through Macau
MU542 / FM9331 (0900-1855) through Shanghai (airport change in Shanghai)
CX750 / KA700 (1155-1925) OR UL422 / KA700 (1315-1925) through Hong Kong
EK384 / CZ3032 (1320-2050) OR CI832 / CZ3032 (1445-2050) through Hong Kong
ET606 / CZ3303 (1430-2130) OR TG678 / CZ3303 (1520-2130) through Guangzhou
TG678 / ZH9669 (1520-2225) through Guangzhou (Apskip's flight)
CZ364 (1820-2200) / CZ3234 (2305-2355) through Guangzhou (Mark/Michael?)And one of Phil's possible escape routes on the 16th:
CZ364 / CZ3234 (1820-0035) through Guangzhou1. The Pit Stop in Guilin was set up at 6pm and check-ins ended at about 3am.
2. There may be a short extension (Phuket or Bangkok) for teams to miss the 7am, giving Phil a day's headstart.
3. Any longer extension is unlikely, as it drags the Guilin leg deep into the night.
4. CZ364 / CZ3234 is the last combination to arrive in Guilin before 3am.
5. Are Mark/Michael toast? Are they behind this upcoming Bangkok leg? Is Guilin over, before it begins?
Some headscratchers with regard to Beijing-Honolulu:
We were flying on an Air China/ANA code share from Beijing to Tokyo on the 21st of November, flight later ID’d as CA925/NH5702 0930-1350. At the terminal we discovered we had ended up on the same flight as the cheerleaders (Cara/Jaime) and the Mom/son (Margie/Luke).
Those two teams split in a different direction once we left the plane in Tokyo as we went for our (personal info removed) flight and they went to Hawaii (overheard them saying) and they went onward.
We then came across Phil at the JAL transfer desk in Tokyo. He was actually traveling with Tammy/Victor and BVM. insert: They were ahead of us in line.
Once past the transfer desk we had to go downstairs to the Bus station to transfer to another Terminal where we again came across Phil and Tammy/Victor. We rode the bus with them to the other terminal and then lost them in the chaos that is Narita airport.
1. The CA925 that Cara/Jaime and Margie/Luke were on lands at Terminal 1S. The earliest flight to Honolulu that day is JO76 (1845-0635), departing from Terminal 2. If the two teams were headed for the earliest flight, why didn't they follow to the JAL transfer desk and do what Phil was doing?
Are they lost, or on a later flight to Honolulu?2. The only earlier flight arriving from Beijing into Terminal 1 is NH956 (0845-1305). That must have been Phil's flight. There is an earlier flight, JL780 (0825-1245), landing at Terminal 2. If Phil wanted to avoid Tammy/Victor on the Beijing-Tokyo leg for non-interference issues, he
could have. This in addition to him switching airlines at Tokyo, when he could have got a smoother transfer and possibly a cheaper ticket using JAL - codes JL and JO - the entire way. Is there any significance to this?