Topic: TAR 35 (formerly "36") Transportation

[Neobie]

I think we've figured out some of the flights!

From Ho Chi Minh City to Jaipur, looks like Zack's got it right. We see teams board a Malaysian Airlines flight, and this is the only one leaving Ho Chi Minh City on Wed 21 Jun:
- MH 759 from Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lumpur, 1640-1940

Excluding Air Asia and Batik Air flights (as mentioned earlier in the thread, it would be really weird to sell these in combination with Malaysia Airlines), the only flights leaving that evening for India are:
- MH 180 from Kuala Lumpur to Chennai, 2125-2245
- MH 198 from Kuala Lumpur to Hyderabad, 2130-2310
- MH 192 from Kuala Lumpur to Bangalore, 2200-2340

The earliest connecting flights from these into Jaipur the next day on Thu 22 Jun are:
- 6E 6412 from Chennai to Jaipur, 2240-0110 (after waiting one full day in Chennai)
- 6E 658 from Hyderabad to Jaipur, 0520-0720
- I5 941 from Bangalore to Jaipur, 0755-1040

In the episode, we see Malaina's watch as she reaches the top of Amber Fort; it's 9:05am.

So by process of elimination, teams took this itinerary:
- MH 759 from Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lumpur 21 Jun 1640-1940
- MH 198 from Kuala Lumpur to Hyderabad, 21 Jun 2130-2310
- 6E 658 from Hyderabad to Jaipur, 22 Jun 0520-0720


From Jaipur to Frankfurt, we see Lena/Morgan's car clock as they leave Frankfurt Airport: 10:01am (corroborated later by a clearer 10:48am in Rob/Corey's car). There are three flights from India into Frankfurt that morning:
- LH 761 from Delhi to Frankfurt 0250-0750
- LH 757 from Mumbai to Frankfurt 0250-0820
- LH 755 from Bangalore to Frankfurt 0305-0900

We see teams board an Air India / Air India Express flight in daylight, presumably to Delhi, Mumbai, or Bangalore. The options here are:
- I5 744 from Jaipur to Delhi, 0620-0720 (too early for Robbin/Chelsea, who are released at 9:18am)
- I5 762 from Jaipur to Mumbai, 0910-1045 (too early)
- I5 942 from Jaipur to Bangalore, 1110-1345
- AI 612 from Jaipur to Mumbai, 1335-1530
- I5 670 from Jaipur to Mumbai, 1720-1850
- I5 769 from Jaipur to Delhi, 2320-0010 (night flight)
- I5 773 from Jaipur to Delhi, 2350-0110 (night flight)
- I5 337 from Jaipur to Mumbai, 2355-0215 (night flight)

Delving deeper to our three remaining flights, we have:
- I5 942 from Jaipur to Bangalore, 1110-1345 (180-seater A320: all economy)
- AI 612 from Jaipur to Mumbai, 1335-1530 (162-seater A320neo: 12 business, 150 economy)
- I5 670 from Jaipur to Mumbai, 1720-1850 (180-seater A320: all economy)

And... we see a business class seat as Robbin/Chelsea board; economy seats are red and gold. So our itinerary is:
- AI 612 from Jaipur to Mumbai, 26 Jun 1335-1530
- LH 757 from Mumbai to Frankfurt, 27 Jun 0250-0820
Air India and Lufthansa are both Star Alliance members, so that checks out as well.

[georgiapeach]

THANKS NEOBIE!


 

[Neobie]

For completeness' sake, teams took OS 315 from Vienna to Stockholm (Sun 2 Jul, scheduled 1705-1915). This jives with the on-screen caption that teams arrived at 6:45pm, and this view of the taxi screen which mentions a "mottagen tid" (received time) of 7:22pm.

[maf]

I missed that shot in the episode. The really interesting text is under "Kommentarer" (Comments) on the left. Translated to English this reads: "Go to the spontaneous trip line. Only pick up customers arriving with a camera team! Special order call ### to get a fixed price. Call the customer before you leave the terminal."

That is, somebody called the taxi company and ordered a bunch of taxis which should kind of pretend to not be pre-ordered. This probably happened when the teams were ready to leave the airport. And they got a fixed price which explains how Anna Leigh could pay before they arrived (that is harder to do if they run with the meter).

[Neobie]

Great catch, maf!

One more surprise from the finale - we thought teams would be on the non-stop Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Seattle, but instead we see teams board a United Airlines flight!

United has four flights leaving Dublin, with the same schedule on Thu 6 Jul and Fri 7 Jul:
- UA 22 from Dublin to Newark, 0920-1130, using a B777 (276 seats)
- UA 981 from Dublin to Chicago, 1135-1400, using a B757-200 (169 seats)
- UA 229 from Dublin to Washington DC, 1215-1510, using a B767-400 (240 seats)
- UA 316 from Dublin to Newark, 1335-1610, using a B757-200 (169 seats)
These match up with the seat maps here, here, here, and here.

The plane that teams took had a 3-4-3 configuration.
UA 981 and UA 316 are single-aisle, so those are out.
UA 229 uses a 2-3-2 configuration in Economy Class, so that's out too, leaving us UA 22 from Dublin to Newark, 0920-1130.

There are two possible flights from Newark to Seattle:
- UA 674 from Newark to Seattle, scheduled 1424-1725
- UA 1308 from Newark to Seattle, scheduled 1529-1837

As Rob/Corey start driving off from the airport we see the car clock, 7:06pm. Which would be inconclusive with just the above information, but there was a bit of a delay on the flights that day:
- UA 674 from Newark to Seattle, scheduled 1424-1725, actual 1543-1808
- UA 1308 from Newark to Seattle, scheduled 1529-1837, actual 1934-2154

Giving us the teams' itinerary for their final leg:
- UA 22 from Dublin to Newark, 0920-1130
- UA 674 from Newark to Seattle, scheduled 1424-1725, actual 1543-1808

#nerd #flightradar24

[ianthebalance]

Perhaps production took the non-stop flight

[RaceUntilWeDie]

I missed that shot in the episode. The really interesting text is under "Kommentarer" (Comments) on the left. Translated to English this reads: "Go to the spontaneous trip line. Only pick up customers arriving with a camera team! Special order call ### to get a fixed price. Call the customer before you leave the terminal."

That is, somebody called the taxi company and ordered a bunch of taxis which should kind of pretend to not be pre-ordered. This probably happened when the teams were ready to leave the airport. And they got a fixed price which explains how Anna Leigh could pay before they arrived (that is harder to do if they run with the meter).

Wonder how long they’ve been doing this. This season, even though it was a “return to basics”, felt rather controlled but only slightly less so than the COVID seasons. Many legs had “marked” taxis (this is why we barely saw drama with teams needing to switch taxis — they simply couldn’t). The flight drama leaving Thailand felt manufactured as if production made sure teams only had 3 specific options  to choose from, and as if the travel agency workers were given a spiel similar to the taxi cab message that maf pointed out.

None of this is factual, obviously, just saying my honest thoughts on how it came across to me as a longtime viewer and fan.

[ianthebalance]

I’ve noticed that as well. I really hope the taxi stuff is related to continual COVID concerns and not production trying to micromanage the race (because production doing whatever it can to take variables out of teams control is never fun and leads to less great moments imo)

[Zack.]

Perhaps production took the non-stop flight

I'm not actually sure. I think in previous years Phil flies with production and u/RainingNiners on reddit mentioned Phil was on their Delta flight from LHR to SEA on 7/6, which would be DL 21 London-Seattle 1525 1800. It's not a lot of advance time for him to film but the scramble locations were all close enough that he didn't need to travel much.

[Linda BC2]

Perhaps production took the non-stop flight

I'm not actually sure. I think in previous years Phil flies with production and u/RainingNiners on reddit mentioned Phil was on their Delta flight from LHR to SEA on 7/6, which would be DL 21 London-Seattle 1525 1800. It's not a lot of advance time for him to film but the scramble locations were all close enough that he didn't need to travel much.

Some info on timing in Seattle - Phil and the advance team flew in July 6 around 5pm. The standup on top of the Space Needle was on July 7 around 1 pm, while the teams arrived around 7:30pm.

[redskevin88]

Giving us the teams' itinerary for their final leg:
- UA 22 from Dublin to Newark, 0920-1130
- UA 674 from Newark to Seattle, scheduled 1424-1725, actual 1543-1808

#nerd #flightradar24

I'm really curious why production wasn't aware of delays and cancellations at Newark and why wasn't teams put on the later flight on the 5th and hold them in Seattle or something.