Amazing Race style travel - Page 3

ingy · Dec 15, 08, 9:16 am

It is up and running

Check out this fascinating new travel concept and contest at http://competitours.com

There are several options for the length of the contest (trip), prizes and a limited number of entries per date.

The price seems reasonable as well, starting at under $2,000 including airfare and accomodations from your home airport.

Looks like the "Amazing Race" and a fun way to see Europe.

Maybe we can get a group of FT'er teams for an trip?

I'd love to win a bunch of Starwood nights, airline tickets and spending cash

Helena Handbaskets · Dec 16, 08, 2:15 pm

Very, very cool. My wife will be obsessed with this.

I'm surprised no one here has asked the all-important question yet: Do contestants earn miles for the flights / hotel points for the stays? Or maybe that's answered in the FAQs and I missed it.

**beaubo** · Dec 16, 08, 2:23 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helena Handbaskets

Very, very cool. My wife will be obsessed with this.

I'm surprised no one here has asked the all-important question yet: Do contestants earn miles for the flights / hotel points for the stays? Or maybe that's answered in the FAQs and I missed it.

Its a good question, with some nebulous answers!!

Airlines:
* will be using group airfares, which some airlines allow for mileage earning, others don't
* not sure which airlines we'll be using yet, but it could be non-aligned airlines like Aer Lingus or Iceland Air or Malaysian or Jet.

Lodging:
* In most instances we will be booking teams at small, independent properties. So, minimal point earning opportunities.

Hope that helps!

But you did get me thinking....maybe we might allow teams to convert the spending money allocation into SPG points??? Who knows!

imm2b · Dec 17, 08, 9:54 pm

Congrats on launch of Competitours beaubo! Nicely done. I hope to join one of the tours in the near future.

AquaDyne · Dec 17, 08, 10:27 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helena Handbaskets

I'm surprised no one here has asked the all-important question yet: Do contestants earn miles for the flights / hotel points for the stays? Or maybe that's answered in the FAQs and I missed it.

Actually, I asked that via PM before this became public. As you can see, don't count on it, but maybe.

Another question I asked, that beaubo said he'd think about is nondisclosure. Obviously, many of us not competing would love to follow along at home (just like the TV show fans). So it would be great if at least one group of contestants blogged their adventure (preferably in real time). Or at least had a thread here on FT!

Obviously we want to keep some of the suspense in the plans, and not make too much work for the organizers to constantly change the options. So will competitour contestants be free to post about their adventures?

**beaubo** · Dec 18, 08, 12:56 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by AquaDyne

Actually, I asked that via PM before this became public. As you can see, don't count on it, but maybe.

Another question I asked, that beaubo said he'd think about is nondisclosure. Obviously, many of us not competing would love to follow along at home (just like the TV show fans). So it would be great if at least one group of contestants blogged their adventure (preferably in real time). Or at least had a thread here on FT!

Obviously we want to keep some of the suspense in the plans, and not make too much work for the organizers to constantly change the options. So will competitour contestants be free to post about their adventures?

As much as we would prefer nondisclosure from an organizers standpoint, there are two more important realities that come into play.

1. Teams will WANT to share their travel experience with friends and family.
2. Enforcing nondisclosure of trip-related info (routing, challenges, video content) would be just too daunting.

Even if we repeat certain challenges on multiple trips, they are mostly subjective in nature, so we won't likely get the same video content submitted. And we also will rotate our judges, so that there will always be fresh eyes, so if a team tries to copy video content from another trip, there's no guarantee it will even be evaluated and scored the same way.

And obviously, if we see a pattern of video content being blatantly copied from past shows, we'll give the offening team a pretty reasonable heads-up to change their ways or risk disqualification. Clearly, we are hoping for teams that value the fun and excitement of having their own UNIQUE challenge experiences, not only from a competitive standpoint, but from having a satisfying and meaningful vacation standpoint.

Great question, hope the answer is helpful.

ctownflyer · Dec 19, 08, 11:36 am

Wow this looks pretty awesome!
Is there an inaugural trip date yet?

**beaubo** · Dec 19, 08, 11:52 am

late March/early April for the Spring Trip
late May/early June for the Early Summer Trip
TBA late June/early July for Mid-Summer Trip

**beaubo** · Dec 21, 08, 9:04 am

We are pondering having a scaled down 'dress rehearsal' trip in early/mid March:
* 6 nights/7 days
* 5-6 challenges per city
* 100K SPG for the winning team to share
* you can use miles to meet us in Europe if you'd prefer not to buy airfare
or don't like the airline we decide to fly on or or airline isn't in your preferred program.

We are looking to recruit 6-7 teams of two.

If interested, please PM your window of availability in March, and I'll zip you back details.

Thanks

mlbcard · Dec 21, 08, 9:44 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaubo

We are pondering having a scaled down 'dress rehearsal' trip in early/mid March:
* 6 nights/7 days
* 5-6 challenges per city
* 100K SPG for the winning team to share
* you can use miles to meet us in Europe if you'd prefer not to buy airfare
or don't like the airline we decide to fly on or or airline isn't in your preferred program.

We are looking to recruit 6-7 teams of two.

If interested, please PM your window of availability in March, and I'll zip you back details.

Thanks

That sounds awesome and I'll be in Europe in mid-March anyway! Too bad it's work-related and I can't take 7 days off

. Great concept (it's one of those... why didn't I think of that ideas)

**beaubo** · Dec 22, 08, 4:24 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlbcard

That sounds awesome and I'll be in Europe in mid-March anyway! Too bad it's work-related and I can't take 7 days off

. Great concept (it's one of those... why didn't I think of that ideas)

We can supply you a 'doctor's note'....no charge!!

**sbm12** · Dec 26, 08, 11:19 am

I wrote about it, too.

And I'd be up for going through the trial run but I'm a "single" right now. If you've got any other let me know and I'll pair up with them.

fimo · Dec 26, 08, 5:35 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaubo

We are looking to recruit 6-7 teams of two.

Oooh... I'm already living in Europe, this sounds exciting. But I'll have to see if I can take the time off for this and when exactly!

AquaDyne · Dec 27, 08, 12:12 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaubo

Clearly, we are hoping for teams that value the fun and excitement of having their own UNIQUE challenge experiences, not only from a competitive standpoint, but from having a satisfying and meaningful vacation standpoint.

Indeed. I'd be looking at this as the price for a fun vacation.... winning the prize would be awesome (and trying will make it even more fun) but the adventure is prize enough.

Glad you're not doing leg-by-leg elimination.

El_Duderito · Dec 27, 08, 5:43 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaubo

And obviously, if we see a pattern of video content being blatantly copied from past shows ...

You could make the contestants gather a seasonal item (flower, candy from a street stall, mug from Christmas market, ...) or a current newspaper showing a recent event.
These items would have to be shown in the video rendering them unusable for other parties.