Definitely a dumb move. They were incredibly lucky to catch that connector, and it gained them absolutely nothing. 25 minutes that early in a stage is negligible compared to the risk of losing several hours by missing their flight.

I'm all for getting a competitive edge, but the risk far outweighed the reward this time.

Fester

I vote "dumb". After just flying internationally the chance(s) that trying to make a tight connection can go bad is very high. I would not have considered this move unless both legs of the flight were on the same carrier. The question I have is what is the best way to deal with a recalcitrant airline agent.....begging for mercy or making a stink? It looks like begging for mercy wins out this time. The Harvard Legally Dumb Blonde Duo would have probably argued that under the Geneva Convention they had a legal right to have the plane held until they arrive.

Definitely dumb! Also, if you are running late on a connecting flight, you tell them to hold the plane from before you deboard the previous plane you are on. The stewardesses will usually do that for you.

Derek and Drew were lucky they had that charm thing going for them, I bet their natural likability helped out a lot.

I agree that it was a dumb move. Connecting flights are always risky. In retrospect, everyone got bunched up again, so they lost all the time they gained. But I think in addition to trying to get ahead, part of it was motivated by them wanting to get away from everyone else who seems to hate "all the brothers" so much.

Dumb Move - pretty much goes without saying, however one angle that hasn't been touched on...what if they didn't make the connection? What were the consequences??

If they had missed the flight, at least it was TWO teams that were in the same predicament.
It would then have come down to a Twins vs Gerkhin on the remainder of the leg. Only ONE of them would have come last. In that case, if they stayed together right through to the soccer game - it would then have been the fittest, fastest team to stay in.

I wonder if this was in their minds when they chose the Cologne route? That 'if this fails, its a 2-team race for this leg'??

Food for thought....

Good point. If you're gonna take a "flyer", do it with someone else. You can always race them at the end.

It's difficult to compare air schedules as if you are flying now with what was available back in August. But this is what I found out:

Air From Aberdeen to Heathrow leaves 6:45 arrives 8:20. A key point is that domestic flights go in and out of Terminal 4 at Heathrow, which is almost on the opposite side of the airport from the Terminal 1,2,3 complex which handles Int'l flights. This adds at least a 1/2 hour to normal connection times. The first direct flight to Porto leaves at 1:40 arriving at 3:45. If you were flying today, you couldn't make the connection that the Twins and Bros made. There is a direct flight on Lufthansa to Cologne/Bonn departing at 9:55 and arriving 12:05 but the flight to Porto from Cologne/Bonn leaves at 11:45 arriving 3:25 WITH A CONNECTION THROUGH FRANKFURT (!!!!!). Another stop, if the same connections (but with enough time - barely - to connect) available in August makes this choice even a DUMBER move! You must really not want to spend time with the other teams to want to gamble on this flight for a 20 minute head start!

>Air From Aberdeen to Heathrow leaves
>6:45 arrives 8:20. The
>first direct flight to Porto
>leaves at 1:40 arriving at
>3:45. If you were flying
>today, you couldn't make the
>connection that the Twins and
>Bros made. There is a
>direct flight on Lufthansa to
>Cologne/Bonn departing at 9:55 and
>arriving 12:05 but the flight
>to Porto from Cologne/Bonn leaves
>at 11:45 arriving 3:25 WITH
>A CONNECTION THROUGH FRANKFURT (!!!!!).
>Another stop, if the same
>connections (but with enough time
>- barely - to connect)
>available in August makes this
>choice even a DUMBER move!
>You must really not want
>to spend time with the
>other teams to want to
>gamble on this flight for
>a 20 minute head start!
>

As seen in programme all 7 teams left before A/D & T/I leaving the pitstop,so it understood that they have left before 5.30 AM. They arived in Heathrow after A/D & T/I leaving Aberdeen that means they have connected in Manchester/ Glasgow/ Edinburgh.There is BA flight from Heathrow to Cologne at 10.50 AM & arriving in Cologne at 1.05 PM .There is Cologne to Porto Non-stop Flight offered by Portugalia. I am not sure with the timings.

I guess we better put as a Detour.
IN DUMB MOVE: Here, teams must first travel to Cologne & then have to connect a flight leaving for Porto. This task gets to their destination earlier than who chooses the smart move. Although there is a chance of missing the connecting flight.
IN SMART MOVE : Here, the teams have lot of time & have confirmed flight.But they will be arriving later than who chooses the Dumb move.

Let's give Phil a new Detour.