Prizes--what they say or vouchers?

[gameshowcrazy]

While watching a SOTC rerun, I was thinking how I would've never bought a trip for a prize as all the trips originate in Los Angeles.  This is also the type of prize I would forfeit if I was ever a contestant on TPIR.  I would not want the trip as I would have to go from the east coast to LA just to begin my trip, and the expense of traveling to LA is just something I don't have the money for, even if the rest of the trip is paid in full.

This made me wonder, since some of the prizes are stated as "gift certificates which you can use to buy this ugly chair we're showing you right now", what about trips?  I do remember watching as a kid and noticing some trips were "from the winners closest major airport" and wondering if my local airport would be considered major enough or if Philly would be closest major; but I don't hear that wording anymore, and not on SOTC.

Are the standard TPIR prizes which are trips all originatiing from Los Angeles as stated so that a real value can be attached; or do the winners get vouchers so they can begin their trip somewhere closer to home?

[TLEberle]

If they say you and a friend will fly coach from Los Angeles to BFE, then that is in fact the prize you will win. I suspect that the plane tickets, hotel room and various other ancillary stuff (day trips or other events while in glorious downtown BFE) are separate; you could decline the tickets and fly business class if your own airport flies into BFE.

[chrisholland03]

I'm sure Scott can provide more detail, but there is precedent where if the prize awarded is not available, the contestant is offered an equivalent cash substitution.  It ultimately depends on what is in the paperwork the winner signs.

[SRIV94]

(day trips or other events while in glorious downtown BFE)

Ain't never been there but they tell me it's nice.

[chad1m]

If they say you and a friend will fly coach from Los Angeles to BFE, then that is in fact the prize you will win.

Maybe I'm mis-remebering, but aren't some (many?) of the prize providers willing to arrange travel to your nearest airport, if available? The shows, especially Price for game purposes, have to set values for these prizes so they use travel from Los Angeles to do so.

[TLEberle]

Maybe I'm mis-remebering, but aren't some (many?) of the prize providers willing to arrange travel to your nearest airport, if available?

I'm sure they'll do whatever you want regarding the trip; for a cost. I'm going on memories of books written nearly 20 years ago now, but my recollection is that generally you win what the announcer reads, and if you want to tweak it (adding car options or flying out of a different airport) it is the responsibility and cost of the winner to make those changes.

[splinkynip]

If I remember correctly (going back to when I was 14 in 1987), when I won a trip to Orlando on Wheel, the prize company gladly switched it to round trip from Newark instead of LA since it would cost less.  I guess it depends on distance.  I would assume that if I won a trip to Hawaii, we would have to pay our way to LA

[Adam Nedeff]

I can tell you for sure that when I worked at "Wheel of Fortune," you were basically getting a voucher for a free flight to wherever the trip was. Basing it in Los Angeles was done strictly to attach a retail value to the prize since it affected the game. When the contestant redeemed the voucher, the airline told us where they flew from and what the value of the flight would have been from where they departed, and then we adjusted the information accordingly for their taxes. "Price" I'm pretty sure worked the same way, but that chunk of my life is now pretty much a blur.

[MSTieScott]

I don't know the exact details, as I never worked with the travel agency that TPIR employs to fulfill its vacation prizes. I do know that they will try to work with the contestant to fly them out of a more convenient airport if that cost falls within the value of their prize.

For example, say you win a $4,500 trip, which is listed on your prize paperwork as a $2,000 airfare and a $2,500 hotel stay. So long as the tickets from your local airport don't cost more than $2,000, then the travel agency will make those arrangements.

As for merchandise prizes, a show's decision to award the cash value of the prize is dependent on the show's relationship with the manufacturer of the prize. It's all based on what contracts were signed between the two parties before the prize was even offered on the show, let alone won.

[gameshowcrazy]

Which is exactly what I was getting at with my question.

Sometimes they actually say a $500 gift certificate with which you can buy this fabulous prize, but that's not usually what's said.

I figured with trips, it just might be vouchers to encourage the contestant to take the prize (such as from LA it's a $2000 flight, and that's the voucher you're getting, go over that when you book and you must make up the difference), and even if it's not specifically said on air that it would be a voucher, contestants would have that in the rules they sign off on prior to being on the show.

There are many prizes, especially TPIR, where it is just that, the prize.  It's always been about advertising, and let's face it, how many people could do anything with a boat/trailer combo when they don't have the truck to haul it with, or any water close to home to put it on.  A contestant always has the right to forfeit the prize.

[tvrandywest]

Short answer: Judging by my experience with several trips and a car, and my relationships with a couple of prize houses, the entity you deal with (CBS, travel agency, prize shlepper) is generally very accommodating.

One example: My PYL eps taped in the summer and aired in September and October, but by the time the prizes were awarded (90 days), Nissan was already into the next model year with higher prices. One phone call and CBS arranged for the additional credit for the new model year's price for the same vehicle model.

[gameshowcrazy]

That is so interesting about the lag time from taping to airing to prize distribution.  I never thought about that car turning a year old in that timeframe.

[PYLdude]

I can tell you for sure that when I worked at "Wheel of Fortune," you were basically getting a voucher for a free flight to wherever the trip was. Basing it in Los Angeles was done strictly to attach a retail value to the prize since it affected the game. When the contestant redeemed the voucher, the airline told us where they flew from and what the value of the flight would have been from where they departed, and then we adjusted the information accordingly for their taxes. "Price" I'm pretty sure worked the same way, but that chunk of my life is now pretty much a blur.

Lemme ask you this (and everybody else who might know this): were/are Wheel flights the same as other shows, where it's the coach fare to said destination?

And I'm assuming that,.if you don't want to fly coach, any upgrade cost is yours to bear and that the voucher you get might have an expiration date?

[beatlefreak84]

I can tell you for sure that when I worked at "Wheel of Fortune," you were basically getting a voucher for a free flight to wherever the trip was. Basing it in Los Angeles was done strictly to attach a retail value to the prize since it affected the game. When the contestant redeemed the voucher, the airline told us where they flew from and what the value of the flight would have been from where they departed, and then we adjusted the information accordingly for their taxes. "Price" I'm pretty sure worked the same way, but that chunk of my life is now pretty much a blur.

Lemme ask you this (and everybody else who might know this): were/are Wheel flights the same as other shows, where it's the coach fare to said destination?

And I'm assuming that,.if you don't want to fly coach, any upgrade cost is yours to bear and that the voucher you get might have an expiration date?

Yes; your tickets are coach tickets.  I won a Caribbean cruise on my episode that left out of St. Lucia, and I took my dad.  Because I was living in Nebraska and he in Illinois at the time, they paid for us to fly from O'Hare to New York, and then from New York to St. Lucia; both flights were coach.  But, I had to pay for the flight from Nebraska to O'Hare (I didn't own a car at the time).

Speaking of accommodations:  the airline they had us flying on only had flights from St. Lucia on Sundays, and our cruise ended on Saturday.  When they discovered the error, they booked us in a hotel for the night.  It was an all-inclusive resort, so one heck of an accommodation! 

/Such a nice resort, in fact, I'm going back there for my honeymoon...

Anthony

[Adam Nedeff]

Short answer: Judging by my experience with several trips and a car, and my relationships with a couple of prize houses, the entity you deal with (CBS, travel agency, prize shlepper) is generally very accommodating.

This brings to mind a story of a woman I met in West Virginia who had been a contestant on daytime "Wheel" during the shopping era. They played the speed-up round for a Tiffany's gift certificate. She won the round and the gift certificate, and a couple months later, she sheepishly called the NBC prize department and told them, "I didn't really win enough on the gift certificate to buy anything I want."

Prize coordinator asks, "What kind of stuff in that catalog did you have your eye on?" She says she had her eye on a console television for the living room because she needed one anyway. Prize coordinator  cuts her off and says "Mail me that gift certificate and I'll get you the TV instead." A month later, sure enough, a delivery van showed up to drop off a console television.