[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Aug 15 2003, 02:17 PM\']what do they do when it happens? do they just give them the value in cash?[/quote]
Hell no!!
Most, if not all, of the items in a trip package (airfare, hotel, meals, ground transportation, etc.) are not paid for in cash by the production company/network. These items are usually (at least in part) given to the show in exchange for the on-air exposure. As a general rule, the more you hear about the details of the trip the less cash is changing hands between the producers and prize brokers. As such, the contestant is not going to see any cash.
Contestants' only choices are to accept or forfeit a prize. Period. Once the show is over they don't start a backstage version of \"Let's Make A Deal\"!
Occasionally, under some circumstances, an especially cooperative and generous prize broker may offer to substitute a cheaper trip that is in his inventory (i.e. already awarded but not awarded / forfeited from another show or episode) OR educate and accommodate the contestant with juxtaposing the flight segments. Then LA to Hawaii and return to LA can become Hawaii to LA and return to the contestant's home in Hawaii!!! But forget moving the hotel 3,000 miles ;-)
Randy
tvrandywest.com
