Rules and Penalties

Rules and Penalties
All teams must abide by the rules set at the beginning of the race. Failure to do so can result in time penalties, which can negatively affect finishing position in that leg of the race. While the complete set of official rules has not been released to the public, certain rules have been revealed during the various editions of the race:

Rules

 * Teams must purchase economy class tickets for airfare. Teams are allowed to be upgraded to first or business class by the airline, as long as they only paid an economy fare (Rob & Brennan and Frank & Margarita, Season 1; Reichen & Chip, Season 4; Ray & Deana, Season 7; Eric & Danielle, Season 11). Airline tickets must be purchased using the team's credit card (provided by the show), rather than money on hand. The credit card cannot be used for any other purpose. For Season 8, where the main transportation were automobiles, teams were allowed to purchase gasoline with the card in addition to air fare.
 * When teams need to purchase their own tickets, they may not travel on airlines or air routes that have been blacklisted by production, or may be only allowed to fly on airlines within a given white list; this is generally for safety and security reasons, but has also been used to prevent teams from finding routes not previously identified by the race planners that would gain considerably more time than expected and leading to teams potentially being more than a day apart.
 * Teams are not allowed contact with known friends, family, and personal acquaintances during the race. However, teams are allowed to stay in contact with and receive help from people they meet during the race, such as a travel agent or locals. One exception to this rule occurred in Season 3. Teams were offered a cellular phone after completing a Detour. As CBS's website explains, "They had the option of making one phone call to their loved ones back home before driving to the chateau. Teams could talk on the phone as long as they wanted, but had to end the call before getting in their cars. Another exception to this rule was in seasons 10 and 11, when the winners were allowed to call their families from the Finish Line to tell them they had won. In previous seasons, the winning team was not allowed to reveal their placing until the episode had aired.
 * When stated, teams may not help other teams in challenges. (Gretchen said this when she was helped by Uchenna with the boat in Season 7.) Otherwise, teams may assist one another in completing tasks, as seen in Season 8, where many teams had help setting up their tents, and the Linz and Godlewski teams cooperated to complete a Detour. When there is an Intersection, teams are forced to work together.
 * Racers are prohibited from smoking during the race. This results in the sometimes cantankerous attitude of some contestants, such as Ian (Season 3) who quit smoking just prior to the race.
 * Each team is accompanied by a two-person audio/video crew for the duration of the leg. The A/V crews rotate after each leg. For filming purposes, team members are generally required to stay within 20 feet of each other, unless one person is performing a Roadblock, and must also stay close to their A/V crew unless otherwise instructed. The A/V crew must be able to accompany the team when they use a form of transportation unless otherwise indicated; in other words, there must be room in a car, taxi, bus, train, or plane for both members of the team and the two crew members, otherwise, the team is then unable to use that form of transportation.
 * Teams are forbidden from bringing maps, guidebooks, language books, and many electronic devices including cell phones, GPS units, and PDAs, though maps and guidebooks may be purchased during the race from the money they have been given. The teams are otherwise free to carry as much or as little as they deem necessary. Generally, teams will be provided with winter clothing if they reach cold climates, and are not required to include these articles within their bags. Each team is also given a fanny pack (black with yellow and red stripes, sometimes called "The Amazing Purse") which is not considered part of their luggage (for purposes of the non-elimination penalty in Season 7, Season 8 and Season 9). Teams are to use this pack to keep their passports and official Race documentation and travel forms, and it cannot be left behind as with personal belongings.
 * Teams may be forced to submit their backpacks and possessions to searches by production staff at any time and are checked just prior to the start of the race.
 * Additional rules specific for a leg or for a task may be given along with the normal clue that is seen by the audience, provided to racers as one or more sheets of standard typewritten notes that are often seen on the show; these rules are generally not explained to the audience unless a violation of these rules occurs, but teams are required to abide by these additional rules until told otherwise. These rules typically outline driving and air travel restrictions.

Penalties and time credits

 * The standard penalty for minor rule infractions is 30 minutes plus the time advantage gained (if any) by disobeying the rule. When the team arrives at a pit stop, Phil Keoghan will state "you are the nth team to arrive", and then he will inform them of the penalty or the missed clue. This penalty is known to apply when taking the wrong form. Heather and Eve received a 30-minute penalty plus the time they gained by taking a taxi, when the clue instructed them to walk. or a prohibited mode of transportation, not following the instructions on the clue, or interfering with other teams in ways such as (inadvertently) taking another team's assigned car or taking more than one clue from a clue box.
 * If a team realizes they performed an infraction of the rules before they move on to the next task or check in, they can go back to the point where the infraction occurred and repeat the task as per the rules without any penalty outside of the time wasted to return to the task, unless their actions have interfered with another team, in which case a penalty is still applied. In some cases, a team that skips a Route Marker or performs a task incorrectly does not receive a penalty; rather, the racers will not be able to check in at the Pit Stop and will be told by host Phil Keoghan to complete the missed tasks.
 * If a team should quit a Roadblock, they are assessed a four-hour penalty starting from when the next team arrives. If a team should quit a Detour, they are assessed a 24-hour penalty (though this has only occurred once, during Season 1).
 * If a team's vehicle breaks down through no fault of their own or otherwise becomes inoperable, they may request a replacement vehicle without receiving a time penalty. However, no time credit is given for their wait in this unlucky situation. (See The Amazing Race 2 Trivia).
 * Starting in Season 10, teams that arrive last in non-elimination legs are assessed a 30-minute penalty upon completing the following leg unless they have arrived first, in which case no penalty is applied.
 * Sometimes, teams are delayed by production difficulties. In early seasons, several teams were awarded time credits because of such difficulties.

Most penalties and time credits are applied when the team arrives at the Pit Stop, regardless of where the penalty occurred during the leg; Phil will ask the team to step off to the side and wait out their penalty while other teams may check-in before them. The only exception to this rule is the four-hour penalty that occurs by quitting a Roadblock; this penalty is applied immediately once the team declares their intention to quit. (Rob & Amber exploited this exception in Season 7 to stay in the race.) Penalties may be assessed after a leg and applied to the start time for the next leg but otherwise do not affect placement of the teams and thus aren't shown, though they can usually be inferred. Only in the case where a penalty affects team placement will the post-assessment of a penalty be shown (such as with Heather and Eve in Season 3).