Normally, the ticket-booking scenes on "The Amazing Race" make me want to fast-forward to a Roadblock or Detour. But when Azaria and Hendekea booked a business-class ticket instead of the economy-class ticket that the rules required for them to have, they cost themselves precious time and ultimately the ability to continue in the Race that they'd won three legs of.

Here's what the brother and sister team had to say for themselves:

MSN: So guys, sorry you got eliminated from "The Amazing Race."

Hendekea: Yeah, tell me about it.

MSN: It seemed like you guys had everything you needed to go all the way. You'd come in first on three legs. So what happened? Why did you guys get the business class rather than economy?

Azaria: We got the business-class ticket rather than economy because we didn't really dictate to the travel agent very loudly that we wanted economy. And that was compounded by the fact we never really checked the ticket to make sure it was economy.

MSN: So why does "The Amazing Race" have that rule, that all flights have to be economy class?

Hendekea: My guess is because number one, it's cheaper, and probably more importantly, the pressure is more on if you have to get economy, because usually first-class tickets are more available on international flights. And so there wouldn't be as much competition to get a flight period if first-class was open.

Azaria: Also, I was thinking that on an economy flight, say, from L.A. to Ireland, it's a lot more difficult than a first-class ticket.

MSN: So was there any possibility of your, say, trading your business-class flight with someone economy-class, or was that disallowed by the rules?

Hendekea: No. The explicit rule is that you must purchase economy tickets. So we could have downgraded or gotten different seats but that would have been against the rules because we had to purchase economy tickets. And that had to be done at the ticket-agent phase, at that time.

MSN: So how would you categorize your experience on the Race overall?

Azaria: Ups and downs, but for the most part, except for Croatia, the ending there, it was really phenomenal. It was just an unbelievable opportunity, a chance not just to travel the world and to see different cultures and places, but to share that experience with my sister and actually my family and friends back home.

Hendekea: Yeah, it was obviously more than just winning a million dollars. Traveling around the world, and meeting interesting people and building relationships, not just with my brother, but I met so many great people from other teams on the Race.

MSN: How did your time on the Race compare to what you expected going in?

Azaria: I thought it was a little less physically grueling. I thought it was going to be a lot of physical activity with some mental tied into it. But with the exception of the first leg, it really wasn't like that.

Hendekea: I also totally expected to be arguing with Azaria more than I did. I think Azaria and I worked really well together. I think we discovered early on I was strong in certain areas he wasn't and he was strong in certain areas that I wasn't, so if we could keep cool, we were a team that could really work well. So that surprised me.

MSN: What would you say were your strengths and weaknesses as individuals and as a team?

Hendekea: I think obviously Azaria's a lot faster and stronger than I am. But I pay more attention to detail. I have better eyes than he does. I work better when it comes to asking somebody to use a laptop or a cell phone. I'm probably more of a people person. So that was my strength.

MSN: What would you say was your favorite leg of the race?

Azaria: I enjoyed the first leg in Burkina Faso. It started out pretty tough, we slept on the concrete that night. ... Being in Burkina and being able to run with... Misha and do all the activities we did was really fun.

Hendekea: I'd have to say the same. It depends on what's more important to you. Croatia is a beautiful place, a wonderful landscape, and the task in Ireland was fun and crazy, but for me it came down to interacting with people and growing relationships. I think that took place in Burkina Faso, so I'd have to agree with Azaria.

MSN: How did being on the Race affect your relationship with each other?

Hendekea: I think for most of our lives, Azaria and I have had the typical brother-sister relationship. Unfortunately we weren't that close all our lives. I felt he was like the protective brother, so I wasn't as open to him as I maybe would have liked. I think being in such close proximity and having to work together has forced us to be more open. As a result, after the Race, I think that we communicate better, we talk to each other more often, and we're really trying to work on building an open, positive relationship with each other.

Azaria: I think every Hendekea said was pretty accurate. ... I love her and I'll always have her back.

Hendekea: All that's implied, right? I think to make a relationship stronger, you have to be a lot more open. ...

MSN: Other than obviously the mistake that led to you being eliminated, what else might you change if you had the opportunity to do the Race over again?

Azaria: I would have been easier on Hendekea, been more supporting, instead of being a coach, be more a friend or a teammate.

Hendekea: And I tried to be a peacemaker in the sense that it would have been easy for me to fire back at him and argue all the time but I didn't think it was conducive to a better team. But looking back, maybe that was what we needed. Maybe if I had fired back, rather than him nailing it on me, I could have been there to calm him down and reevaluate some of our decisions.

MSN: So that last episode, how far back where you from the grandfather and the grandson when it was all said and done?

Hendekea: We were probably 10 minutes behind them.

Azaria: Yeah, 10 minutes.

MSN: Looking back on that last leg, once you were in Croatia, was there anything you could have done differently to pare down that 10 or 15 minutes?

Hendekea: A lot of things. They didn't show that our taxi driver took us to the wrong pier. That could have been 10 minutes right there.

Azaria: It took us like a half-hour to get the Roadblock completed just because there were so many blocks and not  very many slots that would fit. And then there was the Great Anchor Incident. ... Our rowboat was tied to the pier, but there was also an anchor that was holding it down, and we didn't realize there was an anchor.

MSN: That must have sucked.

Azaria: Yep.

MSN: So what advice do you have for people who might want to go on "The Amazing Race" in the future?

Hendekea: I'm not a big fan of "Let's go on 'The Amazing Race' and re-evaluate our relationship." I don't think that contestants should try to go on "The Amazing Race" to see how strong their relationship is. I don't think that's not very healthy. You need to be calm, obviously. It seems the people who are the most calm and look at the big picture do the best. So if you can steer away from drama for the most part and remain calm, I think you'll do well.

Azaria: I think the most important thing to do and it benefited us greatly throughout is using all the resources that are available, and particularly focusing on the people. If you were to come to New Orleans and wanted to go to the Superdome, you'd rely on the people around you to help you. Hendekea and I did a really good job of trying to get input from others.

MSN: How did you guys stop from laughing when Jen was complaining in that one leg that you guys had already had your turn at being first and you didn't let them come in first?

Azaria: I smiled, but didn't laugh. She was venting.

Hendekea: She was venting. At that point, they had come really close to first like two or three times I think. They were just frustrated and they let their emotions get the best of them. I didn't really take it too seriously.

MSN: How would you assess the remaining teams?

Hendekea: It's really weird. I think that a lot of people wouldn't expect the two older teams, Gramps and grandson and Ron and Chris, to be there. But I don't think being older is that much of a disadvantage. And in my opinion, it's an advantage because they think a lot more. They're slower because of it, but it also causes them to look at the big picture and not rush into judgment. I think a lot of people are surprised about them being around.

Azaria: I think the remaining teams are all strong in their own way. TK and Rachel are very laid-back. They also have physical prowess. Ron and Christina are extremely intelligent and I think their relationship throughout the Race has gotten stronger and stronger as they've gotten to know each other. Nate and Jen, they bicker, they fight, but if you look at their performance throughout the past six legs, they've always been at the top. They've never really dropped down to the back. So it's a pretty good complement of people who still remain in the Race.

MSN: Guys, anything else you'd like to add about your time on the Race?

Azaria: It was awesome. It was a great experience that's going to stick with us for the rest of our lives, and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of it.

Hendekea: We're just really thankful to have been given this opportunity. It's definitely something I know a lot of people would love to do and we were just fortunate to have been a part of it.

- posted by Raoul