Travel Tip: AirAsia's Row 4

Warning: This is not for the superstitious!  During my semester in Malaysia, I have flown on AirAsia maybe a dozen times now. AirAsia is the most successful discount airline in the world, and is a great money saver.  And, I have found an *almost* guaranteed way to get a full row of seats to yourself on an AriAsia flight. First, you have to pay a little extra for a "Hot Seat".  These are the first five rows and the two exit rows of most AirAisia planes.  They have a little more leg room (I think) and you get to board and unboard before everyone else.  Next, select Row 4.

The word "four" is considered unlucky by Chinese, for whom it is a homonym of the word for "death".  Thus, most buildings in East and Southeast Asia do not have a 4th floor. They either call it 3A or just skip it altogether.  I saw one hotel recently in Hong Kong that skipped both the 4th and 13th floors.

I accidentally stumbled on AirAsia's 4th row on a flight about a couple of months ago.  I was on a packed AirAsia plane on which almost all of the Hot Seats were taken (which is extremely rare -- perhaps caused by a canceled flight?) and I was in the 4th row, which I had selected not remembering the Chinese superstition at the time.  I had the whole row to myself, allowing me to lean against the window and put my legs up on the seats next to me.

No, I am not superstitious when it comes to numbers.  My lucky number has always been 13, and I have never had an unlucky number.  While I generally avoid 4 and favored 8, due to my Chinese background, it is not something that I have strong feelings about.  In fact, I think bad luck numbers are really silly.

I suspect that this 4th row tip may apply to most all airlines in East and Southeast Asia (and especially in China). So, if you are comfortable with the number 4, like me, take advantage of this more comfortable upgrade before everyone else figures it out!

Travelography #157: Fighting the Image War for Tourism

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This podcast is available at PodcasterNews.com, Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info. And also check out Travelography on Twitter.com. Click Here for ALL of the News Stories discussed in this podcast. The Two Highlighted Stories for today are: Political Instability, Violence Threat to Asia's Tourism Industry   Political violence has done considerable damage to tourism in Asia and the Pacific over the past few years. But industry experts say the damage is not necessarily permanent. Governments and industry leaders say much can be done to rebuild tattered tourism reputations. Wish you were here? Asian war zones battle for tourists   Across a swath of south and south-east Asia previously wracked by war or strife, officials are carrying out a rebranding exercise to lure back tourists who have long been scared of visiting. In places such as Nepal, it is more like fine-tuning. In others, such as Kashmir, it means a complete overhaul.

Travelography #129: Airlines Flying Above Financial Crisis

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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 29 September 2008. This podcast is also available at Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info.

• Low Gas Prices Help Airline Stocks Take Off

  Airlines also attracted investors by retiring older, less fuel-efficient planes and cutting capacity to support higher ticket prices. Passengers seemed willing to pay additional fees for everything from luggage to food to extra leg room, which added millions to airlines' revenue.

• As International Airfares Soar, Americans Stay in the U.S.

  Growth of international passenger traffic worldwide slowed to a five-year low in July and dropped further in August, according to the International Air Transport Association, which represents 230 airlines.

• Airlines add service and amenities to Asian routes

  ...996 nonstop flights a week were scheduled in the third quarter of 2008 from the United States to Asian countries, more than ever before. Los Angeles is the most popular departure city from the United States, with 180 flights a week. Narita Airport in Tokyo is the most frequent destination, with 380 arrivals a week.
• The give and take of travel

  Bargain in good faith The 50 cents you save may give you pride because you "beat down" the salesperson, but you may have also robbed that person of extra food or prevented his or her children from purchasing school books or a mandatory school uniform.

Travelography #93: China's Golden Week and Hong Kong Disneyland Struggles

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Lot of tourism news from China and Asia...
- China, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia are leading Asia to a record tourism year in 2007
- Huge numbers of tourists during China's National Day holiday causes some to question the value of Golden Weeks
- Over 1500 foreign tourists get lost in the mob of domestic tourists at China's Tiananmen Square
- Hong Kong Disneyland is under-performing as visitors say it it too small and culturally insensitive

Asia Pac Region sets record for international visitor arrivals

120 million Chinese celebrate Golden Week

Tienanmen Square scare: Tourists lose way

Poor attendance gives Hong Kong Disneyland financial woes

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Travelography #70: Asia Cruises, Mega Cruise Ports, and a Mini Potala Palace

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The cruise industry is hoping to expand cruising in Asia. Ports in the Caribbean, including Miami, are needing major upgrades to handle the new crop of mega cruise ships. And China is building a scaled version of the Potala Palace to divert some of the large numbers of visitors traveling to Tibet from the real palace.

Travelography: World Travel News

Asian nations begin push for more exposure in cruise market

Supersize me: Caribbean ports struggle to cope with mega-cruiseships

Lhasa to build mini Potala Palace amid tourist boom

Geography for Travelers

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Travelography #61: A Record 842 Million International Trips Taken Last Year

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The World Tourism Organization's 2006 preliminary numbers show a record 842 million international trips were taken in 2006, up 4.5% from 2005. Africa saw the highest percent growth, while North America grew the least. Tourism in any Asian countries is growing fast, which China being pegged to surpass Spain by 2010 to be the second most visited country in the world, after France. And ASEAN countries hope to promote more intra-regional travel.

Another Record Year for World Tourism

Asia’s Travel Industry Charges into 2007

Record Year for Singapore as Tourism Exceeds 2006 Targets

Asean Tourism Forum Opens

Open Skies, Single-Visa Regime Key To ASEAN

World tourism sets record in 2006, U.N. agency says

UNWTO: China set to surpass Spain by 2010

Vietnam tourism industry keen on achieving a new record in 2007

Korea targets 10 million inbound visitors by 2010

G4T #40: Defining Modernity in Asia (graduate research workshop)

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This week's Geography for Travelers podcast starts a series of recordings that I will be doing that come out of a couple of meetings that I attended in Singapore last week. The first was a graduate student workshop about doing research in Asia. I was one of four keynote speakers at that workshop, and today's podcast is an edited recording of my talk. The title was "Defining and Redefining Modernity in New Asia." Not exactly tourism, but closely related. The sound quality of the recording was not ideal, but I think I edited it to a level that can still be listened to. Let me know if I am wrong.

The second meeting was a three-day conference on Asian tourism in Asia. I hope to put presentations by other people from both meetings up over the next couple of months, along with some soundseeing audio. Both meetings were sponsored by the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore.

Here is the abstract of my presentation from the Workshop program:

I will discuss the issue of meaning of modern and traditional in contemporary Asia, with a focus on the East and Southeast Asia. In my 30 years of living and studying in Asia, the contradictions between the modern and the traditional in these societies (especially in the built landscape) have always been of particular interest. I will present some theoretical perspectives on this topic, and my own opinions. This will, hopefully, lead to a discussion of the challenges of researching modernization in Asia.