The HBR blog, recently displayed 41 travel tips from Scott Anthony who logged 300,000 miles in travel to and within Asia last year. I have listed a few of my choice tips from that list. Some of have my editorial comments appended in italics at the end.
# If you have the choice between an Asian or Middle Eastern airline and a U.S. or European one, always take the Asian or Middle Eastern one —even if you have to pay more for it. Yep, lately I have flown Emirates Air (new planes, reasonable service, no late flights, good food, too many choices of movies). And you can’t go wrong with Singapore, Thai, Cathay etc (see next point).
# Do whatever you can to get status on Singapore Airlines as quickly as possible. If there is a company that has higher service standards than Singapore Airlines, I’d like to see it.
# If someone says, “Just a minute” in India, that can mean anything from a minute to a lifetime.
# The least friendly country to enter is the United States. Actually I find that leaving Heathrow in London is almost as unfriendly.
# Don’t even consider driving your own car in India.
# Avoid eating dinner in your hotel room — even if you don’t speak the language, find a restaurant that has pictures on the menu. You get a better window into local culture.
# The US casts a long shadow, and people will ask your opinion on healthcare reform, the approval ratings of the President, LeBron James, and Apple’s latest moves. Your only hope is to read The Economist or a similar publication.
# I’ve been told really cheap bottled water in India is probably worse than tap water, because chemicals from the plastic eek into the water. S cott, if you buy cheap water in India, you are likely to get some serious bacteria, not just plastic and chemicals. And even “expensivee” branded water bought from a less than reliable place can be “re-cycled”. Remember the quick scene in Slumdog Millionaire where Jamal and his brother are working in what looks like a restaurant: actually what they are doing is filling tap water in branded bottles and re-sealing them. This is not imaginary, it happens.
