Are you superstitious about things relating to travel?
Ever since the bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln was placed outside the tomb holding his remains at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Ill., people have been rubbing the nose for good luck. “We know presidential candidates Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole rubbed the nose,” said Dave Blanchette, spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, “and Barack Obama rubbed the nose when he was serving in the Illinois State Senate.”
American Airlines, JetBlue and Virgin America have a row number 13 on their airplanes, but Lufthansa has neither a row 13 nor a row 17 on its planes because the number 13 is regarded as unlucky in so many places and because the number 17 is regarded as unlucky in Italy and Brazil.
On the ground, many hotel guests refuse to stay in a room on the 13th floor. “Hotels have responded to this in a precautionary manner by eliminating this level of the property, in one way or another,” said Emma Jupp, president of Liberty Travel. Some hotels just skip 13 in their floor and room numbering; the 108-year old Wolcott Hotel in New York City has always used its 13th floor to house machinery.
For more travel superstitions, see the slide show I put together for MSN Local Edition.
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