Welcome to rascott.com.
This is a
personal site that reflects my interests in news,
current affairs, aviation and travel.
email me at robert@rascott.com
Now In Dubai:
Photo Albums
My photographs have been moved off this site and are now stored on Picasa. They
were simply taking up too much space on my web host.
Please use this link to see my list of photo albums.
Some
Useful links:
Information:
Met Office Volcano watch
World Time
Clock
Exchange Rates
Journalism:
ForeignPolicy
Nationsonline.org
Project Syndicate
Amnesty International
Reporters w/o borders
The Guardian - UK
BBC World News
CNN Asia
Bangkok Post
Daylife.com - news
Gulf News
Arabian Business
Good causes:
Sister
Joan - Bangkok
Regional Info:
BKK Magazine
HK Magazine
In
Singapore Magazine
TimeOut Dubai
Travel:
Circle of Asia
Tales of Asia
Smart Travel Asia
Finance:
FinanceAsia
Aviation:
Amadeus (airline
schedules)
Airliners
- aviation forum
Flight Aware
Thailand Info
thailand.com
learningthai.com
sawadee.com
bangkok a-z
Back in the UK:
Newton Ferrers
Government:
The "new" White
House
Photography
Denis Olivier - black and white
And for fun:
Lin Ping live panda tv
EarthCam
History
BBC Archive
National Media
Museum
The British Library
Imperial War Museum
Useful travel links
Some online sites that can cut the cost of your travel:
For travel in Asia LINKS TO ASIA'S LOW COST CARRIERS LOW COST CARRIERS IN INDIA
Kuala Lumpur based and SEA-centric. Has some good hotel deals for Malaysia and Thailand. Nothing special in terms of airfares. Basically can offer same fares as your local traffic agent. Registration required.
Registration required. You cannot choose your airline or hotel. You offer a price and see if it is accepted. It is an interesting format but there is always a risk that you don't like what you get !
Now lunched in Australia and Singapore. Coming to Malaysia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Taiwan. The business is brought to you by Asia-Pacific's leading airlines and the world's leading online travel service Travelocity.com. Be careful of their pricing. My searches for flights in Asia produced standard economy fares priced in US dollars. There was no evidence of any discounted fares except for limited special offers.
Alan Chow at aerohkg.com is unfailingly helpful. In part because of the HKG/US$ peg flying out of HKG is consistently more expensive than flying from BKK, SIN or KUL. But if you are willing to accept certain restrictions and sometimes use direct or connecting flights rather than non-stop then you can find some good prices here. www.flights.com.hk is part of the same business.
www.lastminute.com.hk also has some interesting packages. But be prepared to travel on Garuda to Singapore or to Osaka with Air India. You can also fly on United or China Airlines to Singapore. Remember these carriers only have one flight a day between these locations; the timing may not be convenient and the tickets are not assignable to another carrier.
For travel in the USA
This is the US equivalent of www.zuji.com. It is owned by the airlines. The site is entirely US centric and you can only search and reserve flights originating in the USA. You are also forced to register after your first search. That is irritating. I am happy to register if they have what I am looking for. If not it is a waste of time !
I like Jetblue. Smart new A320s. Live TV on 24 channels on your personal video screen. And in the USA even at 4.00am there is something to watch on every channel. Sports, news, business, cartoons, history. A free headset helps. And you get fed - at least a cold snack and a drink. The leather seats are a little short on legroom and there is not much storage space. Why do people carry such large "carry-on" bags ! Best of all you can book their flights online form anywhere in the world. Try doing that with the major US carriers who will insist on a US address and a US credit card.
A great choice of hotels at any destination with useful descriptions. The hotels and cars can be booked from anywhere in the world.
Can offer a wide choice of airfares. But unless you have a US address and credit card you will not be able to make a flight reservation. Bizarre.
Very useful site for booking hotels across the USA. Good hotel descriptions. There are often comments from previous guests as well. Rates appear to be very competitive. All bookings that I made on a recent trip were faultless.
For travel in or from Europe LINKS TO ALL OF EUROPE'S LOW COST CARRIERS
A very useful site for fare comparisons and links to online booking agents.
The UK sibling of the US site. And equally useful.
The Irish based low fare airline that has terrorised the old traditional European country based carriers. From London Stansted they fly across Europe - often to secondary airports some way from town. But at these fares who cares !
They are building a base at Brussels, where the demise of Sabena left a significant opportunity, and at Frankfurt-Hahn, much to the annoyance of Lufthansa; which in itself makes the whole venture worthwhile !
Book well in advance to secure the best fares. As flights fill up prices go up !
The Luton and Gatwick version of Ryanair. Flying a much smaller network into major airports rather than the off-the-beaten track Ryanair destinations ! Easyjet have acquired Go. Go have bases at Stansted, East Midlands and Bristol and a useful network into Spain and other European destinations.
If you have any other favourite travel links please let me know and I will include them here!