Booking Indian Rail Tickets from Abroad

Hey All

Dave maybe your best to ask, but if anyone can help??

Well I managed to work around the IRCTC registration, possibly! To the point where I have an account with name at the top.

Issues were that I do not have an indian mob number so I actually have my home landline number without the 0 at the front.

This caused problems as I did not then get the sms to be able to complete registration... So I emailed them with name and the email address I used, and they got back to me with a code that would have been sent to sent via sms.

I could proceed and have an account with IRCTC.

Now there are a few things I am not sure about, namely about the validity of my account. For example...

I do not have a valid mobile number.
I put in a random 6 digit number instead of an indian zip code (I have it written down, but is it valid?)

In theory I can book tickets, well I have gotten as far as payment screen. Which would be my last question. Can I use UK based credit cards? I have Visa or Master card. It mentions in payment screen ANY CREDIT CARD VISA/MASTER card...

So... without valid mobile number and no sms I'm I likely to run into problems? With anything mentioned above?

Tnx for all the help, very confused
Rich

elbongo

There is actually a whole thread on irctc registration issues here

http://www.indiamike.com/india/india...phone-t154338/

It's a shame that you didn't go there first as you would have learned that the only non-Indian credit card irctc accept is American Express. It is also explained in post 1 of this thread.

For Visa and Mastercard you need Cleartrip.

I see no reason why your new irctc account won't work and I normally recommend a small test purchase to check but no Amex no go.

Hey Dave,

Thanks for the reply... I have read many posts and I think that the overload has got me in a flap!

I was actually trying to book through cleartrip but it proceeds to a stage where you need to register with irctc. Thats when I attempted to register with irctc.

I have since attempted to go through cleartrip again only to get to the screen asking to register with irctc and then I can go no further.

I am guessing if I look through posts elsewhere I might find the answer...

Thanks Dave

Hey again,

The issue, or one of them was that after managing to get both a cleartrip account... the easy one, and a IRCTC account. Somewhat trickier! I was having quite a few issues when attempting to get tickets through cleartrip. The issue was that the two accounts needed to be linked or else you get put through to the IRCTC registration page again.

The FAQ were unable to get me the right information, but following a link from cleartrip forum helped and got me to this link http://www.cleartrip.com/trains/irctc/account/activate

This enabled me to link IRCTC and cleartrip and now I can proceed to view and buy tickets (through cleartrip) with a foreign credit card*

*I have not actually tested it so far as bought tickets as I am waiting for new card to arrive, long story.

Although I see no real reason at this stage why it shouldn't as long as your card as got that verified safe thingy activated A little help with real wording?

Anyhoo this helped me hope it helps others
Rich

Rich

Thanks for that post which I have copied over to the Registration thread for neatness. The "thingy" is Verified by Visa or SecureCode for Mastercard.

Morning all!
Ill begin with my usual apology that in all likelihood these answers can be found in other threads...SO: sorry if these have been answered elsewhere, but:
- I print my eTicket, is this a valid, legal ticket? Arent there any proceedures i need to go through at the station?
- ummm actually thats all i need to know now...
Thanks chaps
Neil

It is actually covered in the first post on this thread. The answer is Yes. print your tickets and take them with you. The TTE (Travelling Ticket Examiner) will check them on the train.

Your (confirmed) eTicket (and ID) is all you need.

In a couple of the larger stations some official looking men try to tell you your ticket needs to be confirmed/authorised or yellow dots added to it, ignore them, it's a scam, they'll get you to an office and tell you the ticket hasn't been confirmed, and that you can't get on that train, then try to sell you a package.

A ticket is confirmed if you have your carriage & berth details, eg.....

S2 41 (Sleeper Class carriage 2, berth 41)
B3 22 (3-tier air con carriage 3, berth 22)
A1 19 (2-tier air con carriage 1, berth 19)
HA1 12 (1A/2A combi carriage 1, berth 12)
(there are more carriage types)

First Class, both air con(1A) and non air con(FC) don't give carriage & berth details on the ticket, but they do say 'CNF' (confirmed).

A ticket that isn't confirmed will have either RAC or WL instead of carriage & berth details, RAC mostly gets you a full berth, and always gets you on the train (in a seat), WL can be a problem, the following thread goes into a lot more detail about RAC and WL tickets.

RAC & Waitlist explained.
.

Cheers Dave...i read something about having to "check-in" as you'd do for a flight but if this isnt the case, then thats cool. I got well and truly scammed on my one and only visit to Delhi train station and im already a bit anxious about returning!! Thanks

Do explain, it's useful for others to know, and well......we all enjoy a good laugh when reading about these scams.

and thanks Steven...my, you guys are quick!! Yeah thats exactly what i wanna avoid...why oh why dont the rail authorities deal with these guys? They are vermin; and quite different to people pestering you to buy some trinkets or something, they are guys just trying to make a living and i reserve a certain tolerance for them...but these station scammers are a real pain in the arse...my introduction to India was a very sad and frustrating experience because of them...THIS time will be different, oh yes
cheers!

Neilus

If its any consolation you are not alone.

New Delhi tourist office on train station scam

Ah just the usual scam, i would imagine..."official" looking chap tells me the tourist reservation office was being renovated and was whisked away to a crummy private travel agency where i was told all trains to Varanasi were booked, but of course they could get me a ticket at an exhorbitant price. Sensing that i was truly an Indian novice (true; id been to Nepal a few years before but this wasnt really much preparation as the Indians are much more aggressive with this scamming business), they suggested a short break in Kashmir. Their sales skills far outweighed my resillience and 20 mins later i handed over i cant remember how much...$180 maybe?
Flight to Srinigar was the next morning and in the meantime this guys brother would look after me, give me a tour of Delhi etc...i wont go into too much detail, but when this guy turned up 3 hours later, he wasnt a particularly nice chap and the next 24 hours were extremely unpleasant.
I bottled out of going to Kashmir and refusing to give me a refund, i was instead taken to Jaipur and Agra, so at least i got a few days with a driver and cab...
The whole experience was costly and really upsetting.
Im off again in October and im gonna eat these guys alive...!
Thanks chaps

I noted that once booked, the counter does not come down, even if you cancel the ticket booked in the same month. Did I misinterpret your note?

Yes. I think what Dip meant, and the way it works, is indeed a booked ticket will remain standing as a booking for that month, even if canceled later.

(I can never be 100% sure, but I think it refers to the month you're doing the booking in, not the month you're booking for. If, of course, the two differ.)