Comments on: How to Book a Train in India As Foreigner Without an Indian Bank Card

By: Ramn

Ramn — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 08:18:16 +0000

Hello, I want to travel India next year. I am so confused about transportation in India. I want to go Bombay to Jaipur. What is the cheapest way to transport? If I need to take a AC train how can I book tickets from USA? After Jaipur I want o go Agra and then Golden Temple. I need your advice about hotels and transportation.

Thanks !

By: KX

KX — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 16:42:22 +0000

This is helpful, thank you for taking the time to provide good information. I just want to note another caveat. 12go doesn’t appear to include every station in the IR network. I have attempted to book a trip to Ledo, the last railway station, so not frequently visited. The station is not given as an option by 12go. So unless I’m doing something wrong it’s not possible to book a ticket to that station and likely other less frequently traveled destinations.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 00:43:35 +0000

Awesome! thank you so much for this advice. I was trying to create an account for like two hours this morning. This method took like 5 mins. Thanks!

By: train ticket

train ticket — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 22:29:58 +0000

Hi Rachel, thank you. I also have no problem and easily get it done.

By: Anita

Anita — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 15:27:49 +0000

Thanks for your tips. As of September 2019 unfortunately this does not work anymore. They rarely have any trains available on 12go.asia. With an IRCTC account we were also unsuccessful, as they, as well as makemytrip and cleartrip require indian credit cards. Paypal or Amazon Pay also didn’t work for us. So I guess it’s going to the station and hoping they will have tickets.

By: Julia

Julia — Thu, 02 May 2019 14:03:59 +0000

Hey Rachel just to let you know that you can now book irctc tickets directly on the site using a foreign card if you add ‘international card’ as the card preference on your profile. I bought some the other day, may need to wait until after 6pm (Indian time) though when the site traffic is less

By: Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 15:30:16 +0000

In reply to Carl Elliott. That would be great news, back in two weeks so will have to give it a try!

By: Carl Elliott

Carl Elliott — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 10:58:32 +0000

Thank you for an excellent post. Just a quick one to say that we’re currently in India, using redbus and paying no problem with our kiwi debit card. Has also worked on our English card. Maybe they’ve updated their system now

By: Julia

Julia — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 18:05:13 +0000

In reply to Rachel Jones. Thank you for your reply Rachel! Julie, I talked to friends and they said going to the station the day before you would want to depart was working out okay. I suppose that will be my way to go!

By: Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 16:29:36 +0000

In reply to Julie. Remember that they only have a limited selection of seats as they are a third party supplier – so just because they are sold out doesn’t mean the train is. you can also book on IRCTC you just then have to go through the crazy account making issue or wait and book in india. If not train, then go by tourist bus they are comfortable A/C reclining seats, no need to take a taxi

By: Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 16:28:51 +0000

In reply to Julie. Julie, are you looking at 12goasia? remember that they only have a limited selection of seats - so just because they are sold out doesn't mean the train is. you can also book on IRCTC you just then have to go through the crazy account making issue or wait and book in india

By: Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 16:28:00 +0000

In reply to Lauren patterson.

I think the big ones might – but I’ve only ever paid cash. Recommend having the cash as even if they do have a card machine sometimes the WiFi isn’t working and the machine is down

By: Lauren patterson

Lauren patterson — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 12:57:08 +0000

Hi, do you know if train stations in India allow you to pay for trains on card?

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 21:42:31 +0000

In reply to Julia. Hi Julia, how have you solved this issue? I am traveling beginning of February and also don't see any availability almost. What to do... OMG

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 21:41:15 +0000

Hi Rachel,
Is it normal that almost all trains I want to book via 12go.asia in Goa, Hampi, Kerala, Rajasthan for beginning/mid February (we are mid January now) are sold out? Or is this just the website not offering it? Buses are also mostly sold out according to the system.
Alternatively, how can I still travel around in the country, because otherwise my trip is going to be problematic or very expensive by taxi…
Thanks for your feedback and for the helpful posts

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 21:46:00 +0000

Hi Rachel! Thank you very much for this article, it really clearifies things. However, one small question; I am looking at train/bus tickets for next month and a lot seems to be not available anymore! Is this normal and should I have been earlier with booking beforehand, or will some options maybe appear online later? Would love hearing from you!

By: Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 16:55:30 +0000

In reply to Galih Aditya. They recommend doing it 48 hours ahead of time to be sure you get the ticket, but most people have said they get their ticket right away. If it doesn't come in time, you can cancel it and be fully refunded (so their customer service tells me).

By: Galih Aditya

Galih Aditya — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 02:43:58 +0000

Hey Rachel, thanks so so much for writing this article. It helps me a lot after hours of frustrated booking system. But I still have one question, how long does it take to get your ticket on email after you bought it through 12asia.go?

By: Grubs

Grubs — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 07:24:11 +0000

I gave up on booking a train. Too bad for my Shimla toy train I was looking forward to so much. This optimistic blog gave me the courage to move on trying for buses. But if I had spend all this time on my own work instead of all these e-mails (cleartrip, makemytrip, irctc, hrtc, redbus), filling out forms, reading instructions, I could now afford a taxidriver for a month in India. Applying for a visa was a walk in the park compared to this. They don’t want foreigners. Weeks of preparation make me feel very uncomfortable with going to India again.
My tip would be to let someone in India arrange it for you, that’s what I am doing now.

By: Shajal Sharma

Shajal Sharma — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 06:46:28 +0000

I am from Bangladesh. I can not complete IRCTC account as a foreigner. I have made 100 RS payment through credit card. Yet to receive OTP number in my registered my local mobile number. With out OTP number my mobile verification is still incomplete. Repeatedly communicate with IRCTC but yet to solve the issue.