IRCTC Train Ticket Reservation Hacks

IRCTC train tickets are the unchallengeable top choice of most travellers in India  not just due to the cost but also  the comfort they offer. Following is a set of learnings which I have learnt over a period of time through my experience booking IRCTC train tickets for myself and for others. Sharing this as this may be useful hacks to many who book tickets, especially the ones who book tickets regularly

1. Always check the check box "Consider for Auto Upgradation" while booking IRCTC train ticket . This gives you an opportunity to get an train ticket one level above the level which you booked, without any expense. For eg, you may be given a 3AC seat if you booked a Sleeper in IRCTC.

There is quite a complex process defined by IRCTC behind how some of the booked tickets are selected for upgradation. In a simple way, we can safely assume that by enabling this checkbox, we are  eligible for a lottery -- which if we win, we get a free ticket to travel in a coach one level above our current coach which we booked via IRCTC. Note that this is not an extra seat offered. Instead , the existing seat is exchanged for a costlier seat, which is a good offer again. Imagine travelling in 3AC or 2AC after booking a non-AC Sleeper coach in IRCTC.. Sounds cool eh?

2. Choose farther destination when current destination is full while booking ticket in IRCTC:When don't get tickets for a specific destination which is in the middle of the train's entire route , try choosing a farther destination 'X' -- especially less popular stations. You may often have available train tickets in IRCTC for this station, though a little costlier (Notably these are cheaper and safer than tatkal or private bus tickets). Now, you could just get down at your station after booking tickets from your origin to the 'X' station(where tickets are available). In this case, your berth would be vacant from your destination till 'X'

For eg,

Consider train route is Chennai->Villupuram-->Trichy-->Madurai, and you are trying to book tickets from Chennai to Villupuram in IRCTC , just book a ticket from Chennai to trichy and get down at Villupuram

3. Choose earlier origin :This is just the converse of point 2. When your origin is in middle of train's route, try choosing another station before your actual origin as the originating station to book the IRCTC train ticket. Remember though, to select your actual origin as the 'Boarding Point's, otherwise you may lose your berth altogether as the TTR may allocate your seat to others noticing that you are unavailable at your origin. Note that there is an extra cost involved here as well just as in point 2.

Example:
Consider train route is Vishakhapatnam--> Gudur--> Chennai --> Trichy --> Madurai
Book Gudur to Trichy when there are no tickets from Chennai to Trichy and choose Boarding point as 'Chennai'.

Note that point 2 and 3 can be combined, but you may incur significant extra cost.

4.Do bulk booking of train tickets at station when travelling in groups :

There is a facility to do bulk booking at the originating station when the total passengers exceeds ten or more numbers. In such cases, unconditional name change of 10% of passengers  is allowed, which would come handy when travelling for occasions where atleast one or two may drop out of the plan or join the plan at the last minute.

Note that this has to be done at the originating station after approval from concerned authorities. Also, this opens only at 9am, one hour after online ticketing and hence is not suitable for booking on festive days or other busy occasions.

A sample request form for bulk booking is shown below:

Last but not the least :

5. Choose long distance trains which start one day before your journey date for booking tatkal tickets in IRCTC
In this case, there is a high chance that you can get an IRCTC train ticket AVAILABLE in tatkal status -- the trick here is that the window for booking train ticket in IRCTC opens two (or three) days before your journey date as against the one day for regular trains where the trains starts to run on the  journey date.

Hope these are useful to you. Share any hacks which you know related to IRCTC ticket booking.