I have debit card and net banking, but don't have credit cards. Will it be possible to book train tickets online without a credit card? I have never booked train tickets online and looking for advice to book my upcoming train journey from the internet. Kindly let me know which is the best site to book train tickets in India?
You won't need a credit card to book train tickets online. All train reservation websites in India accept debit cards and/or payment through netbanking, so that's not a problem at all. I usually use IRCTC website to book my train journeys. Although the user interface may seem a bit outdated, it is still the best site to book train tickets in India. It is the official ticket reservation portal for the Indian Railways. The procedure is quite simple. First you would need to create a user account on IRCTC portal. You would need to provide your email ID and mobile number for registering with IRCTC. After successful registration, login with your username/password, search for your train using the 'Quick Search' or "Plan My Journey' feature, select the travel class, provide the passenger details and make the payment through debit card or netbanking. That's all you need to do. If you need any assistance, there is a detailed FAQs section to help you out. In case of any failed bank transactions, you need not have to worry as the amount automatically gets refunded to your bank account after a few days. Besides IRCTC, you may also try out third-party services like MakeMyTrip and Go-IBIBO. Both have simple user interface which can easily navigate you through the process of train ticket booking. However you would still need to provide your IRCTC user id to book tickets using the third-party websites. ClearTrip is another reputed third party website in India that offers train ticket booking facility. Hope the information helps. Regards, Deb
Hello and I hope you're having a good day! Let's jump right into your questions... There are two payment options for booking tickets online for the IRCTC: credit cards and direct debit facility. So yes, you can still book tickets online even if you don't have a credit card. But the IRCTC website only accepts Indian brands of debit cards so that's one downside. They only accept international brands in credit cards. The IRCTC's website is the best site to book train tickets for in India, if you're a resident of the country. Why? Because it requires an Indian mobile number as well as an Indian debit card, if you don't have a credit card. The interface can be a bit confusing for first-time visitors of the site but you can get used to it. Another confusing thing about it is that you need the train's number to book your ticket, you cannot search for your destination and go from there. A site that I can recommend for foreigners would be Cleartrip. They even have an app you can download and it's very convenient. It's very easy to understand the site as well. Downside is, not all trains are available in the site and you have to pay a fee to be able to use their service. That's about it. I hope this helps!
