People worldwide travel. Reasons for traveling include recreation, tourism or vacationing, research travel for the gathering of information, for holiday to visit people, volunteer travel for charity, migration to begin life somewhere else, religious pilgrimages and mission trips, business travel, trade, commuting, and other reasons, such as to obtain health care or waging or fleeing war or for the enjoyment of traveling. This page has articles related to Travel. Travelling by train is about Tatkal ticket, Railways Travel Insurance. If you want to Travel to Foreign country you need to know About how to get Passport and Visa, Air Line Tickets.
Table of Contents
Railways
Flexi Fare System, Types of Trains and PNR
From 09.09.2016 Flexi Fare system has been introduced in Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains. Under this system, the base fare increases by 10% with every 10% of berths sold subject to the maximum ceiling limit of 1.5 times in classes Second AC, Sleeper, Second Sitting (Reserved), AC Chair Car and 1.4 times in 3rd AC class. No change has been made in the fares for Ist AC and Executive class of travel. Fare breakup of Rajdhani is shown in the image below.
train fare break up
It also talks about Types of Trains, Types of coaches in Indian Railways and tries to explain the train number.
PNR stands for “passenger name record” and it tells you your current status on the WL (waitlist) or RAC (reservation against cancellation queue). If you buy a WL ticket or an RAC ticket, you will be assigned a unique 10-digit PNR number. PNR number in Indian railways ticket is a 10 digit number (a combination of 3 and 7 digits). A typical PNR number is like 214-1215305.
Our article Surge Pricing in Trains, Train Fare, PNR, Types of Trains, Coaches explains it in detail.
PNR number
Tatkal Ticket
Tatkal is a Hindi word meaning At once or immediately. Tatkal reservation scheme is offered by Indian Railways to meet the urgent requirement of the passengers who plan their journey at short notice. Tatkal reservation facility has been provided in Sleeper Class, Air-conditioned Chair Class, 3-AC & 2-AC classes in almost all Mail/Express trains including special trains. These tickets can be booked even on the internet.
- Tatkal Booking starts one day in advance excluding the day of journey e.g. for a journey on 3rd, bookings would open on 2nd
- REFUNDS – No refund will be granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets/duplicate tatkal ticket.
- No discount for Senior Citizens.
- Our article Booking Tatkal Ticket talks about how to book Tatkal tickets
Railways Insurance
A travel insurance cover of up to Rs 10 lakh can be availed while booking a train ticket online from 31 August 2016. The claims under the new scheme are Rs 10 lakh in case of death, Rs 10 lakh in case of Permanent Total Disability, Rs 7.5 lakh in case of permanent partial disability, Rs 2 lakh for hospitalization expenses for injury and Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains.
Our Railways Travel Insurance: How to buy, Policy document,History talks about Conditions of Railways Travel Insurance, Insurance companies offering Railways Travel Insurance, How to buy Indian Railways Travel Insurance?
Travel Abroad
Where Indians like to travel
As many as 1.8 crores Indians travel to international destinations every year. Destinations like Singapore, Dubai, Maldives, and Bali have always been liked by Indian travellers for a number of factors. Apart from being much closer to India as compared to other countries, these countries also have liberal visa norms, and conveniences such as visa on arrival. Besides, travelling to these destinations is also cheaper as compared to countries that are far off. Moreover, many of these are family destinations where entertainment and education go hand in hand. If Universal Studios and the zoo are a big draw in Singapore, Dubai has the tallest building in the world and several other indoor attractions for families such as the indoor snow park, indoor flying (iFly Dubai), Kidzania, marine park etc. As per the Summer Travel report by TripAdvisor, the country where Indians had to spend the least for a vacation is Singapore with a one-week trip to the place costing Rs 1,44,941 on an average.
Top 10 international destinations Indians like to travel to (in no particular order):
- Singapore
- Bangkok
- Dubai
- Maldives
- Bali
- Switzerland
- Mauritius
- Paris
- London
- New York
Passport and Visa
When travelling to another country, outside the country of which you are a citizen, a passport is required. The purpose of the passport is to certify the identity and nationality of the owner of the passport. A passport contains the following personal data: name, sex, date of birth, and place of birth, address.
Visa is an official permission that allows you to enter and stay in a specific country. This permission is granted by government officials of the country you wish to visit. The visa can be a separate document but usually, it is a stamp in the passport of the traveler.
How to get a Passport
An Indian passport is a passport issued by the Government of India to citizens of the Republic of India for travelling abroad. It enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as proof of Indian citizenship as per the Passports Act (1967). One has to apply for passport online at passport site, get an appointment and visit the Passport Seva Kendra on the day of appointment with documents.
How to Apply for Passport ,Fill Form,Pay and Schedule Appointment article discusses in detail about Indian passport, Tatkal vs Normal how to apply for passport in India, fresh or reissue of Indian Passport, pay and schedule Appointment.
The article How to Apply for Passport: Documents and Appointment at Passport Seva Kendra.
Passport details
Visa
So if you want to visit a foreign country, you need to have a valid passport, i.e passport should not have expired (at least 6 months validity is required) and you should have Visa to visit the country. Visa requirements vary for country to country. At many foreign countries, like Thailand and HongKong you get Visa on Arrival for tourism. For Visa to US you have to book an interview appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Delhi and the U.S. Consulates General in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Indian passport holders can travel to 58 countries, without visa and get visa on arrival for tourisim
Article Indian Passport, Visa and Visa for USA,Singapore,Thailand,Dubai describes Indian Passport, the difference between Passport and Visa, gives an overview of how to get Visa to USA, Singapore, Thailand, Dubai.
Sample of US Visa
List of countries where Indian passport holders can get Visa on Arrival are:
- Antarctica
- Bhutan, Bolivia, British Virgin Islands
- Cambodia, Cape Verde, Comoros Islands, Cook Islands
- Djibouti, Dominica
- Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia
- Fiji, FYRO Macedonia
- Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana
- Haiti, Hong Kong
- Indonesia, Iraq (Basra)
- Jamaica, Jordan
- Kenya
- Laos
- Macau,Madagascar,Maldives,Mauritius,Micronesia,Montserrat,Mozambique
- Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niue
- Palau
- Samoa, Sao Tome & Principe, Seychelles, South Korea (Jeju)
- St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia,St. Vincent & Grenadines,Svalbard
- Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
AirLine Tickets
30-70% discount on airplane tickets. Reading about it, Raj Shah went online to book tickets for a trip to Delhi in the month of August. But before he could decide which date to book the ticket for, low-cost tickets were shown as unavailable. He was disappointed as he was unable to get tickets at low prices. Do people really get such tickets, he asked me? Are these discount fares genuine? We did a little bit of investigating together and realised that discount was on the base fare and not on the total fare. Taxes constitute more than 50% of the total price of a ticket. The other thing about airline tickets are, airlines do not offer all tickets at the same price. They offer different types of tickets at different prices, called as bucket pricing, Tickets priced higher are available in greater numbers while the number of cheapest tickets is the least.
Base fare, UDF,Passenger Fees and Fuel Surcharge: Fees and charges of Airlines article talks about the base fare of air lines and other taxes and fees charged by airlines like Fuel Surcharges, User Development Fee, PSF.
Base fare and other airline charges
Bangkok
Bangkok is a vibrant and exciting city with something for everyone. There are enough activities and places to see that you could decide how much time to spend in Bangkok.
For children: Siam Ocean World, Safari World , Madame Tussauds
An evening cruise along Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river. Bangkok floating markets are among the most photographed tourist attractions in the city. The floating market at Damnoen Saduak is the most popular floating market in Thailand and best time to visit is in the morning.
Bangkok : Have a blast with family
