Which IRCTC Tour Package to Offer Each Customer

A customer walks up and says, “We want to go to Tirupati in December. What do you have?” It sounds like one question. It’s really five. How many people? Any children or elderly? Which station can they reach? Can the dates move? Do they want to fly or take the train?

If you answer before you ask those, you’ll pick the wrong package, and some packages are hard to change once they’re booked. So this post is about asking first and matching second. It lists the package types IRCTC Tourism sells, and the rules IRCTC prints for each, so you know which one to look at for which customer.

A quick note on prices. This page quotes none, because they differ by departure, class and occupancy, and IRCTC prints them on each package page. The rules below come from IRCTC Tourism’s own pages unless a sentence names another source. The first-pick table is our reading of those rules. It is not an IRCTC list.

What kinds of packages does IRCTC Tourism sell?

IRCTC’s FAQ page is split into four tabs: the tourism portal, rail tour packages, domestic air packages and outbound tours. IRCTC’s Travel Agents page lists its services as rail tour packages, holiday packages, domestic and international air packages, cruise packages, Bharat Gaurav trains and deluxe trains.

Here are the main families and what IRCTC’s pages say about each.

The passenger limits are IRCTC’s figures for one booking, and they depend on the berths blocked in that package.

Which package suits which customer?

Use this table as a first pick. The sections after it explain the IRCTC rule behind each row.

The customer with fixed dates or a fixed trip

Most tour packages are rigid, and that’s the first thing to tell a customer.

On a rail tour package, the trip length is tied to the onward and return trains. The class can’t be upgraded, because coordination at the destination station is based on berth numbers. A hotel change is possible only at the customer’s own expense, and IRCTC says it isn’t recommended.

On a group air package, the dates are fixed too. Flights, road transport and hotel can’t be changed, and the return date can’t move, because the whole group travels on the flights booked at the start.

Now the confusing bit. IRCTC’s own pages don’t fully agree on customising. The home page FAQ says a package can be customised to include extras such as a guide or road transfers. The group air FAQ says a change of flight, road transport or hotel is not possible. So don’t promise anything either way. Ask IRCTC Tourism in writing what can change for the departure you’re advising on.

Pilgrims and groups

Rail tour packages are sold on a seat-in-coach basis. Everyone follows the same itinerary, and a customer who wants one extra place can’t add it. For air packages, a posted itinerary is only a proposed outline. It can change with weather, local circumstances or flight schedules.

As of 17 October 2026, IRCTC’s home page lists pilgrimage tours to Chardham, Puri, Rameswaram, Shirdi, Tirupati, Ujjain, Vaishno Devi and Varanasi. Open the one for your customer’s circuit and read its itinerary tab. The Bharat Gaurav portal tab allows up to 8 passengers per booking.

If your customer is a group that booked every seat on a rail tour package, they may change the itinerary only at their own expense and risk, with written intimation to IRCTC. IRCTC says it won’t be responsible for delay or for a missed return train. And if a package has fewer seats left than the group needs, IRCTC can’t add seats, because the berths are already blocked.

One small thing that helps in real life: as of 17 October 2026, a member of a booked group can be replaced if the request goes to tourism@irctc.com from the registered email at least 5 days before departure. Tell the group leader that date early.

Families with children

As of 17 October 2026, the portal tab says a child can be booked when accompanied by at least one adult, subject to occupancy, with the applicable charge on the package page. The outbound tab defines an infant as under 2 years, and a child as 2 years and above but under 12.

For domestic air packages, every traveller, including a child and an infant, must carry identity proof that matches the name on the ticket. A child or infant must also carry age proof.

Occupancy is fixed. Say a family of four is happy to squeeze into one room. You can’t book it that way, because rail tour packages sell only at the occupancies the website allows. It’s better to tell them now than to have them find out at the station.

Senior citizens

IRCTC doesn’t have an age-based family of packages, so choose by the trip the senior wants and then check these rules.

On rail tour packages, the railway offers no concession on the blocked berths, for senior citizens or for children. On domestic air packages, a wheelchair at the airport is available on request, subject to availability, and it may cost extra.

Outbound tours have stricter rules. A senior citizen must have a medical check-up before booking, and a fitness certificate while booking. A passenger above 75 must be accompanied by a younger escort or family member. A guest who needs special assistance must be accompanied by a qualified companion, because the tour leader manages the whole group. If your customer is an older couple going abroad, bring these up in the first five minutes.

Customers going abroad

As of 17 October 2026, the outbound tab says the passport must be valid for at least six months after the scheduled return date. Granting a visa is the decision of the country’s government, not IRCTC’s, and not yours.

The outbound tab also says 100% payment is required at booking. Elsewhere in the FAQ there’s a part-payment note covering all packages above ₹50,000 for customers booking online, and it excludes agents from online part payment. So the two don’t line up neatly for an agent. Ask IRCTC Tourism which one applies to the departure your customer wants.

Government employees

Some central government employees want to use LTC (Leave Travel Concession) for a tour. The Department of Personnel and Training allowed tours conducted by IRCTC for LTC on conditions. They include an IRCTC certificate that the journey was performed, and a separate statement of the fare components. The memoranda are dated 26 March 2008 and 2 December 2009, and they’re reproduced in the Ministry of Home Affairs’ compilation of the All India Services LTC rules.

IRCTC’s rail tour FAQ says the customer asks the IRCTC office where the package was taken for the certificate after the journey. None of the sources here publishes a list of LTC-approved packages, so confirm the departure with IRCTC Tourism before you quote. The employee makes the LTC claim to their own office, not through you.

What should you read on the package page before you advise?

IRCTC’s FAQ says each package page has a Details tab with Overview, Itinerary, Inclusion, Terms and Conditions and Contact us. Treat that tab as the source for what’s included. Don’t go by memory or by what a previous customer got.

Four things on that tab trip people up:

• What the displayed price covers. The portal tab says the package cost shown includes all charges, and IRCTC adds no service fee. Payment-gateway charges depend on the payment mode and are payable extra.
• Which season applies. IRCTC’s terms page says the peak or non-peak rate on the day the tour starts governs the whole tour.
• What the rooms and meals are. For group air packages, room categories are the base category unless stated. The number of meals follows the number of nights booked, and any meal not listed is paid for at the hotel.
• What the vehicle is. Group domestic air packages use sharing vehicles, and most domestic tours are unescorted unless stated.

If the tab doesn’t list something, don’t promise it.

How do you find packages from the customer’s city?

Start with the boarding point. The rail tour tab says packages can be booked only at the boarding points shown in the drop-down list, and a later change means speaking to IRCTC staff through the “contact us” tab. So ask which station the customer can actually reach before you pick a package.

For people who’d rather speak to someone, IRCTC’s contact page groups offices by zone. It includes a regional office at Bhopal and a facilitation centre at Indore Railway Station. Phone numbers change, so copy them on the day you need them rather than from an old note.

What about retiring rooms, lounges and hotels?

These are separate from tour packages. They aren’t included unless the package page lists them.

IRCTC’s home page FAQ says a retiring room is booked from the Retiring Rooms entry, with confirmation on the registered mobile number, and queries go to retiringroom@irctc.co.in. A separate static FAQ page is undated, so parts of it may lag the current site. It says IRCTC provides only the online booking facility and the railway authorities run the rooms. It also says a room is booked against an RAC or confirmed ticket and its PNR, and not against a wait-listed ticket. Identity proof is required, and it must match at check-in.

So if your customer has a wait-listed ticket and wants a retiring room, tell them straight: this page says it won’t work, and they should check the live rules.

What should you ask at the counter?

Before you open any website, ask five things:

1. What date can’t move?
2. Which boarding station can they reach?
3. How many are travelling, and what are their ages?
4. Does anyone need special assistance?
5. Do they want train, flight or abroad?

Then pick the family from the table, open the Details tab for a live departure, and advise only on what the tab says. If the tab doesn’t mention an item, don’t promise it. Email tourism@irctc.com or call 1800110139 first.

Whether tourism bookings are available on your SiOnline account is a question to put to SiOnline in writing. The IRCTC Tourism for agents page gives the overview. For help with your own account, use the support page or customer care on +91 91091 35959, 24 hours, 7 days.

Questions agents ask

How much does an IRCTC tourism package cost?

It depends on the departure, class and occupancy, so no single figure is right. The portal tab says the displayed cost includes all charges and IRCTC adds no service fee, with payment-gateway charges extra. Read the package page for the departure you’re quoting.

Can a customer take only one way of a package?

No. The rail tour tab says the train blocking is for the pairing trains and the onward and return tickets. It gives no one-way price, and it says IRCTC can’t sell only the train ticket from a rail tour package.

Sources and checks

• IRCTC Tourism, FAQ page, home page, contact page, terms and conditions page and Travel Agents page.
• IRCTC Tourism, static FAQ page, undated.
• Ministry of Home Affairs, All India Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules PDF.

All sources were last opened on 17 October 2026. IRCTC Tourism’s rules, charges and contact details change, so confirm them at the source before you act.