Originally Posted by
hserus
Get AC chair car - that's the 2x3 seating on the shatabdi.
Why do you need the hotel to book for you? IRCTC takes foreign cards just fine, else book on
www.cleartrip.com (click the "trains" tab)
As I said above, not only could I not book on IRCTC, it put a security freeze on my Amex and wouldn't accept my Mastercard.
I could have used Cleartrip, but was hoping that there was a 'tourist' bucket of seats in 1AC reserved that my hotel could get for me. I was wrong. They just fleeced me for an extra couple of hundred Rs.
I got the CC and it was fine - better than most UK trains. I was really amazed at the service. Although the train was a bit late (90 minutes), we were given regular information, newspapers and food! I had this image in my mind of a very different experience
.
Thanks for all the help,
Dr. PITUK