Tired Of Waiting List Queue? Railway Travellers Can Avail 'Seat Availability Forecast' Now

MakeMyTrip has launched Seat Availability Forecast, a new feature that offers travellers a predictive window to when seats on a selected train are likely to sell out. The feature allows customers to plan their trips with more clarity.

Train ticket related uncertainties pose great hurdles in a traveller's journey. "MakeMyTrip’s data shows that nearly 40% of users book train tickets across multiple sessions, often over several days. Among these users, close to 70% end up booking waitlisted tickets, simply because confirmed seats are no longer available by the time their plans firm up," stated the company's press release.

Demand patterns change on a weekly basis and therefore the window of confirmed bookings also fluctuates frequently. "In April, most high-speed trains were sold out around 13 days before the departure date. By May, due to rising demand, they were typically booked out more than 20 days before departure. For travellers, this means that even when they know which train they want, they often don’t have a reliable sense of how long seats will remain available, making timely planning harder."

The company has also come out with a 'sold-out alerts' feature, to make customers aware of when tickets have begun decreasing rapidly, "once activated, it notifies users when tickets on their selected train fall below a defined threshold, allowing them to book before confirmed seats run out. Paired with the Seat Availability Forecast, it adds another layer of visibility and control to the planning experience."

“We are focussed on our mission to anticipate and address the nuanced needs of Indian rail passengers. Seat Availability Forecast is a result of that effort, rooted in data science, built to be seamless, and designed to solve a real planning challenge for millions of users. It is a strong addition to our rail stack which helps make train travel more predictable and less stressful across the board,” said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO, MakeMyTrip.

Other travel booking platforms such as Ixigo, have a similar feature called 'PNR prediction', a tool which aids travellers in finding out how likely their waitlisted tickets are to get confirmed or RAC.