Travel & Stay Benefits
Where to stay for ₹150 a night, how to book an LTC flight now that LTC-80 is gone, and which rail quota you can claim — the whole travel side of the government welfare package, in one place.
The two halves of the benefit
Government travel benefits split cleanly in two, and most employees only know about one half. LTC reimburses the journey — rail or air fare for you and your family, twice in a four-year block — and never covers accommodation. The Directorate of Estates holiday homes cover precisely that gap, from around ₹150 a night at properties on Shimla's Mall Road and beside Goa's beaches. Used together, a family trip that would cost ₹32,000 privately can come down to about ₹1,000 plus food — and with earned leave encashment claimed alongside, it can end up cash-positive.
Where to stay
Holiday Home Finder
All 20 Directorate of Estates holiday homes across 19 stations — Shimla, Goa, Ooty, Nainital, Port Blair — with address, phone, map, tariff bands and a booking-window calculator.
Serving employees & pensioners →Touring Officers' Hostels
35 government guest houses in state capitals and administrative centres — Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Guwahati. Built for duty travel, bookable for leisure when rooms are free.
Duty travel & transfers →Sainik Rest House Finder
338 rest houses across India for serving personnel, ex-servicemen, dependants and war widows — from ₹30 a night, booked directly with your Zila Sainik Welfare Office.
Ex-servicemen & families →eSampada Booking Guide
The ten-step booking walkthrough — registration, documents, the 60/30/15-day window, the no-refund rule and the 9 AM check-out that catches people out.
First-time bookers →How to travel
LTC Air Ticket Booking
LTC-80 is abolished. The three authorised agents you must book through, the cheapest-fare 10% rule, and the Special Dispensation Scheme for NER, J&K, Ladakh and A&N — which expires 25 September 2026.
Anyone flying on LTC →MCO Defence Rail Quota
The Defence Department Quota (DDQ) train berth finder — all 77 MCOs with station, contact and indicative berths, plus the Emergency Quota route.
Serving defence personnel →LTC Complete Guide
Blocks and sub-blocks, Home Town vs All-India, who counts as family, travel class by pay level, and how the claim actually reaches your DDO.
All central govt employees →Plan & calculate
EL Encashment Calculator
The ten days of earned leave you can encash alongside LTC — what it is worth, and how it counts against the 60-day lifetime cap.
Planning an LTC trip →LTC Cash Voucher Calculator
Work out the deemed fare and the spend multiple under the LTC Cash Voucher route, and whether it beats an actual journey for you.
Comparing options →Holiday Calendar
Central government gazetted and restricted holidays — the fastest way to stack a long weekend against your leave and your 60-day booking window.
Planning leave →Two dates worth putting in your calendar
Sixty days before your check-in. Holiday home allotment is first-come, first-served, and at Shimla in May or Goa in December the rooms are effectively decided in the first hour of the day your window opens. Serving employees get 60 days, pensioners 30, State and PSU employees 15. Count back from your check-in date, not your travel date, and complete your eSampada profile verification weeks in advance — the holiday home finder has a calculator that gives you the exact morning.
25 September 2026. That is when the Special Dispensation Scheme currently expires — the concession that lets non-entitled employees fly Economy to the North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands on LTC. Whether it is extended again has not been notified. Details are on the LTC air travel page.