Originally Posted by
mad_rich
Ouch! I didn't know Eurostar even did these? I thought it was reservation only.
It is reservation only. However, those flip-up seats can be reserved if need be! IIRC only the call centre, travel agents and ticket offices can sell them though. You can find some info on them in the
Eurostar for Travel Agents page on "Overbooked Seats". (They call them tip-up seats)
Business Premier tickets are fully flexible, and you can switch them onto a
full train with the boarding guarantee. That does include allowing you to switch onto a tip-up seat on a full service, then hopefully change it after checkin closes for a real one, assuming there's a spare seat following a no-show.
So, they're generally only used by people who know what they're doing, and know that they really really want to be on that particular train no matter what