Originally Posted by
mad_rich
Ouch! I didn't know Eurostar even did these? I thought it was reservation only.
Originally Posted by
Gagravarr
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.
Indeed. I happened to be in the St Pancras ticket office queue shortly before Christmas one or two years ago. I only had a minor enquiry, but it seemed most other people wanted to travel to Paris or Brussels within the next day or so - and the only thing on offer was the tip-up seats in the vestibule, for (I think) around £200 per person, one-way... At that price, I'd have looked instead at
Stenaline's Rail&Sail option to the Netherlands (at least for Brussels)...
Given that Eurostar does not offer any way to cancel its non-flexible tickets (I think I tried once - not trying to get a refund, which I knew I wouldn't get, but just out of courtesy so they would know the seat wouldn't be occupied - but they weren't interested...), it seems likely that quite often there would be no-shows, and hence people assigned a tip-up seat could then get moved to a real one.