A convoluted Miami-to-Marseille routing has me eyeing Air Algerie's new A330neo business class, plus a possible detour through Tunis.
Not crazy at all, Lucky. Hope you do this. And I say 2 nights in Tunis.
Do it! Do it all!
In my best Emperor impersonation, "DEW IT"
I flew them domestic a couple years ago and they were good. Well organized boarding and polite employees.
Whatever you do don't go landside in Algiers unless you have more than two hours to get back in. Great city though!
I very much like this Four Seasons Tunis idea... "good luck, we're all counting on you."
Looking at flightradar, LZ-FSA will be operating the flight to Tunis. This Aircraft has a proper Business Class seat and the LOPA is on the fly2sky website.
Interesting to see that AH4002 has a two hour delay every other day…
There's certainly enough to see and do in Tunis to make it worthwhile to stay 2 nights. My late wife and I spent 8 days in Tunisia (pre-revolution) and loved. We never got bored and the food was fantastic.
Why not make it a tour of northern Africa and add a stop in Cairo as well? 😉
I am not sure there is an "official ban" in place vs. a threat from the Airport authorities about Ben giving the airport a bad review.
” Psssh, please! Who wouldn’t want a little Bulgarian culture when flying between Algeria and Tunisia?"
No need to put down Bulgarian culture. Bulgarians are not the friendliest people in Europe but their food is excellent, Rakia is superb for shots and their culture dates back thousands of years. And yes, Lactobacillus bulgaricus originates in Bulgaria.
@stanley-c Tricky question. Really depends. Vegetarian dishes include Banitza (phyllo dough with cheese mixture) and Shopska Salata (amazing tomatoes with bulgarian white cheese calle Sirini +/- cucumbers and onions). Many of bulgarian dishes are variations on Greek, Turkish and Northern East European cuisine. Sarmi (stuffed cabbage), Dolma (stuffed grape leaves) or stuffed red peppers can be vegetarian or meat. Most common meats are pork and lamb with beef and chicken always available. Gyuvetche is a mixture of meats, vegetables and potatoes, baked in a pot (something like making Tagine). Baklava is excellent in bulgaria. It is very traditional, walnuts and sugar syrup with no added unnecessary flavors. Kebabs (ground meat in a skewer) is excellent and the bulgarian yogurt (they call it acid milk - kisalo mleko) is superb. In general, traditional bulgarian food is simple with little seasoning, letting the meat, vegetables or dairy products shine through. And if you like salami then Lukanka is famous. Rakia is the traditional eau de vie - similar perhaps to grappa in Italy (not to be confused with Turkish Arak which is a licorice drink). Sorry for the long non-response. You asked what is the best food and you get a lecture.
This is really cool. Love it!
I'd love a review of the FS Tunis!
Are you nuts?
One unfortunate note, Ben: Air Algerie has two versions of their 330neos. The majority are their new builds, 7T-VJ*. These feature their new VantageXL seats, in a high density configuration. However they have two additional aircraft which they bought used, 7T-VL*, from Air Belguim after they were not taken up by their original carriers, Air Berlin and then RwandAir. These are in a more premium configuration, but also have their original Air Berlin/RwandAir/Air Belguim interior which have the older (I believe Solstys) business class seats. The Montreal flights exclusively use this subfleet. So you won't be getting a plane with the interior you showed.
Recall I had a very nice experience on Air Algerie in J:
https://liveandletsfly.com/air-algerie-a330-200-business-class-review/
And also a great stay at the FS Tunis...highly recommended!
Sure but you also said: "Can you blame for guarding my expectations prior to stepping onboard? I had been chewed out at check-in, hassled during passport control, chewed out by a passenger in the lounge, and found the lounge totally lacking in terms of food and drink for a flagship lounge. The day before I had been chewed out by hotel staff for taking pictures."
Would I personally take this flight? Nah. Do I very much enjoy reading the reviews of them? Absolutely. So... go for it, Ben!
As someone that spent every summer growing up in Tunisia, I would love if you spent some additional time there and tried both the Marriott and Four Seasons. Try to enjoy as much food as possible!
Tunis is lovely but the 4 Seasons is not worth a visit at all. Weird location and service challenged to say the least - and zero local flavor. Avoid it. The Marriott is even worse. No soul.
The place to go is Maison Dedine - a magical hotel bookable with HHonors points! The location is divine and its a short walk up the hill to the historic and wonderful part of Tunis.
Air Algeria is functional at best. That said, ALG is a modern airport and the people were universally wonderful there. Go for it!
You can't ask us about this and not do it! It's a shame Algeria is so hard to enter because I hear good things and they have a Hyatt Regency
Why are you even thinking? total no-brainer
You really make your life difficult. MIA CDG CDG MRS... why in the world would anyone fly to Canada then to Africa (even worse its Algiers?!).
Well I guess you get paid for this.