The author was downgraded from a wide-open business class cabin on Tunisair with no explanation and no mention of compensation.
Looking forward to the Sam Chui Tunisair video
@ Alvin | YTHK -- Hah, so my Montreal to Algiers flight will be operated by an ex-Air Belgium A330-900neo, my Algiers to Tunis flight will be operated by a wet leased Sky2Fly A320, and my Tunis to Marseille flight will be operated by an Avion Express Malta A320.
If that makes you feel slightly better, TUN is probably the only airport where I prefer to hang out in the terminal than in the lounge. Really. It's awful.
I've been to the Tunisair lounge and I think you're being a bit dramatic.
It probably won't win any awards but there's plenty of natural light, the F&B offering is adequate for what it is (the hub lounge of a small African airline), and staff don't seem too bad either. I have only been there a couple of times so I don't have a view as to whether it gets crowded/dirty, but if you think that the setup is even in the bottom 15% of all airport lounges globally you've been quite lucky with the ones you've visited.
Did you use Expedia ? 😉
You should be like that Aman loser and show up to the flight and act shocked you’re not in business class, pretending you didn’t see the email.
This is what's called engagement spam. Usually enacted by someone affiliated with the content creator, it drives up engagement scores.
Sadly, FT figured this out months ago, but Ben keeps going. Time to dig deeper.
But, Ben... this doesn't sound "Oh, Fun" at all! *sad trombone noises*
Also, thank you for the "(Yes, I know this is an A330)"... you knew!
I know it's not a long flight and it's a narrow body, but I am excited for a trip review of international economy! It being TunisAir is a cherry on top 😉
It's probably only about an hour in the air, I flew there from CDG and it took less than two hours.
Maybe there is a group of government officials occupying all the business class seats.
@Ben you’re covered by EC261 downgrades as the flight is to France
Oops yes. True. Still due a refund of any fare difference, although I doubt anything will happen
Its too bad the flight does not originate in Europe or a European airline otherwise you probably would've been eligible for EU261 downgrade compensation of 30-50%
Which is exactly why they would do it and then just shrug in your direction which is the equivalent to a corporate middle finger.
Would it just be worth demanding a rebook in your original class of service or refusing carriage and demanding a refund?
according to claude: A different A320, likely an ACMI wet lease. Tunisair has had a chronic aircraft shortage for years and has often filled gaps by wet-leasing aircraft from charter and ACMI operators. Many of those A320s are single-class, high-density layouts with no curtains, no business class seats, and nothing to convertible-block. The equipment code would still read "320," which explains why Ben sees "Airbus A320" both before and after the change. His flexible-cabin argument only works if the aircraft is a Tunisair A320, and a leased one isn't. The other flight he found with no business class for sale is probably another leased-aircraft rotation.
You'll be better off requesting a full refund and just rebooking. Good luck trying to get a partial refund for the downgrade.
Agree, and rebook directly to NCE, since this seems to be your final destination. TU flies TUN-NCE directly.
now you know what normal people travel in
Probably in sept-places/matatus? Given that ca. 80% of the people in the world have never boarded a plane, this comment is reminiscent of the Four Yorkshiremen sketch.
LOT’s Privilege Style J is so woefully outdated that I wouldn’t be going out of my way to fly. Essentially the same coffin seat as dated VS or NZ, but even more dated, with some tray tables and other seat elements being broken.
Tunisair often delegates to wetleasers (without telling you prior) and they may not all have business class. That's the first thing which comes to mind
Agreed that a wetlease seems like the culprit here (for whatever actual reason the airline needs).
Ben. Tunisair has some (or at least one) A320neo with 2-2 First Class style seats. I flew one last month TUN-LGW, and the seat was quite good. Those planes presumably have limited capacity (so the point about just moving the curtain wouldn't apply). I could also imagine a scenario where a govt delegation have been given business class to themselves regardless of the seat type.
Ben. I cannot wait to hear about this flight review. It will be a fun read like your PAL mnl transfer review!
This happened to me on Egyptair from Cairo to Luxor. Thankfully the refund when I cancelled was automatic and I just rebooked instead. Still, had to endure a horrible wet leased aircraft with a massive Spanish tour group who seemed to never have flown before in their lives and were insanely loud throughout.