In the near future I’m supposed to fly Tunisair, and I just got downgraded from business class to economy. Now, operational issues do arise, though I can’t help but find both the execution and the actual downgrade to be a bit puzzling.
Tunisair downgraded me with no explanation
As I recently covered, I’ll be taking a rather roundabout routing from the United States to France, as I’m flying Air Algerie from Canada to Tunisia via Algeria, and then I’ll be connecting on Tunisair to France.
My flight between Tunis (TUN) and Marseille (MRS) was booked separately from the Air Algerie ticket, and I paid for business class, which was rather reasonably priced. The flight is supposed to be operated by an Airbus A320.
Well, ahead of my flight, I just received a notification that I’ve been downgraded. The email is only in French and not English, and based on a translation, it says “we are writing to inform you that your flight reservation has undergone changes.” It then shows the same flight I initially had booked, but in economy, rather than business class.
What cracks me up here is that the airline acts as if this is just totally cool. There’s no mention of how to request downgrade compensation, or anything. For that matter, there’s not even an explicit note about “hey, you’ve been downgraded.” Instead, it just shows a new fare class.
I can’t wait to see what an adventure that compensation request becomes — I’m sure they’ll be very prompt and generous with my refund. 😉
Do some Tunisair A320s not have business class, or…?
Not to sound like a certain drama king and self-proclaimed multi-award winning whatever whatever whatever who always gets “scammed,” but… I don’t actually understand what’s going on here?
For what it’s worth, I booked my flight just days ago, and the flight was wide open — there were almost no seats occupied in business class, and economy at least showed the maximum inventory in all fare classes (which isn’t to say the flight is empty, but it definitely wasn’t booked out).
Now when I try to pull up the flight, it shows all inventory zeroed out in all cabins. The thing is, both before and after the change, the flight shows as being operated by an Airbus A320. It seems that Tunisair has two types of A320s — some have a dedicated business class cabin with real recliner seats, while others have an intra-Europe business class style product, with middle seats blocked, so that the cabin can change in size with every flight.
Does Tunisair also have a small number of A320s where business class is just never offered? I’ve searched all of the carrier’s routes, and across two dozen different flights, I found one other flight where business class wasn’t for sale. If the size of the cabin can be converted with each flight, what’s the argument for not offering it?
Even if we were to assume that this is a one-cabin aircraft with no business class for sale, it’s also strange how the flight suddenly shows as sold out. The flight had plenty of seats before, and swapping to an A320 without business class increases capacity even further. So was there a huge last minute booking, or what?
I’m excited for the double whammy of almost certainly being denied lounge access on account of the downgrade, and likely also having to fight tooth and nail for a refund (well, or at least to have to wait months to even hear back from them).
Bottom line
Flying in North Africa is always an adventure on many levels, and my Tunisair fun is starting before I even get to the airport. I just received a notice from Tunisair that I’ve been downgraded from business class to economy, with no explanation, and no process for receiving downgrade compensation.
Operational issues happen, but I can’t figure out how I’ve been downgraded out of a wide open business class cabin, especially when Tunisair has a flexible business class cabin on most of its A320s, as I understand it.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Does Tunisair actually operate flights in an all-economy layout, and I’m just confused, or what?
Seems like your best bet might be to look at possible alternatives and rebook... If you opt to risk it, then try to get a partial refund from Tunisair directly and if they don't budge proceed with a CC chargeback... You'll most likely win that dispute.
If the inventory suddenly is zero in all classes, chances are, the flight will not happen.
I don’t think we’ve seen the end of possible flight changes here..
I heard the prime minister of Tunisia plays golf with Al Sisi, president of Egypt.
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.
Ben. I cannot wait to hear about this flight review. It will be a fun read like your PAL mnl transfer review!
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.
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).
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.
This makes no sense. What does sept-places/matatus mean?
Shared taxis
You'll be better off requesting a full refund and just rebooking. Good luck trying to get a partial refund for the downgrade.
This is the way.
Agree, and rebook directly to NCE, since this seems to be your final destination. TU flies TUN-NCE directly.
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...
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.
Would it just be worth demanding a rebook in your original class of service or refusing carriage and demanding a refund?
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.
@Ben you’re covered by EC261 downgrades as the flight is to France
but its not an EU carrier. The flight would have to originate in France.
Oops yes. True. Still due a refund of any fare difference, although I doubt anything will happen
Maybe there is a group of government officials occupying all the business class seats.
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.
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!
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.
Zing!!
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.
Did you use Expedia ? ;)
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...
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.
Agree - the coffee is actually quite good and barista made.
Tunisair occasionally operates this flight with leased airframes 9H-AMI/9H-AMM (Avion Express Malta), which has 180 economy seats. I'd assume that they are operating your flight with that plane, where they simply don't have the crew or facilities to put a business class cabin in (even a European-style one)?
Tunisair's lounge seems to accept PP either way?
@ 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.
Sounds like the perfect reason to fly Ryanair (Malta Air) to Warsaw, then the LOT EuroAtlantic 777/Privilege Style 777 back to the US...
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.
Looking forward to the Sam Chui Tunisair video