YouTuber Josh Cahill published a review of Air Côte d’Ivoire’s inauguaral Airbus A330neo Paris – Abidjan flight from last month and it’s generated tremendous controversy and a harsh rebuke from the airline. He claims he was “Downgraded, Scammed & Censored” after they “secretly cancelled [his] Business Class ticket and rebooked [him] in Economy” and then demanded $1,500 at check-in to fly up front.
It appears that he booked the ticket for just 982 euros at Booking.com and the itinerary showed ‘business class’. My read is that Booking.com mapped the fare class wrong, and sold him what the iarline saw as a coach ticket.
The airline describes an “IT bug.” Air Côte d’Ivoire’s A330‑900 has four cabins, but the front row is essentially “business‑plus” (Thompson VantageXL front‑row suites branded as “First class by Air Côte d’Ivoire” / “BC+ Suite”). This marketing nuance matters when GDS/OTA fare mapping is sloppy. Weeks before launch, One Mile at a Time documented that the airline’s own site didn’t offer First or Premium Economy, yet some online travel agencies showed those cabins.
In addition, at least part of Premium Economy was blocked pending seat certification on the new jet.
A new plane and product, ambiguous cabin branding, and online travel agency inventory that didn’t mirror the airline’s fare classes properly is a recipe for auto‑reissues or downgrades, with front‑line agents then asking for a day of upfare when the customer discovers they’re flying economy.
Analytic Flying asserts Cahill engineered the moment and that his Booking.com reservation had already been rebooked correctly before he showed up, implying he ignored the update to manufacture a confrontation.
Absolutely wild Josh Cahill story …
A few weeks ago he posted a scathing critique of Air Côte d'Ivoire, claiming airline & staff scammed him. Following a response from Ivorian Foreign Minister, he quietly deleted it!
TLDR
Josh claims he bought business class ticket &… pic.twitter.com/lW3rpowngx— Analytic Flying (@analyticflying) November 10, 2025
My take is that even if this is correct, a normal traveler wouldn’t understand what happened and would find themselves in the situation that Cahill confronts (i.e. that he may have known about this issue going in and ignored it rather than addressing it for drama; most would not).
I’d suggest that if he actually flew coach that he was entitled to EU261 downgrade compensation in Paris, where an over 3,500 km sector triggers 75% refund in cash of the price for that segment, payable within seven days. Of course 75% isn’t that much on what appears to amount to a mistake fare.
However he flew in business class – both directions – for no additional charge, despite the confusion.
- While his reservation showed economy at check-in, he was told flying up front would cost €1,500 extra, and he refused to pay, the station manager told him “I give my power to upgrade you,” seated him in business (seat 9K), and he flew up front at no extra charge.
- On the return flight he was seated in economy and he says a crewmember told him to wait until others took their seats before he could sit. They may have been waiting to see if they could upgrade him? He reports poor attitude from some crew,being told the flight was full despite later seeing an entire side of the cabin largely empty (he moved to an emptier row), but he otherwise reviews the hard product and meal in coach positively.
The airline could actually settle conclusively how the initial downgrade on the inaugural flight happened. The PNR history (e‑ticket coupon statuses, reissue entries, and any special service request/OSI notes) would show
- who rebooked (OTA robot vs airline host)
- when the class of service changed
- whether a fare repricing happened and whether a residual/refund was triggered
- whether notification timestamps pre‑dated airport check‑in
Cahill was famously banned by Qatar Airways after a negative review they deemed unfair. East Timor’s Aero Dili claimed he tried to extort them for $50,000. And he got into a dispute with Luxair over whether his 35 euro lounge access covered a full 8 hour layover.
“My read is that Booking.com mapped the fare class wrong, and sold him what the iarline (sic) saw as a coach ticket.” Yeah, as someone who travels a lot, he probably should’ve known better… perhaps, this, like many things, these days, is just clout-farming, rage-bait, attention-economy stuff.
Gary, you’re making my day with this comment: “I’d suggest that if he actually flew coach that he was entitled to EU261 downgrade compensation in Paris, where an over 3,500 km sector triggers 75% refund in cash of the price for that segment, payable within seven days.” Woot! If only we had such ‘air passenger rights legislation’ in the USA, because, if this happened here, we’d get nothing, but a headache and disappointment and perfunctory ‘thanks for flying American Airlines.’
Yeah, I watched that video and – at the time- thought that Cahill was being a drama queen. Yes, there was some confusion upon check in and yes, it looked like he would be downgraded. But the station manager was informed and had him bumped back up into Business Class. Ultimately, he ended up getting great service on a nice new a/c with fresh and nice hard product to offer. I remember thinking that the vlog titles were very clickbait-y and unfair to the airlne and am thus not surprised by them taking offense.
For the record, I actually do tend to enjoy Cahill’s vlogs even if I don’t always agree with everything he posits in them. But this one was cast in the entirely wrong light and I’m glad he is being called out.
Josh Cahill always seems to be hunting for some kind of “gotcha” moment. It’s like every video has to have a villain or a dramatic twist, even when the airline didn’t really do anything wrong. Like when he flew with PIA and turned a pretty standard experience into a dramatic exposé about “safety concerns” that most passengers wouldn’t have even noticed. It’s becoming rather tiresome.
If I want to see “real” airport and airplane drama I have endless airport and airline meltdown videos on YT. I certainly don’t need this guy’s made up drama. MCO and DFW alone could support a dedicated YT channel.