What started as a simple misunderstanding of accents turned into a travel nightmare. While booking a ticket “to Nice” at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, Brittney Dzialo and her friend had no idea their pronunciation would send them… to Tunis, Tunisia.
It all began on Saturday, September 6, at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. After missing their first flight to Nice, France, Brittney and her friend headed to the ticket counter to book a new one.
In English, they asked for a flight “to Nice” but, because of their American accent, the agent apparently heard “Tunis.”. Without realizing it, the two young women boarded a Tunisair flight bound for Tunisia, in North Africa.
It wasn’t until they were seated on the plane that doubt started creeping in. On TikTok, Brittney filmed herself, sharing “the moment we realized we were on the wrong flight and on our way to TUNIS, AFRICA and not NICE, FRANCE.”
“Is this going to Nice?”
The confusion turned to shock when they asked another passenger: “Is this going to Nice?”. The response was blunt and undeniable: “Tunis, yeah… in Tunisia.”
Panic set in. The two immediately opened Google Maps, asking out loud: “Where is Tunis? Where is Tunisia?!”
Their lack of geographical knowledge amused some passengers and annoyed others. Online, the backlash was even harsher: “Africa is not a country!”. Tunisians, in particular, flooded the comments, pointing out the obvious.
An unexpected detour through North Africa
Once they landed at Tunis-Carthage International Airport, Brittney and her friend desperately tried to figure out a way to get back to France. Brittney documented everything on TikTok: the ticket counters, negotiations with airline staff, and even the bewildered expressions of airport employees.
At one point, her friend, exhausted and frustrated, said on camera: “Guys, we somehow made it… I don’t even know how we did this, especially in a country where nobody speaks English. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, this was the worst experience of my life.”.
That comment sparked another wave of outrage online. Thousands of Tunisians quickly reminded them: “In Tunisia, we speak Arabic, French, and English.” Many even sarcastically wished them “good luck learning French in Nice!”.
After several stressful hours, the two travelers finally secured a flight to Nice, their intended destination on the stunning Côte d’Azur. Their misadventure, told over a series of 20 TikTok videos, went viral, gathering more than 20 million views and thousands of comments.
In the final clip, one of them makes a solemn promise: “I’m not sleeping until we’re in Nice.”. She kept her word. And, unintentionally, they gave millions of people around the world a crash course in geography.
They’re not alone…
While Brittney and her friend became accidental TikTok celebrities, they’re far from the only travelers to make this kind of mistake:
- San José or San José?
In April, two Americans thought they were flying to San José, Costa Rica… only to land in San José, California, over 2,500 miles from their intended destination. - Bucharest or Budapest?
In 2023, a couple booked a weekend getaway to Bucharest, Romania, believing they were headed to Budapest, Hungary, a mere 500 miles off. - Sydney, Canada vs. Sydney, Australia
In 2017, an American traveler planning a dream trip to Australia accidentally flew to Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. Let’s just say the surfing wasn’t quite what he expected.
