Thanks much for your reply. I will privately message you. Regardless of that, what happened was that I received an email from LATAM telling me about the flight change. When I called their call center I was basically given the option to accept or cancel the booking. Given that we had already booked a hotel and made other plans for the week in South Africa, cancelling wasn't an option. It is possible that the conversation ran into trouble because of English language issues at the LATAM end, so my question about alternative flights that feature a business class section sank without a trace. Anyhow, will send you my details. Thanks again.