An American traveler who set a Guinness World Record for the most airlines flown has revealed his top tip to avoid flight cancelations.
Indy Nelson, 29, was determined to be the youngest and quickest person to visit every country in the world and took out an $80,000 loan after college to fund his globetrotting lifestyle.
Since then, the Californian has flown on an astonishing 170 different airlines – smashing the previous world record of 156.
Yet despite taking an incredible 500 flights during his bid for the world record, just two were canceled, he told Guinness World Records.
His secret: booking morning flights.
Indy Nelson, 29, took out an $80,000 loan to spend 18 months traveling the world when he was 22 years old
Nelson’s secret to hassle-free flying is booking morning flights because they are less likely to get canceled than later ones
Nelson claims choosing flights earlier in the day means they are less likely to be delayed or canceled than later departures.
And his theory appears to be backed up a 2023 study by the Department of Transportation.
More than 80 percent of flights leaving from 6am to 9am are on time compared to fewer than 60 percent of flights from 6pm to 9pm, its figures showed.
Most of the flights Nelson completed were during his 18-month stint around the world that he began when he was 22 in 2017.
He wrote on his website: ‘Rather than a typical backpacking trip, I wanted to challenge myself to become the youngest and fastest to visit all sovereign states.’
The previous record of 156 unique airlines flown was achieved by a Japanese man named Ryuji Furusho from 1996 to 2014.
Nelson revealed that his favorite airlines are Emirates and Qatar Airways – claiming that Middle Eastern companies tend to be ‘awesome’.
Nelson flew on 170 different airlines and has been on about 500 flights. He said the only two of his flights have ever been canceled
Nelson claims the biggest issue he’s ever had while flying is turbulence
Nelson’s goal was to be the youngest and fastest person to travel to every country, but Lexie Alford holds that Guinness World Record
Lexie Alford from California, later beat Nelson’s record as the youngest person to visit every country.
Also known as Limitless Lexie, she was 21-years-old when she earned the Guinness World Record for being the ‘youngest person to travel to all sovereign countries,’ according to Guinness World Records.
Alford had started jet-setting when she was just a child with her family. But for Nelson the travel bug came later when he was in college.
His first getaway without his family was to Greece during his senior year winter break where he and his fraternity brother volunteered at a refugee camp.
This trip inspired him to continue seeing the world. Nelson traveled to North Korea for an out of the ordinary spring break.
Nelson wrote on his website: ‘During the journey, I had many interesting – and sometimes dangerous – experiences. In addition to beautiful tourist destinations, I also visited those ravaged by conflict and war, such as the front lines in Iraq.’
Nelson was provided free hotel rooms on the two occasions his flights did get canceled
Nelson’s favorite airlines are Emirates and Qatar Airways but says that any Middle Eastern airlines are great
Even though his flights almost always went smoothly – with turbulence his only complaint – he was detained by four different countries because they suspected he was a spy.
Nelson told Guinness World Records: ‘I feared for my life several times,
‘There were definitely several times that I did not think that I was going to get out of that country.’
He was accused of spying in Iran, Russia, Libya and Papua New Guinea and spent about 24 hours in custody between all four incidents.
Nelson said his favorite country was Cambodia because the locals were very welcoming.
He added that Comoros was his least favorite because of ‘not so friendly’ interactions he had with residents.
Lexie Alford, 26, was the youngest person to visit every sovereign country in the world
Nelson has slowed down on traveling and is now focused on building his telecommunication start-up
Despite this, he told Guinness World Records: ‘Get out of your comfort zone.
‘It changes your foundation, changes who you are, changes your view of the world.’
Nelson’s new focus is developing his own telecommunication start-up to deliver mobile data to underserved places.