An American traveller who set a Guinness World Record for the most airlines he flew on has revealed his top tip for avoiding flight cancellations.
Indy Nelson, 29, was determined to be the youngest and fastest person to visit every country in the world and after college he took out an $80,000 loan to fund his globetrotting lifestyle.
Since then, the Californian has flown on no less than 170 different airlines, breaking the previous world record of 156.
However, despite making an incredible 500 flights during his attempt at the world record, only two were cancelled, he said. Guinness World Records.
His secret: booking flights in the morning.
Indy Nelson, 29, borrowed $80,000 to spend 18 months traveling the world when he was 22.
Nelson’s secret to smooth flying is to book flights in the morning because they are less likely to be cancelled than those later in the day.
Nelson says choosing flights earlier in the day means they are less likely to be delayed or cancelled than later departures.
And his theory appears to be backed up by a 2023 study from the Department of Transportation.
More than 80 percent of flights departing between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. are on time, compared with less than 60 percent of flights between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., its figures showed.
Most of the flights Nelson completed were during his 18-month trip around the world that began when he was 22 in 2017.
He wrote in his website:Instead of 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 flights on different airlines was held by a Japanese man named Ryuji Furusho between 1996 and 2014.
Nelson revealed that his favourite airlines are Emirates and Qatar Airways, stating that Middle Eastern carriers tend to be “amazing”.
Nelson has flown on 170 different airlines and has been on about 500 flights. He said only two of his flights were cancelled.
Nelson says the biggest problem he has had when 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 of California later broke 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 every sovereign country,” according to Guinness World Records.
Alford had started traveling with her family as a child, but Nelson’s love for travel came later, while she was in college.
His first getaway without his family was to Greece during winter break of his senior year of high school, where he and his fraternity brother volunteered at a refugee camp.
This trip inspired him to continue exploring the world. Nelson traveled to North Korea for an unusual spring break.
Nelson wrote on his website: “During the trip, I had many interesting, and sometimes dangerous, experiences. In addition to beautiful tourist destinations, I also visited places devastated by conflict and war, such as the front lines in Iraq.”
Nelson was provided with free hotel rooms on both occasions when his flights were cancelled.
Nelson’s favourite airlines are Emirates and Qatar Airways, but he says any Middle Eastern airline is great.
Although his flights were almost always uneventful (turbulence being his only complaint), he was arrested for 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 when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to leave that country.”
He was charged with spying in Iran, Russia, Libya and Papua New Guinea and spent approximately 24 hours in custody between the four incidents.
Nelson said his favorite country was Cambodia because the locals were so welcoming.
She added that Comoros was her least favorite place because of the “unfriendly” interactions she had with residents.
Lexie Alford, 26, was the youngest person to visit every sovereign country in the world.
Nelson has slowed down his travels and is now focusing on developing his telecommunications start-up.
Despite this, she told Guinness World Records: ‘Get out of your comfort zone.
“Change your foundations, change who you are, change your worldview.”
Nelson’s new focus is on developing his own telecommunications company to deliver mobile data to underserved locations.