Most Airlines Flown On, world record set by Indy Nelson

October 1, 2024

Hayward, California, United States--Californian native Indy Nelson, 29, has flown on an astonishing 170 different airlines and has visited 197 countries in his travels, setting the new world record for the Most Airlines Flown On, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

"An American traveler who set a Guinness World Record for the most airlines flown has revealed his top tip to avoid flight cancellations," the msn.com says.

"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."

"Indy Nelson, an American adventurer known for his extraordinary travels, has recently made headlines for setting a new Guinness World Record. Nelson now holds the title for flying on the most unique airlines, having flown on 170 different carriers," the Newsx.com says.

"This remarkable achievement surpasses the previous record of 156 airlines, held by Japanese traveler Ryuji Furusho from 1996 to 2014. Nelson’s record-breaking feat is the result of an extensive 18-month global journey that began in 2017 when he was just 22 years old. This global trek was part of his broader mission to visit every country on the planet.

"Throughout his travels, Nelson encountered a diverse array of countries and cultures. He described Comoros as his least favorite country, while Cambodia emerged as his top pick. Despite some travel woes, Nelson had a generally smooth experience with airlines. Out of approximately 500 flights, only two were canceled. He expressed a preference for Emirates and Qatar Airways, noting that “any in the Middle East are awesome.”

"The most airlines flown on is 170, achieved by Indy Nelson (USA), as of 14 July 2024. Indy has visited 197 countries in his travels," the Guinness World Records says.

"According to what the native of Hayward, California, said to Guinness World Records, the countries which surmised he was potentially spying were Iran, Russia, Libya and Papua New Guinea," The Guardian says.

"They collectively held him in custody for a total of about 24 hours before deciding he was not engaged in espionage and freeing him, he recounted to the group which is renowned for curating a database of more than 40,000 records.

"Nelson said he got the idea to set foot in every country on the planet while on a spring break to North Korea, an unusual destination for a kind of vacation that many US college students instead spend on the beach. He said he obtained an $80,000 loan after graduating college and embarked on his international journey."

"From visiting war-ravaged regions to being detained on the suspicion of being a spy, seasoned globe-trotter Indy Nelson’s life has certainly been eventful. Nelson has now hit the headlines for a hitherto unknown reason," the News 18 reports.

"It has been learnt that the American traveller currently holds a Guinness World Records title: the most airlines flown on. As per Guinness World Records, Nelson has flown on 170 unique airlines.

"The previous record-tally was 156, set by a Japanese man, named Ryuji Furusho from 1996 to 2014. Most of Nelson’s aerial trips took place during an 18-month global trip that he had embarked upon in 2017, at the age of 22."

"Growing up, I traveled abroad on a number of occasions. It wasn’t until taking my first overseas trip without my parents that the travel bug set in. This was during winter break of senior year when I and my Delta Upsilon Fraternity Big Brother Kevin Fulgham traveled to Greece to volunteer at a camp for Syrian refugees," says Indy Nelson on his YouTube account.

"The exhilaration of that trip left me inspired. From there, I signed up for a very untraditional spring break - one to North Korea. It was during this trip that I would start to think about visiting every country in the world. After a bit of research, I learned of the current record holder for youngest who was only two years older than I was at the time.

"This proved that it was possible to visit every country at such a young age’ however, at this point I had only visited 19 countries, so I decided on the lofty goal of setting a milestone of 100 countries, and if reached, would then continue on to visit the rest of the world."

"’m based in the San Francisco Bay Area, working in high-tech Product Management. I have 7+ years of experience covering product strategy, product development, product roadmap, go-to-market, and software development. I am an expert at cross-functional team leadership with a background in analytics, cloud computing, enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, data science, e-commerce, and enterprise architecture," Indy Nelson says on his official website.

"As an entrepreneur, I founded a tech-startup, LED Alternative Energy, directing a 9-member development team in creating a product selection web app to disrupt the lighting industry. The company was acquired by Ledxchange, bringing me on to manage their software product development. Upon graduating from Berkeley-Haas, I embarked on a post-graduate experience, successfully visiting 203 sovereign countries."