A travel influencer has come under fire after saying he was “stranded” and unable to fly as violence escalated in the Middle East, where drones and ballistic missiles have struck Iran, Israel, and several Gulf states.
Daniel Goz, known for his YouTube channel ‘Nonstop Dan’, told viewers he was stuck in Singapore because “there are no flights left” — a segment that has since been removed from the video. Viewers quickly pushed back, arguing availability wasn’t the issue so much as the type of seat.
Instead of booking an economy ticket, Goz opted to remain at his high-end hotel in Singapore until business class space opened up. That choice sparked an immediate backlash in the comments.
“You’re not stranded, you’re in Singapore, you are in Southeast Asia, not the Middle East, fly the other way, transit through America or Canada, you can go home tomorrow,” a perplexed subscriber said.
Some commenters mocked the situation, with one writing that ‘Nonstop Dan… has been stopped’. Others echoed the point that Singapore is far from the immediate conflict zone and suggested alternate routes, including transiting through North America.
In the video, Goz had been documenting his trip from Singapore to Europe when, he said, the unfolding conflict upended his plans. He claimed his schedule was abruptly disrupted when strikes began intensifying on February 28.
Another viewer highlighted how out of touch the complaint seemed when set against the realities of people living under attack in the region, writing: “My thoughts are with the premium passengers and those in danger of flying economy.”
After removing the portion showing limited premium-cabin availability — while economy seats appeared to remain — the YouTuber responded directly to critics in the comments.
Defending his decision to wait it out, Nonstop Dan wrote: “Lots of you saying ‘just fly economy!’ and I totally get that. The pricing example I show on screen in the video is economy (should’ve been clearer about that), and as you can see there’s barely anything available for the next two weeks.”
He also pointed to price surges, saying the remaining seats were being sold at steep rates as demand spiked amid people trying to get out of the region during the widening conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran.
Nonstop Dan added: “The few remaining economy seats are going for $1500+ per person one-way and even those will be booked up soon. I mentioned premium cabins because that’s what this channel usually covers.”
The 28-year-old further argued that his broader focus was on how the conflict is affecting air travel more generally, not solely his own itinerary.
Goz said: “The bigger point of this video, that global aviation capacity has been massively disrupted and millions of travelers, families, students, people on work trips, will feel ripple effects, still stands. I hope it’s useful to those of you figuring this out.”