Clearly Kuwait Airways hasn’t heard of the Streisand effect. A YouTuber flew Kuwait Airways first class, only to be threatened by the crew and detained by the police…
In this post:
Nonstop Dan’s Kuwait Airways first class “adventure”
Popular airline YouTuber Nonstop Dan recently flew Kuwait Airways first class from Kuwait City (KWI) to Bangkok (BKK), and it ended up being more excitement than he bargained for. He shared the story of his journey in two parts. The first part is an actual review of the flight…
…while the second part is the story of this incident.
Long story short, he boarded the flight, and the purser noticed he was recording his experience (while respecting the privacy of others). He was asked about this, so he “came out,” and explained he’s a YouTuber. The purser confirmed his YouTube channel, and everything seemed fine, and the rest of the flight proceeded as normal… until around 90 minutes before landing.
At that point, the purser showed up at Dan’s seat:
- The purser asked Dan if he had gotten permission to record the flight, to which Dan responded that he hadn’t, stating he didn’t realize that he needed to get permission
- The purser responded that permission is always required to record on Kuwait Airways flights, and that if Dan didn’t have permission, he couldn’t post the video online
- So Dan asked what he should do, and the purser said he needed to reach out to Kuwait Airways’ marketing department, and once he has permission, he could book a new ticket on a different flight
- Dan suggested that he could reach out to Kuwait Airways about posting the video, but the purser insisted that he needed permission before recording the video
At this point they were at a standstill. So the purser walked off, and returned around 10 minutes later:
- The purser claimed that the captain was very upset and angry, and that Dan would need to sign a piece of paper with his name and contact information, with a promise that he wouldn’t post anything from the flight
- The purser then claimed that Dan had disturbed every single passenger on the flight, and that the captain was upset (Dan emphasizes that he records on an iPhone, and 99% of what he records is inside his suite)
- At this point the purser told Dan that if he didn’t sign the paper, “I can’t guarantee your safety when we land”
- Dan asked for written proof of this alleged law about not being allowed to record, and the purser said they didn’t have it in writing, but insisted he needed to sign the paper
- The purser emphasized that Dan was bothering “everyone” on the flight, so Dan asked if he could speak to one of these passengers
- The purser went to get a lady from row one, who claimed she was disturbed by the recording, and said “in Kuwait, we don’t like being recorded”
- Dan showed the woman his video clips to convey that he hadn’t recorded her, and then they had a nice conversation, with her talking about how great Kuwait Airways is, and how everyone at the airline knows one another
After the conversation with the other passenger, the purser returned a third time, demanding that Dan sign a piece of paper. He refused, and that was the end of that… until landing.
As Dan prepared to get off the plane, the purser stopped him, and said the captain needed to have a word with him. A moment later, the captain emerged, and reportedly said the following, while wagging his finger:
“You need to understand, in our culture, we don’t record other people. My people, when we go to your culture, we respect everyone, we respect your rules, we respect your laws, we don’t break the law. Here in Kuwait it’s completely illegal and forbidden to record anyone and it’s also illegal to record on planes. Do you understand there will be consequences for this?”
At that point, two Kuwait Airways managers showed up at the aircraft, and escorted him into the terminal. They told Dan that he couldn’t leave unless he deleted everything, and stated that if he posted the video, he would be sued.
Police officers then approached, first boarding the aircraft to talk to the crew, and then returning to talk to Dan. The police claimed that the crew said that he was recording “all kinds of sensitive security equipment.” He said that was completely false, so they went back to the crew. A short while later, the police returned and said “it’s fine, you can go.”
This is just complete idiocy, but not surprising
I wish this incident were surprising, but it’s not. These kinds of power trips on government owned airlines, where you have some “local” pursers who have a God complex is hardly an isolated incident.
The irony here is that they established early on that he was a YouTuber. So rather than trying to put their best foot forward and provide a nice service, they couldn’t help themselves, and instead turned this into a much bigger story than it needed to be.
Let’s be perfectly honest — anyone who works in some form of media would salivate at an opportunity to share a story like this, so the lack of common sense here is mind-boggling.
To be clear, if Dan had recorded other people, then it would be reasonable of them to ask him to delete that footage. But that wasn’t the case here, and it seemed they were satisfied with what he showed them.
Now, in hindsight, is there a way this could’ve been handled differently? Of course everyone has their style of deescalating things. Under normal circumstances, I go all-in on deescalation (to a fault), because I don’t like conflict. It did seem like the purser and Dan went back and forth for quite a bit, and since none of us were there, it’s hard to know how exactly it could’ve otherwise played out.
Early in the conversation. When Dan was told he needed permission to post the video, I would’ve probably gone along with that, and just said “oh, okay, I’m so sorry,” and called it a day. I wouldn’t have consulted him further, and I’m not sure if that would’ve prevented the whole “signing the paper” situation.
Furthermore (or alternatively), I would’ve probably questioned why he was okay with this at the beginning of the flight, and only raised the concern shortly before landing, because that makes no sense.
Again, that’s not to say that he did anything wrong, or that one approach is better than the other, but we all have our own ways of handling situations.
Bottom line
A YouTuber flew Kuwait Airways first class. The purser established early on that he was recording, and didn’t seem to have any issues, until 90 minutes before landing, when he claimed it was illegal. The purser demanded that the passenger sign a piece of paper promising that he wouldn’t post a video online. The police ended up getting called, though in the end, he was able to go on his way…
What do you make of this Kuwait Airways incident?
The USA and Europe should have just let Iraq keep Kuwait.
I'm sorry, Ben, but I have to side with Kuwait Airways on this one. Are you perhaps influenced by your job or a personal connection to the YouTuber? From a more objective standpoint, it's unrealistic to expect the police or the airline to simply take someone's word—especially a content creator’s—that all footage including other passengers has been deleted. I trust Ben would do so, based on his values, but if you were a police officer,...
I'm sorry, Ben, but I have to side with Kuwait Airways on this one. Are you perhaps influenced by your job or a personal connection to the YouTuber? From a more objective standpoint, it's unrealistic to expect the police or the airline to simply take someone's word—especially a content creator’s—that all footage including other passengers has been deleted. I trust Ben would do so, based on his values, but if you were a police officer, would you take every YouTuber at their word? Would the police have time to review the entire footage to ensure nothing sensitive was left in? Of course not. And would you expect the U.S. border agents to be as lenient or just take someone's word if someone filmed in a restricted area? Unlikely. Different countries have different rules and expectations, and seasoned travelers understand that respecting local customs is part of that mutual understanding. I’m not sure this YouTuber does. I have been to the middle east many times and started to understand their weird relationship with getting recorded and I kind understand where they are coming from now that I know their culture... however sadly Ben seems to think that publishing videos is always good for the airlines because it is marketing...maybe Ben is biased because it is his job but different cultures operate differently...
So what’s wrong with asking for a consent form, stating that the video won’t be published until it’s reviewed by the airline? Kuwait Airways was, in fact, offering to go through the footage to ensure it complied with their rules. If something was in violation—such as someone’s face being shown—it would be easier to address it with that agreement in place. Refusing to sign it likely raised red flags.
And let's not blame the purser or the captain here. The purser had no real authority—he was simply relaying messages and wasn’t acting out of ego, unlike how some American crew might. That bias is important to acknowledge for Americans who read this. As for the captain, he wasn’t power-tripping either. He was explaining local laws and asking for them to be followed. When in Rome.... Some might think Kuwait air might screen negative information and that might be true but it doesn't seem like the concern for the captain for sure. He was just coming from his culture... The YouTuber, however, refused—and that’s where the issue lies. There’s a troubling trend among Western travelers who assume their own values should override local ones. If the airline has a policy against publishing videos without their permission, why not simply respect it and move on? The answer is obvious: attention and views translate into income for the YouTuber. And that, frankly, undermines the claims by this YouTuber.
I'm fed up with the drama. If airlines can ban smoking worldwide and actually enforce it effectively, then let's have a worldwide rule: all filming is permitted. No powertrips, no made-up "rules", no "here for your safety" omnipotent tyrants.
If it's a Common Carrier, it's a Public Space. I'll film what I want, just as I can on Broadway or the Kensington High Street.
That'll fix them.
Isn't it time we got a little less...
I'm fed up with the drama. If airlines can ban smoking worldwide and actually enforce it effectively, then let's have a worldwide rule: all filming is permitted. No powertrips, no made-up "rules", no "here for your safety" omnipotent tyrants.
If it's a Common Carrier, it's a Public Space. I'll film what I want, just as I can on Broadway or the Kensington High Street.
That'll fix them.
Isn't it time we got a little less entitled and triggery? who cares if someone with a Galaxy S24+ films me spilling my Bourbon?
The problem with Dan is that he doesn’t speak American.
The same airline that hates Jews
If there was really a problem with him recording it should have been established shortly there after finding out he is a Youtuber. The staff's credibility diminishes because of the gap in time for notifying him that he was not allowed to film.
When did Kuwait hire US flight attendants?
Power trip cabin crew. Trained by ICE to keep criminals and rapists cat eater away from First Class.
Their airline, their rules if you don't like,, get off or stop flying them again. No matter how petty you think the rules are, THEY get to decide. PERIOD. Like a restaurant says you have to be under 12 to order a kids meal or if an airline won't sell you the upgrade even though the seat is empty. Deal with it like an actual adult. Nod and go quietly sit down, it;'s not hard...
Their airline, their rules if you don't like,, get off or stop flying them again. No matter how petty you think the rules are, THEY get to decide. PERIOD. Like a restaurant says you have to be under 12 to order a kids meal or if an airline won't sell you the upgrade even though the seat is empty. Deal with it like an actual adult. Nod and go quietly sit down, it;'s not hard ... or you can lie in the aisle and throw a tantrum or be outraged that I, a white American (or just a white guy, never heard of him) am not allowed to touch the Mona Lisa or drive down the Spanish steps because I want to. OUTRAGED!
Good. Can we have more of this please?
The world doesn't need so many entitled, self-important a-hole "youtubers." Toss some of them in jail - and leave them there for a while - to set an example.
Not good enough. We need hangings in the public square
OK, I'm good with that, too.
I find him to irritating to say the least. Not to say he was in the wrong. But I refuse to watch his videos on you tube. He writes sensationalist headlines and frankly has a poor take on everything.
I assumed when I read the headline it was Josh Cahill, but Nonstop Dan? This is about the most positive, low drama YouTuber out there! Zero chance Kuwait Airlines was reasonable or is in the right here. It sounds like they took a page directly from the Cairo Airport playbook.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WHY SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO HAVE VIDEO OF WHAT WENT DOWN.
I don't record on flights. But, if a FA started escalating something, I probably would pull out my phone to record. Not necessarily faces, but certainly exactly what was said.
And what we really need - and air crews fight this tooth and nail - cameras in the plane. The unions have said heck no for years. I wonder why?
Why argue with an FA (repeatedly) when you’re captive in their space? Especially when it’s a ME airline without a sense of humour?
I am familiar with Nonstop Dan. He NEVER films anyone other than himself and his partner Oscar.
To be honest, I don't enjoy his work nearly as much as Jeb Brooks and " Greener Grass" but Dan is always discreet and respectful.
Poor guy !
I don't normally post but had to respond to Baileys comment about Dan's target audience being vegans lmao. Quite possibly the silliest thing I've read today and that includes reading about and watching a video about a purser going on an irrational power trip.
Nothing wrong with Dan's videos, they're normally quite informative and aren't seemingly biased one way or another. Ironically if the purser and airline didn't go nuts, Dan's video would have been...
I don't normally post but had to respond to Baileys comment about Dan's target audience being vegans lmao. Quite possibly the silliest thing I've read today and that includes reading about and watching a video about a purser going on an irrational power trip.
Nothing wrong with Dan's videos, they're normally quite informative and aren't seemingly biased one way or another. Ironically if the purser and airline didn't go nuts, Dan's video would have been quite a positive promo for them for offering affordable first class flights in a sea of competition but yeah after that silly power trip myself and most people would likely pay extra to avoid Kuwait.
I’m torn here. On one hand the purser and captain did the airline great disservice. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if one or both will face some consequence. I wouldn’t most definitely advise the airline not to let the purser communicate with premium class passengers before some serious retraining.
That being said - I see their point. I was recently on a flight with a different ME airline, which was an inaugural flight...
I’m torn here. On one hand the purser and captain did the airline great disservice. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if one or both will face some consequence. I wouldn’t most definitely advise the airline not to let the purser communicate with premium class passengers before some serious retraining.
That being said - I see their point. I was recently on a flight with a different ME airline, which was an inaugural flight and as such had a few blogger invited. I had one sitting behind me and one next to me - constantly recording and then replaying and redoing the same sentence over and over again. Extremely annoying. One of them the thought it reasonable to stand in the aisle and interview other passangers. Not suggesting that Dan did any of that, but I can see why an airline would impose a blanket ban on recording
Sounds like an entitled person. Should have shut up very early on and not invited police attention
Yes, the purser was out of line. But anybody familiar with the vlogger will know exactly why he's been christened "Non Stop Drama". A term which I'm sure he doesn't appreciate, but which accurately sums up his 'style'. Kuwait Airways and Dan deserve each other.
I don't follow "YouTubers" (or people on Tik Tok for that matter), so I cannot comment on the individual's motives, actions, or reputation. However, from reading the article, it seems to me that the ONLY people who behaved RESPONSIBLY were the Kuwaiti Police who, quite rightly detained him based upon his filming "all sorts of sensitive security equipment," but then -- upon learning this was NOT the case -- let the individual go.
He is insufferable and didn't really help himself, but it does look like he was mistreated by the airline. The claim 'detained by police' just because a couple of officers turned up to see what was going on is hilarious.
Who cares. He’s stinks. Nordic moron.
I seem to recall that Nonstop Dan used to a semi regular OMAAT guest contributor around 10 years ago
Yepp. Same guy
Didn’t he used to post trip reorts on this site back in the day when Lucky had other people posting stuff as well on here?
Remember when he hired Ben S so lasted about 2 weeks before going to the points guy lol
Didn’t Dan used to contribute trip reports for OMAAT back in the day when Lucky had other people posting on here, or am I mistaking him for someone else?
Yep. There was one particularly memorable OMAAT review written by Dan. He was having some sort of ticketing or IRROPS issue at a European airport (Linate or Malpensa, perhaps?) and decided he was too important to wait in line for assistance and literally cut in front of everyone. The comments section of that review is especially enjoyable.
I'm surprised this doesn't happen to YouTubers more often
I wish it would…especially to Kara/Nate and Josh Cahill.
The only one who doesn’t ever display a sense of entitlement is Noel Phillips.
“ I wish it would…especially to Kara/Nate and Josh Cahill.”
Many would add Adam Chui to that list.
Jeb Brooks is super nice and respectful as well (even when giving a critical review).
Noel is the only one who behaves like 99.9% of us air passengers. An authentic guy
NSD is one of the YouTube creators I follow, unlike others he will always disclose if he’s been given a freebie or being paid for reviewing a product.
The captain saying "we Arabs when we go to US or Europe, we respect your culture and laws"... Err, didn't quite notice that...
Because they love drink and do drugs. The most out of control people I’ve ever met is Saudi students. They love it here, they can love their boyfriends and do coke before they call their wife back home. Lol
Well, you guys will insist on flying with these shtty, two-bit airlines from shthole countries that are just a few generations removed from nomadic subsistence. I know it's about content creation to encourage engagement, but jeez...
Yeah I cant handle airlines like UA, DL etc either. The U.S. might be the nicest of the third world countries but the many stories of crew going on crazy power trips is just a no go
All too true, I'm afraid. As a non-American I can confirm that many foreigners believe that the US is rapidly approaching "shthole country" status, and more than a few people think it's there already.
@Lucky: "Streisand effect" or since your Cairo trip saga: the "Lucky effect" :-))
Dan's content sucks but these comments are hilarious acting like he's going up to peoples faces and shoving a camera in there. hes literally filming his own suite lol. insane reaction by the airline
What is the predominant religion in Kuwait?
What does that have to do with any of this?
Irreligion is #1. Cash is the #2 religion.
If he was only filming inside his suite...I don't see the issue. Just as long as he is not bothering anyone.
Youtubers, influencers, bloggers--whatever they choose to describe them selves as, they almost to a person think they are God's gift to mankind, and the rules us ordinary folks have to follow don't apply to them. May I also add that they are some of the biggest grifters I have ever seen, thinking every thing they do should be comped because they have "influence."
Sir, this is a Wendy's. What does your inate ramblings about influencers in general have to do with this story in particular? He filmed himself in his suite.
jcil, why come to an aviation blog site and then proceed to post such hypocritical nonsense?
The kettle calling the pot black or what?
It's another case of a stupid American or European that think they shouldn't have to pay attention to other cultures when they're in that culture's environment. That's not to say you support whatever that culture is. There are countries/cultures out there that I do not like and therefore would never visit those countries/cultures, fly their banner airline and certainly wouldn't make a video about it.
GR …. “It's another case of a stupid” comment from someone who has come to an aviation blog site, simply to spout nonsense about an another blogger. Hypocritical or what?
I think none of this should have happened. I believe that, if none of this had happened, we wouldn't be here talking about it.
You're a sharp one
For the record - to respond to the "it's always Americans" - while Dan does have American citizenship as well, he's Swedish, lives in Sweden, and largely identifies as Swedish.
He got the worst of both cultures.
Out of respect bloggers should always contact the airline before. It’s a lack of awareness and I was on a flights recently with at least 6 people filming. I’ve noticed other customers and crew’s privacy not being respected and you can see them in the background as well as foreground.
This is not the USA.
The fact he did not have an issue before doesn’t mean it’s carte Blanche to do it everywhere. To add NSD is also extremely irritating.
Contacting airlines beforehand guarantees the experience presented in the video will not be reflective of the product received by average customers
"This is not the USA."
Kuwait certainly isn't, but where's your 'this'? Because pretty much every country in the Western world permits such recordings, including taking sweeping shots of other plane passengers without singling out particular ones.
If it's a requirement then it should be clearly stated. But as is this case, neither the purser nor the pilot could provide such a thing means it's not a rule. You can't hide behind "it's a cultural thing" when you do international business. In those countries it's cultural for women to be second class citizens. Should we apply that to female passengers as well?
I used to watched a few of his videos but always skip over them now because I don't agree with his target audience which seem to be vegans?
Many of his reviews are negative due to inferior or poor vegetarian meals on the flight. Then he claims its not a premium experience and a poor flight. I am not a vegetarian, but have flown on many of the airlines he has covered and had good to great experiences.
So no thanks to this youtuber.
Honestly, he did nothing to deescalate it and should’ve just done as you said. His reviews are unfortunately, not so helpful as he is vegan and can’t show an accurate representation of what’s being served anyway.
In his review video he mentions the purser didn't do much and just ordered the FAs around while drinking a soda. I think the purser was worried about a potentially bad service review and made a huge fuss that amounts to nothing.
This is simply a culture conflict. You absolutely cannot film anyone without their permission ever in the Middle East. Even if someone does something illegal, you would use the official police app to record them and not your phone’s camera app. I don’t understand why some people (it’s almost always Americans) think that just because something is normal where they are from, everybody else has to go along with it.
This is even more...
This is simply a culture conflict. You absolutely cannot film anyone without their permission ever in the Middle East. Even if someone does something illegal, you would use the official police app to record them and not your phone’s camera app. I don’t understand why some people (it’s almost always Americans) think that just because something is normal where they are from, everybody else has to go along with it.
This is even more relevant in autocratic countries without rule of law. Heck, in the Middle East, you can be charged with “cyber terrorism” if you leave a negative Google review.
Have some respect for the rules - or be prepared to find out.
I watched his video, and he mentioned that he's never had any issue filming on any of the other Middle East airlines he's flown on (which I think is all of them). So, I could understand why he wouldn't know it was a cultural thing. He could have helped de-escalate the situation as well, though.
This American cannot stand people who think it is ok to randomly film strangers.
This internet person thinks he explains in the video that he did not actually film any other people. Looking at the complete video confirms that he barely has five seconds of footage containing other humans, and no faces or other identifiable body parts at all.
I watched both videos he DID NOT record anyone AT ALL, much less anyone without their permission. He made this clear several times in the videos and he even allowed several different people (including representatives of the airline) to review his videos to confirm that he had not shot video of any person. So what "rules" did he violate that you think he needs to "have some respect" for?
It's not a cultural conflict if it didn't happened. Insisting that it did doesn't change things. That's why the police didn't bother. But you must have missed that part.
Speaking of Kuwait, Simon Wilson went to Kuwait not too long ago as part of his "holiday roulette", flew on Jazeera Airways no problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqr3IfGcjSo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nz4aymJwuU&t=29s
Actually, it seemed like Simon had a very fine time of it in that video.
I very much do not like the vlogger in question lol but the purser/captain should know better than to escalate an incident which they cannot back up all the way. Probably a great windfall for Dan to have this ammo for his channel now LOL
Kuwait is a dog shit country.
You’ve never been to Kuwait so how would you know?
I have been many times and can confirm that it is my least favorite country (Djibouti second). Not in a bad way at all, just very different. Because I didn’t write the apartment number on my visa application on arrival they ripped up my paper for the visa in front of my face instead of just letting me add it lol. If you are from Kuwait, it is a great place honestly, but if you...
I have been many times and can confirm that it is my least favorite country (Djibouti second). Not in a bad way at all, just very different. Because I didn’t write the apartment number on my visa application on arrival they ripped up my paper for the visa in front of my face instead of just letting me add it lol. If you are from Kuwait, it is a great place honestly, but if you are visiting, nope.
All that to say Nonstop Dan over dramatizes everything for clicks. The airline is fine, offers decent prices and has newish cabins on their neos.
I love watching YouTube videos/reviews.
But I just find NonstopDan....annoying. I cannot quite put my finger on why, but there is just something incredibly inauthentic about him that puts me off. And definitely some passive-aggressiveness.
He seems the type of person that could easily rub someone up the wrong way.
I feel like you either love him or hate him. Some of his videos are excellent, some are...annoying.
He comes off as an out of touch rich kid (albeit 30 or so) who's never done any real work besides vlogging or "influencing". In a word: a brat.
Yeah, Nonstop Dan annoys me. I've watched a number of his videos and they got on my nerves after a while. First off, it's the spoiled rich kid thing. Entitled, whining about his friggin' vegan meal. He appears to look for drama where none is needed and sometimes goes out of his way to cause it. I may watch these particular videos for amusement, but I tend to skip his stuff ordinarily, preferring others (Noel Phillips is a fav).
@Duck:
I so agree with you. I find there is something annoying about him myself and no longer watch his videos. He took great exception once, when I told him that his giving gifts to flight crew should not be done; but if he insisted on doing so, that he should do so after the flight and not before the flight. He couldn't understand that doing so could place undue influence on the crew.
“ My people, when we go to your culture, we respect everyone, we respect your rules, we respect your laws, we don’t break the law.”
The captain needs to see how his fellow countrymen act abroad.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/easy/2851113/kuwaiti-embassy-called-over-pattaya-bikers
Bingo! They behave like hogs in a pigs stall!
Yeah, that quote aged like milk in the Kuwaiti sun. His people go to our culture and appear to have no respect for it either.
He should go to Cairo with Egyptair. I wonder if they'll let his reviews fly. (Ba Dum Tss)
entitled 'influencer' - does whatever he wants to - doesnt like the outcome - blames everyone else.
how about we just show some respect and not pull out a camera for filming without asking.
i have been part of several 'blogs' involuntarily - its rude.
Yeah Dan doesn't really have a reputation for de-escalation does he? I remember some of his old videos like the contrived stuck in the Gatwick jetway story etc..