Editorial Policy
Our editorial promise in one paragraph
Airline Crew Discount publishes crew-tested travel deals, layover guides, and aviation lifestyle content. Every recommendation is reviewed by Captain AL — an active Boeing wide-body Captain with 19,000+ flight hours and 32 years on the line. We cite our sources, label sponsored content, disclose every commercial relationship that affects what we write, and use AI tools transparently to publish faster — never to fake expertise. If we get something wrong, we fix it within seven working days and mark the article as updated.
The three rules: aviate, navigate, communicate
Captain AL flies long-haul widebodies. The same three priorities he uses in the cockpit shape how we publish.
1Aviate — fly the article first
We test every deal, hotel, insurance product, and gear recommendation against current crew rates and current availability before publication. If a partner withdraws an offer, raises a price, or stops honouring crew rates, the article is updated or pulled. We do not publish theoretical advice.
2Navigate — cite the sources
Numbers, statistics, eligibility ages, policy quotes, and any time-sensitive claim are linked to the original primary source — usually the airline, hotel group, or insurer. Personal experience and first-person stories are clearly labelled as such. If we cannot verify a claim, we either say so or do not publish it.
3Communicate — disclose everything
Affiliate links, sponsored placements, gifted products, free press trips, and any commercial relationship that affects content are disclosed in plain language inside the article and on our affiliate disclosure page. The price you pay is never higher because of a link on this site.
Sourcing standards
For each fact we publish, we use the following hierarchy of sources, in order of preference:
- Primary source. The airline, hotel group, insurer, or official authority itself — published policy pages, terms and conditions, or formal communication.
- Direct verification by Captain AL. Personal experience, conversations with serving colleagues at the relevant carrier, or Captain AL’s own use of the product.
- Trusted secondary source. Established aviation trade press (Flightradar24, Simple Flying, Travel Weekly, IATA, EASA, FAA, ICAO publications), regulatory filings, or peer-reviewed research.
- Fellow crew, attributed. When a serving pilot, flight attendant, ATC controller, or ground-handler shares first-hand insight, we attribute by role and carrier (with permission) — for example, “a serving Lufthansa cabin crew member confirmed…”.
Where two sources disagree, we follow the primary source and note the discrepancy. We do not publish unverified claims sourced from social media, closed Facebook groups, or anonymous forum posts as fact.
Fact-checking process
Every article goes through a four-step review before publication:
- Draft — written or assembled by Captain AL, optionally with AI assistance for research and structure (see AI Usage Statement below).
- Source check — every numerical claim, eligibility threshold, age cap, price, and named policy is verified against a primary source and the link added.
- Captain AL review — final read-through by Captain AL for operational accuracy. If the article describes a process Captain AL has not personally run, it is cross-checked with a serving crew contact at the relevant carrier.
- Publish — with the publication date stamped and a “Last updated” date that we revise whenever the article is materially changed.
How we use AI tools (full transparency)
Airline Crew Discount uses AI tools to publish faster, write more clearly, and research more thoroughly. We believe readers deserve to know exactly which tools are used and how — so here is the full list.
AI tools we use
What we use AI for
- Research. Finding sources, comparing carrier policies, surfacing what other publishers have written on a topic.
- Drafting. Building the structural skeleton of an article — headings, sections, transitions — that Captain AL then fills with first-hand insight and verified facts.
- Editing. Tightening prose, fixing grammar, checking consistency.
- SEO and metadata. Title tag and meta-description optimisation, schema markup, keyword research.
- Visuals. Designing graphics, infographics, and social-media images. AI-generated illustrative imagery is always labelled as such; AI-generated images are never passed off as Captain AL’s own travel photography.
What we never use AI for
- Fabricating experience. AI does not invent personal stories, layover anecdotes, or first-flight-on-type recollections. Every “I”-statement on this site comes from Captain AL.
- Generating fake reviews. Reader testimonials and crew quotes are real, attributed, and obtained with consent.
- Replacing Captain AL’s judgement. The decision to recommend or not recommend a product is made by a human pilot — not by a model.
- Passing AI photos as crew photography. When you see a photo credited to Captain AL or Airline Crew Discount, it was taken by a real camera in a real place. AI-generated illustrations, when used, are labelled.
- Bypassing fact-checking. AI output is treated as a starting point, not a final answer. Every factual claim is verified against a primary source before publication.
Conflicts of interest
Captain AL flies for a major European legacy carrier. He may write about that carrier, its crew benefits, or its products. When he does, the article carries an explicit conflict-of-interest disclosure and is held to a higher fact-checking bar (every claim independently verified by an outside source, even when Captain AL has personal knowledge).
Captain AL does not accept gifts, free trips, or hospitality from carriers, hotels, or partners other than industry-standard crew rates available to all aviation professionals. Press trips, when accepted, are clearly disclosed at the top of any resulting article.
Author identity and the “Captain AL” pen name
Captain AL is a real working pilot. He publishes under a pen name because his airline does not authorise active flight-deck crew to comment publicly. The flight hours, type ratings, and operational stories on this site are real and have been verified by the publisher (Alomax Amsterdam). The pen name is a respectful workaround that keeps Captain AL compliant with his airline’s social-media policy while letting him help the wider crew community.
Read the full background on the About Captain AL page.
Updates and revisions
Travel deals, crew rates, and airline policies change constantly. We treat published articles as living documents:
- Every article carries a “Last updated” date that is revised whenever the article is materially changed.
- Significant changes (price changes, eligibility changes, partner changes) are flagged in an “Updates” note at the top of the article.
- Articles that become inaccurate and cannot be saved are retracted rather than left to mislead readers. Retraction notes remain in place explaining why.
- We aim to review the top-50 most-trafficked articles every quarter.
Public corrections process
If you spot an error on this site — a wrong age cap, an outdated price, a misnamed policy, a broken link, anything — please tell us. Here is what happens next:
- Report. Email info@airlinecrewdiscount.net with the URL of the article and the specific issue. Or use the contact form and tick the “report a correction” option.
- Acknowledge. We confirm receipt within 48 hours.
- Investigate. Captain AL or a delegated reviewer cross-checks the claim against the primary source.
- Fix or explain. Within seven working days we either correct the article (and add a “Corrected on [date]” note at the bottom explaining what changed and why), or write back explaining why we believe the original is correct.
- Track. Material corrections are logged so we can audit our error rate and improve.
Reader corrections are not a complaint — they are a contribution. Crew helps crew. We thank every reader who flags an issue and credit them where they have given permission.
Content types we publish
- Original editorial — written by Captain AL, possibly assisted by AI tools as disclosed above. Independent of any commercial relationship.
- Affiliate-supported editorial — same editorial standards as original editorial; the article contains affiliate links that earn commission at no extra cost to the reader. The affiliate relationship is disclosed at the top of the article.
- Sponsored content — paid for by a brand. Always labelled “Sponsored” or “Paid partnership” at the top of the page. Held to the same factual standard as original editorial; we never publish sponsored content for products Captain AL would not recommend on their merits.
- Press releases and syndicated industry news — clearly attributed to the source. Sometimes lightly edited for clarity; never altered to change meaning.
- Reader contributions and guest posts — published occasionally, with the contributor’s name, role, and (where appropriate) carrier. Subject to the same fact-checking standards.
Comments and reader contributions
Comments on the site are moderated. We approve thoughtful, on-topic comments — including critical ones — and remove spam, abuse, content that endangers crew safety or privacy, and any content that violates aviation operational confidentiality (for example, posting cockpit voice recordings or active operational data).
Editorial questions, corrections, or partnership pitches?
We aim to reply within 48 hours, jetlag permitting.
Policy versioning
This policy is versioned and updated as our practices evolve — particularly as the AI tooling landscape changes. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page reflects the current version. Material changes (new AI tools, new partner categories, changes to the corrections process) are noted briefly in a changelog held by the publisher and available on request.
Editorial & legal pages