How We Create, Review & Update Our Content
Flight Hacks was founded in 2014 by Immanuel Debeer with a simple mission: help everyday Australians unlock the world of frequent flyer points, travel hacking and smarter credit card rewards. Since then, millions of readers have used our content to fly business class for less, choose the right credit cards and maximise their points. That trust is something we take seriously, and this page explains exactly how we earn it.
Who Writes Our Content
Every article on Flight Hacks is written by a specialist with direct, hands-on experience in the subject they cover. We do not use generic freelance writers or AI-generated content. Our authors are selected because they actively use the products, programs and strategies they write about.
Our content team has expertise across:
- Frequent flyer programs — Qantas Frequent Flyer, Velocity, KrisFlyer, Asia Miles and partner airlines
- Credit card rewards — points-earning cards, travel cards, no-fee cards and premium cards from major Australian issuers
- Travel planning — flight booking strategies, lounge access, travel insurance and destination guides
- Points optimisation — earning strategies, transfer partners, redemption sweet spots and points valuations
- Deals & Promotions — finding the most useful and working promo codes across the travel vertical, including finance, insurance & more
Our Editorial Team
Our content is created and overseen by named individuals with verifiable expertise. Every article displays its author and, where applicable, its reviewer.
Immanuel Debeer is the founder, editor-in-chief and licensed financial content reviewer at Flight Hacks, one of Australia's leading travel rewards publications. He holds an Australian Financial Services licence and is personally responsible for verifying the accuracy of all credit card reviews, insurance guides and financial product comparisons published on the site. He is also an authorised travel advisor, allowing him to book luxury hotels and curate VIP experiences for Flight Hacks readers at some of the world's most sought-after properties.
Immanuel has spent over 14 years working with the travel, aviation and financial services industries, building deep relationships with leading airline, hotel and credit card brands. He founded Flight Hacks to help everyday Australians unlock the world of frequent flyer points and has since grown it into a trusted resource used by millions of readers.
To maintain the independence and depth of Flight Hacks' content, Immanuel self-funds hundreds of flights each year across economy, business and first class cabins. He holds elite frequent flyer status across all three major airline alliances — Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance — giving him unbiased, first-hand access to lounges, premium cabins and airline products that is not dependent on sponsorship or complimentary upgrades. He has personally held more than 20 Australian credit cards and visited over 50 airport lounges worldwide.
Through an extensive network of hotel industry connections built over more than a decade, Immanuel is able to unlock VIP benefits, room upgrades and exclusive experiences at luxury properties globally — expertise he shares directly in Flight Hacks' hotel reviews and booking guides.
Immanuel's expertise has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, the Daily Telegraph, News.com.au, 9 Travel, Urban List and DMARGE, and he has appeared as a guest expert on radio and travel industry podcasts. He is a regular speaker at travel and financial services industry events.
His areas of expertise include credit card rewards optimisation, frequent flyer programs across Qantas, Velocity and international carriers, airline alliance redemptions, premium cabin reviews, travel insurance, points valuations and luxury hotel bookings.
You can connect with Immanuel on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok & X
Tom Goward is the senior editor and aviation specialist at Flight Hacks, where he has covered commercial aviation, airline loyalty programs and travel products for over 7 years. He brings both working industry experience and a deep technical understanding of commercial aviation to every piece he publishes.
Tom's aviation journalism has been published in Australian Traveller, one of Australia's most respected travel publications, alongside his extensive body of work at Flight Hacks. He has reported from airline hangar tours, reviewed private jet charters with Navair, and flown aircraft ranging from the COMAC C919 in China to the rare De Havilland Canada Dash 7 in the Canadian Arctic — experiences that give his writing a level of authority and detail that desk research alone cannot replicate.
A recognised voice in the Australian points and travel community, Tom has built a dedicated following across platforms including TikTok (@thetomflyer) where he shares aviation insights and loyalty program strategies with tens of thousands of viewers. He has contributed expert commentary on airline products, frequent flyer program changes and travel industry developments, and has appeared as a guest speaker at industry events.
Tom specialises in airline product reviews, frequent flyer program strategy across Qantas, Velocity, KrisFlyer and Asia Miles, airport lounge access, aviation news and reward seat booking techniques. He is based in Melbourne, Victoria.
How We Research and Fact-Check
Before any article is published, the information in it must be verified against primary sources. We do not rely on other blogs, press releases or outdated information. Our fact-checking process includes:
- Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) — for all credit card reviews, we verify earn rates, fees, interest rates and conditions directly from the issuer's PDS document
- Official airline program terms — frequent flyer earning tables, redemption charts and partner rules are confirmed against the airline's current published terms
- Government sources — travel advisories, visa requirements and regulatory information is sourced from official Australian Government websites
- Direct testing — where possible, we verify claims through first-hand experience (booking a flight, visiting a lounge, applying for a card)
Our source hierarchy
We prioritise sources in this order: (1) official issuer/airline documentation, (2) direct communication with the company, (3) our own first-hand testing, (4) verified community reports.
Our Multi-Stage Review Process
Different content types go through tailored review processes to ensure the right expertise is applied:
How We Keep Content Up to Date
The travel and credit card landscape in Australia changes constantly. A guide that was accurate last month could be misleading today. That is why we operate
Every article displays a "Published Date" date at the top, indicating when the content was last confirmed as accurate by our team. This is not just the date the page was technically modified — it is the date a human verified the key facts.
Affiliate Relationships & Editorial Independence
We believe in complete transparency about how Flight Hacks earns revenue and how that relates to our recommendations.
How we earn revenue: Flight Hacks receives referral fees from some credit card issuers, travel insurance providers, and booking platforms when readers apply for or purchase products through our links. This is how we fund our independent editorial operation.
What this means for our content:
- Our editorial team decides what to cover and what to recommend — advertising partners have no input, review rights or approval over our content
- We regularly feature and recommend products where we have no commercial relationship, because they are genuinely good for readers
- We have published critical reviews of partner products when warranted — a commercial relationship never guarantees a positive review
- Affiliate links are clearly disclosed on every page that contains them, in compliance with Australian Consumer Law
Our editorial independence pledge
Flight Hacks only works with brands and promotes products we genuinely believe in and use ourselves. This is why you won't find any products on our site that we wouldn't use ourselves such as credit cards with no rewards program, gambling products and other products and services that go against our personal values. When we do partner with a brand, we will always disclose this.
Our Corrections & Accountability Policy
We hold ourselves accountable for the accuracy of everything we publish. When we get something wrong, we fix it promptly and transparently. Here is how:
- Minor corrections (typos, formatting, non-material updates) are fixed immediately with no notation
- Factual corrections (incorrect fee, wrong earn rate, outdated policy) are corrected within 48 hours and a "Last verified" date is updated
- Material corrections (errors that change a recommendation or significantly alter advice) include a dated correction notice visible in the article
How to report an error: If you spot something inaccurate on Flight Hacks, please email hello@flighthacks.com.au
We investigate every report and genuinely appreciate readers helping us maintain accuracy.
Our Approach to AI and Data
In the interest of transparency, here is how Flight Hacks uses (and does not use) artificial intelligence and data:
- AI-assisted research: We may use AI tools to assist with data gathering, initial research and formatting. All AI-assisted content is reviewed, verified and edited by a human expert before publication.
- No AI-generated opinions: Our recommendations, ratings and editorial opinions are always made by named human authors based on their expertise and experience.
- Data-driven insights: We use proprietary data on flight pricing trends, points valuations and reward seat availability to inform our guides. This data is collected and analysed by our team, not generated by AI.
- Community intelligence: Reader reports, community feedback and real-world redemption data from our audience help us validate and improve our content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Every article goes through a multi-stage review process: specialist author, fact-checking against primary sources (PDS documents, official airline terms, government websites), expert review by a financial or loyalty program specialist, and a final editorial check. We commit to correcting any confirmed error within 48 hours.
While we earn referral fees from some partners, our editorial team has complete independence over what we recommend. We regularly feature products with no commercial relationship and have published critical reviews of partner products. Advertising revenue never influences our editorial decisions.
We operate a continuous update cycle. Credit card reviews are verified at least quarterly. Airline program guides are updated whenever terms change. Deal and promo code pages are checked weekly.
Our content is written by specialist contributors with direct experience in travel hacking, frequent flyer programs and credit card rewards. Our founder has 14+ years in the space, and our editorial team collectively holds status across multiple airline programs and has personally tested a lot of credit card and lounge products. Financial content is reviewed by a qualified financial content reviewer.
Email hello@flighthacks.com.au or use the feedback option at the bottom of any article. We investigate all reports and correct confirmed factual errors within 48 hours. Material corrections that change a recommendation include a dated correction notice in the article.
Have a Question About Our Process?
We are committed to transparency. If you have questions about how we create our content, how we handle affiliate relationships, or if you have spotted something that needs correcting, we want to hear from you.
This page was last reviewed and updated on 19 March 2026.
