At just 22, Max Morganroth is shaking up the travel rewards industry with a new startup aimed at making everyone have access to earn airline miles — not just elite credit card holders. After visiting 30 countries during a study abroad year, mostly flying business class on points, Morganroth realized a big problem: most people don’t know how to travel hack, and many don’t qualify for the top travel credit cards. To solve this, he co-founded Rove, a universal airline mile loyalty program that lets users earn flight miles through everyday shopping and hotel bookings — no credit card required.
Rove Opens Airline Miles to Everyone, Not Just the Elite
Morganroth’s idea was sparked during his time in Hong Kong, where he noticed locals could earn Cathay Pacific Asia Miles just by making daily purchases — even at 7-Eleven. Miles were treated like a currency, used for everything from banking to real estate deals. Inspired, he teamed up with Harvard dropout Arhan Chhabra to bring that model to the U.S.
After joining Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 batch, the duo traveled globally, signing deals with 11 airline mile programs, including Air France-KLM, Aeromexico, Finnair, and Qatar Airways. While not the first to offer multi-airline rewards — American Express and Expedia do this too — Rove is among the few that open such benefits to users without strong credit histories.
Their pitch worked: Rove raised $2 million from investors including Y Combinator, General Catalyst, and Soma Capital.
Unlike traditional airline programs that partner with premium credit cards, Rove partners with over 7,000 merchants using a Chrome shopping extension. When users shop online, airlines earn affiliate revenue — and instead of cash, users get miles. Rove also offers miles for hotel bookings, making it easy for young travelers to rack up points quickly.
Shop, Stay, Earn: How Rove Turns Everyday Spending Into Flight Miles
Rove’s model is similar to cashback apps like Honey or Rakuten, but instead of cash, users earn airline miles — which Morganroth says are often more valuable. A $1,000 hotel booking, for instance, can yield enough miles for a round-trip ticket to Europe. That’s because some hotels share up to 40% of their booking revenue as commission. Rove passes its entire share to the customer in miles.
Miles from hotel stays, online shopping, and even credit cards (if users have them) can be pooled together and redeemed through Rove’s flight booking portal. Even though Rove has direct partnerships with just 11 airlines, customers can redeem flights on over 140 carriers due to airline alliances and partner programs.
Morganroth says the program is simple to use: “Just shop through our Chrome extension or book hotels through our platform. That’s it.” Once users have enough miles, they can search Rove’s portal for the best award deals.
While Rove is open to all, its target audience is Gen Z, a group eager to travel but often left out of traditional travel rewards due to limited credit history or income.
“Gen Z wants to travel more than any other demographic,” Morganroth said. “But they don’t have access to tools like these unless they’ve built credit and can afford cards with $700 annual fees. With Rove, they can skip all of that.”
By removing credit barriers and using affiliate revenue to fund miles, Rove is democratizing travel rewards — giving younger and underserved travelers a chance to explore the world using miles they can earn just by living their everyday lives.
