Max Morganroth’s junior year study abroad led him to travel to 30 countries, with most of his flights being in business and first class, all made possible by strategic credit card applications and miles redemptions. He funded his jet-setting lifestyle almost entirely through airline points.

According to Morganroth, many people, including his fellow Wharton students, were interested in learning how to get free flights through airline miles programs, which he refers to as “travel hacking.” However, most of them either didn’t qualify for the best airline rewards credit cards or didn’t have the time to maximize their mile conversions for optimal flights.

Frequent flyer programs have become significant revenue generators for airlines through marketing credit cards and sharing fees with banks. Nevertheless, Morganroth noted that approximately 70 million Americans lack sufficient credit history to access these reward schemes.

During his travels, Morganroth observed that in Hong Kong, people can earn miles on Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles program without needing to open credit cards. He noted that “miles are treated like a second currency” in Hong Kong, where individuals can earn miles by buying everyday items, opening bank accounts, or even selling properties.

Morganroth saw an opportunity to create a similar program, allowing consumers to earn miles on various airlines when shopping at specific stores. His proposal to airlines was to tap into a larger consumer demographic, particularly Gen Z, who are eager to travel but often lack established credit.

After graduating, the 22-year-old Morganroth teamed up with Arhan Chhabra, a Harvard dropout, to build Rove, a startup that claims to be the first universal mile loyalty program.

Although it’s not the only program of its kind, with American Express’ rewards program and Expedia offering similar services, multi-airline programs are still relatively rare. Rove’s unique approach allows users to earn miles on various airlines when shopping at specific stores.

Rove entered Y Combinator’s winter 2024 batch and secured partnerships with the mile programs of 11 airlines, including Air France-KLM, Aeromexico, Finnair, and Qatar Airways. These partnerships helped Rove raise $2 million from investors, including YC, General Catalyst, and Soma Capital.

Rove’s loyalty program enables airlines to expand their lucrative business of miles to millions more consumers, according to Morganroth. Instead of sharing fees with credit cards, Rove allows airlines to make money through affiliate marketing with over 7,000 merchants using the Rove shopping extension for Google Chrome.

The points earned from shopping can be converted into airline miles, which hold more value than their equivalent in cash. Additionally, Rove offers users miles for hotel bookings, with some hotels sharing up to 40% of their sales as commission.

Users can combine Rove miles earned on hotel bookings with miles from the shopping extension and even credit card miles. The startup’s travel portal helps users find the best award flight deals, and although Rove has partnered with only 11 airlines, users can book award travel on about 140 carriers.

Rove is available to anyone, but Morganroth believes its offering is most attractive to young adults. “Gen Z wants to travel more than any other demographic, yet they have the least access to the tools that make it cheaper,” he said.

With Rove, young adults no longer need to wait until they’re 28, have five years of credit history, and pay a $700 fee to get one of these cards; they can simply download a Chrome extension, book their existing travel through Rove, and start earning miles immediately.