I just found a pretty cool way to make hotel stays work harder for me, and it is called Rove. If you are booking hotels anyway, whether that is for a business trip, a trade show, a staycation, or just living the digital nomad life, there is a good chance you are leaving points on the table.
I have been into travel hacking for a long time. Credit card welcome bonuses are awesome, but they are not the only way to get yourself into a business-class seat or a really nice hotel room. I am always looking for practical ways to earn more points from spend I was already going to make. That is what got me interested in Rove.
At E-Commerce Paradise, I talk a lot about building a business that gives you freedom. For me, that is not just making money online. It is being able to work from Bali, spend time with my wife, travel where I want to go, and not have to ask somebody for permission to take a trip.
This Rove app review is my honest take on how the platform works, where it can make sense, what to watch out for, and how I would use it as an ecommerce entrepreneur. I also made a full video walkthrough, which you can watch right here.
Rove App Review: The Simple Version
Rove is a travel rewards platform where you can earn Rove Miles when you book travel, shop, or use eligible offers. For this article, I am focused on the hotel side because that is where it gets really interesting for somebody who travels regularly or can use a few strategic stays during the year.
Instead of looking at every hotel night as an expense that disappears, you can look at it as a chance to earn a flexible travel currency. You book a qualifying stay, earn Rove Miles, and can later use those miles toward travel or transfer them into certain loyalty programs.
That does not mean every booking will be a winner. It is not magic. You still have to compare the nightly cash price, taxes, cancellation policy, rewards rate, and whether the booking is actually eligible for hotel loyalty benefits. But when the numbers work, it can be a very good extra layer on top of the travel rewards you already use.
If you want to see the current offer and decide whether it makes sense for you, you can check out Rove through my referral link. I would not sign up and start booking blindly. Create an account, search hotels you would actually book, and look at the math for your own travel plans first.
Affiliate disclosure: I may receive a benefit if you sign up for Rove through a link on this page. That does not cost you extra, and it does not change my recommendation to compare prices and terms before you book.
What Rove Actually Does
The core idea is simple. Rove gives you another way to earn travel rewards on spending that is already part of your life. Hotel stays are the clearest example, but the platform also has other ways to earn miles through travel, shopping, and offers.
For hotel bookings, Rove displays the stay price and the available miles-earning rate before you book. According to Rove’s hotel booking information, eligible stays can stack Rove Miles with hotel points, elite-night credit, and credit card rewards, although availability depends on the property and room type.
That last part is really important. Do not assume every hotel booking will qualify for every layer of rewards. Loyalty eligibility can vary, and the exact rate shown in the app is the number that matters. Treat the booking screen as the source of truth for that specific property and date.
Rove has advertised hotel earning rates of up to 25x miles per dollar. In my video, I was seeing some very high rates while searching properties in Bali. Rates move around, so I would use 25x as an upper-end possibility, not as a promise for every trip you ever take.
Why This Matters If You Run an Ecommerce Business
When you run a real ecommerce business, your spending is not always predictable. You may have a supplier meeting, a conference, a content trip, a team getaway, or a few nights away while you work from a different city. These are legitimate expenses, but they can also be part of a bigger points strategy.
A high-ticket business can be especially good for this because you do not need to chase volume just for the sake of it. The goal is profit, strong systems, and the freedom that comes with a business you can run from anywhere. If you are still figuring out the model, start with my complete guide to high-ticket dropshipping.
Travel points are not business profit. Keep that in mind. You should never book a hotel you do not need just to get miles, and you should never let a rewards program talk you into spending more than the travel is worth.
But if you are already paying for a stay, it makes sense to ask one more question: what is the best return I can get on this purchase? Sometimes the answer will be booking direct. Sometimes it will be using a hotel portal. Sometimes Rove will offer enough extra value to be worth it.
It Fits the Location-Independent Lifestyle
I have spent years living and working in places like Bali, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Los Angeles, and other spots around the world. The biggest benefit of an online business is not just that you can work remotely. It is that you can set up a life where travel is normal instead of being a once-a-year escape.
When you combine a profitable business with a smart rewards strategy, you can make that lifestyle more affordable. It does take planning. Award availability can be a pain in the butt, and you will not always get the exact route or hotel you want. But flexible points give you options, which is what matters.
The Real Opportunity Is Stacking Rewards
The reason I am excited about Rove is not that it replaces credit cards or hotel loyalty programs. It is that it may work alongside them. You are looking for multiple rewards from one necessary purchase, not a single reward from a purchase you did not need.
Here is the simple stacking idea. First, you pay with a card that earns rewards on travel or general spend. Second, you earn Rove Miles from the stay if that rate is available. Third, if the booking is loyalty eligible, you may earn hotel points and receive elite-night credit through the hotel program.
For loyalty-eligible stays, enter your hotel loyalty number at checkout and confirm that the reservation appears in the hotel program after you book. Pay with the card that best fits your earning strategy, then keep the confirmation email until the points and stay credit show up.
Think about a two-night hotel stay that you were already going to book. You might earn Rove Miles, the credit card points from paying for the stay, and hotel points. None of those buckets alone has to be life-changing. Over time, though, they can become a meaningful balance for a flight, an upgrade, or a few nights on a future trip.
The win is earning more from necessary travel, not manufacturing extra travel to earn more. That is the whole game. If you are forcing spend just to get a multiplier, you are doing it backwards.
How Rove Miles Can Turn Into Airline Travel
Flexible points are useful because they can be moved where the redemption is best. Rove currently lists a growing group of airline and hotel transfer partners, including Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Cathay, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and others.
You can see the active partners and current transfer ratios in Rove’s transfer-partner guide. Most listed programs transfer at 1:1, while the Accor transfer rate is different, so do not assume every program works the same way.
This is where a little homework can create a lot more value. You are not locked into one airline. You can search for the route you actually want, compare the points required by different programs, and then decide whether a transfer makes sense.
In the video, I talked about using stays in Bali as a way to work toward a business-class trip for my wife and me around Asia. That is still the goal. I am not assuming every hotel stay creates a free flight, and I am not promising a certain redemption value. I am building a pool of flexible miles, then I can use them when the right trip opens up.
Do Not Transfer Before You Find a Good Redemption
This is one of the biggest rules in travel hacking. Search first, transfer second. Points transfers are often final, and airline award availability can change quickly. If you move miles because a seat looked available yesterday, you can end up stuck with a balance in a program you did not really want to use.
Before transferring, make sure the seat is actually available, understand the taxes and fees, and check the cancellation rules. Some business-class awards can be an incredible deal. Others can look cheap in points but get expensive once the cash fees are added.
You also need to be realistic about travel dates. If you only want to fly on one exact Friday at one exact time, you may not find the best award options. A little flexibility with dates, departure airports, or a stopover can make a huge difference.
Do the Hotel Math Before You Book
This part is not complicated, but you need to do it every single time. Start with the all-in price. Do not compare a headline rate on one site with a final rate on another site after taxes and fees. Look at what leaves your credit card.
Then look at the Rove multiplier. If a $300 hotel stay earns 15x, that would be 4,500 Rove Miles. If another property earns 25x, the same $300 spend would earn 7,500 Rove Miles. That is useful information, but it is only useful if the room, location, cancellation policy, and final cash price are still a good fit.
Next, consider your credit card. If you would earn 3x on travel from your card, a $300 booking could also earn 900 card points. If the stay is eligible for the hotel’s program, add that potential return as another line item.
Finally, ask whether you are paying more for the Rove rate than you would pay booking direct. There is nothing wrong with paying a little more when the extra miles are worth more to you. But do the math honestly. A big multiplier is not a deal if the room is overpriced by more than the value of the miles.
A Simple Example
Let us say you are choosing between two comparable hotels for a weekend trip. Hotel A costs $400 directly and gives you standard hotel points. Hotel B costs $410 through Rove and earns 20x Rove Miles, plus it is marked loyalty eligible.
That $10 difference may be worth it if you value the 8,200 Rove Miles, your card rewards, and hotel points more than $10. It may not be worth it if the Rove booking has a worse cancellation policy or no breakfast when the direct rate includes one.
The point is not to memorize a formula. The point is to compare the real options. I like tools that put another option on the table, but I do not let the tool make the decision for me.
Rove Versus Credit-Card Welcome Bonuses
I am still a big fan of good business credit-card welcome bonuses. They can get you a large block of points quickly, especially when you have legitimate business spending and can hit the minimum spend without buying stuff you do not need.
Rove is different. It is more of an ongoing earning system. Once you have used the welcome bonus, you still need ways to keep earning points from your normal spending. Hotels, flights, shopping portals, and bonus offers can all help you keep the balance growing.
For most people, it should not be either-or. A strong card setup gives you the base. Rove may give you another way to earn miles when you travel. Hotel loyalty programs can add another layer. The better your stack, the more choices you have when it is time to plan a trip.
Just keep your cash flow under control. If you are new to business credit, set up your company properly, understand your accounting, and pay balances in full. My business formation checklist covers the basic foundation you want in place before you start mixing business expenses, cards, and travel rewards.
How I Would Use Rove While Living in Bali
Bali is a great place to test this because there are so many hotels, villas, resorts, and little staycation spots. I can book a night or two somewhere beautiful, make content, spend time with my wife, and keep working without needing a huge international trip every time.
My plan is not to bounce around hotels just for the points. That gets old fast, and it can become more work than fun. The plan is to use Rove when a stay already makes sense and choose the options with the best overall value.
I am especially interested in North Bali, East Bali, and West Bali. Those areas have really beautiful places outside the main tourist zones, and a few nights in a new area can be a nice reset. If the rate earns solid rewards too, that is pretty cool.
Over time, I want those stays to help fund longer flights around Asia. A business-class redemption to Hong Kong, Japan, China, or somewhere else in the region would be awesome. The exact destination will depend on availability, which is why flexible miles matter more than having one single airline program.
My Five Rules for Using Rove Without Wasting Money
1. Only book stays you would actually take
This is the biggest rule. Do not create expenses because a points dashboard makes you feel like you are missing out. A free flight is not free if you spent an extra $2,000 chasing it.
2. Compare the final price, not the headline price
Check taxes, resort fees, cancellation terms, and what is included. Direct booking may win sometimes. That is fine. Your goal is the best total value, not loyalty to one booking site.
3. Confirm the exact earning rate and loyalty eligibility
Do not assume a property will earn the same multiplier next week, and do not assume every room will earn hotel points. Look at the exact booking terms before you pay.
4. Have a travel goal before you transfer
Flexible miles are more valuable before you move them. Search the flight or hotel award first, then transfer only when you are ready to book. This one habit can save you from a lot of frustrating orphaned points balances.
5. Keep the rewards separate from your business decisions
Do not choose a bad supplier, a bad niche, or a weak business model because you want travel points. Build the business around real customer demand and healthy margins. Rewards are a bonus after you have the fundamentals right.
If you need help finding something worth selling, my high-ticket niches list is a good place to start. Once you have a niche in mind, use my step-by-step supplier guide to start building real relationships with manufacturers.
A Quick Note on the Referral Link
I am sharing Rove because I am personally interested in using it, not because I think everyone should blindly sign up for every new rewards app. There are a lot of travel tools out there, and some are great while others turn into a headache.
If you decide to use my Rove link, I may receive a benefit. I want that to be completely clear. The Federal Trade Commission recommends making material connections clear and conspicuous, which you can read in its guidance on endorsements and affiliate links.
My recommendation is simple: use the referral link if you were already planning to try Rove, review the current bonus and terms, and make sure the hotel stays you book are worth it without the points. That is how I am approaching it myself.
Build the Business That Lets You Use These Strategies
The best travel-hacking strategy in the world is not going to fix a business that is losing money every month. Your first job is still to build something profitable, get the right suppliers, serve customers well, and set up systems that do not require you to answer every email at 2 a.m.
Once you have that foundation, travel rewards become one of the fun perks of being location independent. You can put legitimate business spending to work, plan trips around your life, and create experiences without treating every vacation like a financial disaster.
If you want help putting together the business side, I offer private ecommerce coaching for people who want direct guidance. If you want to learn alongside other entrepreneurs, you can also join the E-Commerce Paradise community.
For those who would rather skip the DIY process, my team also offers a done-for-you high-ticket ecommerce service. We help with the store, suppliers, systems, and the things that normally take beginners a long time to figure out on their own.
Final Thoughts: Is Rove Worth Trying?
I think Rove is worth checking out if you already book hotels and want another way to earn flexible travel rewards. The ability to potentially stack Rove Miles, card rewards, and hotel loyalty benefits is the main reason it has my attention.
Just use it the right way. Compare prices. Read the terms. Confirm the exact earning rate. Do not book unnecessary travel. And do not transfer miles until you have found a redemption that actually makes sense for your plans.
For me, the goal is not to collect points for the sake of collecting points. The goal is to use a profitable, location-independent business to create more freedom, more travel, and more time doing the things I enjoy with the people I love.
Go watch the video above, then take a look at the current Rove options for a hotel stay you already need. I wish you guys the best of luck out there, and I will see you in the next one.
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
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