Meet our Team

Rob Karp — CEO & Founder
Self-taught, Rob developed his airline knowledge by learning about points and helping family & friends with their travel. What began as a hobby and one-man operation throughout his high school years soon developed into MilesAhead. Since 2012, Rob has grown MilesAhead into a thriving luxury travel concierge. Rob has been featured in various news outlets, including New York Times, Travel Weekly, Travel & Leisure, CBS, Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg TV, and various Ivy League publications. Rob has also been named one of Travel + Leisure’s International Rising Stars and was a Virtuoso Rising Star nominee.

Nelson Billington — Director of Client Operations
Nelson oversees MilesAhead's team of travel advisors and is a senior at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. He joined the team nearly 3 years ago and has worked to create an amazing customer experience and help clients seek smart solutions to their travel planning needs. Nelson loves building relationships with MilesAhead's many suppliers across the globe. Since joining the company, Nelson has visited hundreds of hotels in eighteen countries. Nelson previously worked in Rio for NBC Sports at the 2016 Olympic Games and for Coyle Hospitality. He works hand-in-hand with Rob and Grace to shape the future of MilesAhead.

Grace McBride — Director of Marketing
Passionate about design, marketing, and travel, Grace works with the MilesAhead team to let everyone else know why we love it so much. Grace spent her last summer interning with JetBlue which sparked her passion for combining all of her interests. When she isn't designing or writing, Grace can be found reading a new book, scoping out new hotels, or searching the web for the latest social media trends.
Advisors
AJ Arena — Senior Travel Advisor
AJ is a student at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration and spent last summer interning in the rooms department of the iconic Plaza Hotel. When AJ isn't planning out multi-country itineraries and working with MilesAhead's private client group, he can be found planning his own international itineraries. Outside of MilesAhead, AJ enjoys hiking, biking and exploring the outdoors.

Jonathan Friedman — Senior Travel Advisor
When Jonathan plans on a trip, he seeks to change the way people travel, from the moment they first step into the airport. Jonathan prides himself on his unique ability to leverage frequent flyer miles and incentives/benefits to create ultra-luxury experiences for his clients, while saving them money. Jonathan knows premium cabins and luxury hotel markets like the back of his hand, from what champagne Singapore Air serves in Business Class to which hotel is the best urban retreat in Hong Kong. Jonathan first started working with miles when he was 12 and claims that he has gotten the best sleep of his life in Cathay Pacific First Class.