Hi, I’m Weihong, a software engineer at HeyMax. My job is to turn “wouldn’t it be cool?” ideas into code that ships. FlyAnywhere began as a brave exploration that we took: What if we let any flight, on any site, count toward Max Miles? Fast-forward to now, and it’s our most-used redemption method. Here’s how we built it, broke it, and built it again.
Why We Built FlyAnywhere
Before FlyAnywhere, Max Miles redemptions for flights primarily relied on two paths: transfers miles to over 28 airlines and hotels (at 1:1 ratios) or cash-for-miles options. While these offered flexibility, they came with a tradeoff: they mostly benefited users chasing large redemptions—like 100k+ miles for business class seats.
But not everyone flies that way. For many users, redeeming miles for economy tickets often felt less worthwhile, and it could take a long time to feel any real benefit. We saw a clear opportunity: Make miles feel valuable earlier in the journey.
Introducing FlyAnywhere
FlyAnywhere is a flexible redemption layer that decouples flights from specific loyalty programs. It lets users redeem Max Miles toward any flight booked on any online travel platform—at a fixed value of 2 cents SGD per mile (promotional rate until 7 July 2025).
With just 1,000 Max Miles, users can now offset flights (or partially) to destinations like Bangkok or KL. Combined with our other redemption options, FlyAnywhere expands the value of Max Miles to fit every kind of traveler.
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How FlyAnywhere Evolved
The Initial Launch
FlyAnywhere began as a simple web form. Users submitted receipts, and our operations team manually reviewed each one before passing the request to Finance for PayNow transfers.
While the system worked, payouts often took 5–10 working days.
The first POC version on the web was just me exploring the feasibility of the concept, with a super simple form UI. From that point onwards, our dear designer Hammad has been (lovingly) teasing me about why engineers shouldn’t be left alone to design. But hey — sometimes you’ve got to design and try out these new brave ideas! — Weihong
The Challenge
As adoption grew, it became clear that we needed to scale. Manual reviews weren’t sustainable—and long processing times created friction. The challenge: build a faster system without compromising trust, security, or accuracy.
Accelerating the Experience
The turning point came through our integration with Acme, a service originally brought in to streamline our voucher checkout flow. As we explored their API docs, we discovered they supported payouts as well. That’s when things clicked.
By integrating FlyAnywhere with Acme’s payout API, we were able to automate payments directly after ticket verification—cutting average processing time from days to just hours.
Users noticed the improvement immediately, with many surprised at how fast their redemptions processed. But we’re not stopping here—this is just one step in making Max Miles redemptions as instant, flexible, and user-friendly as possible. We're excited about what’s next.
What’s Next: AI-Powered Reviews
The FlyAnywhere flow has three core stages:
- User submission – A user uploads their flight receipt and PayNow details
- Operations review – Our team verifies the booking and redemption eligibility
- Automated payout – Once approved, the system triggers a PayNow transfer
We’re now focused on automating the review stage using AI. The goal is to build a robust, end-to-end system that can intelligently validate requests, flag inconsistencies, and trigger payouts at scale—with human oversight when needed.
This enhancement unlocks two key benefits:
- Operational efficiency – Frees our team to focus on edge cases and high-value user support
- Faster user experience – Enables consistently fast, near-instant redemptions for verified users
To ensure fairness and prevent misuse, we’ve designed the system with built-in safeguards, anomaly detection, and periodic human review. Every payout remains traceable and auditable—so speed never comes at the cost of security or trust.
Beyond FlyAnywhere
Today, FlyAnywhere has emerged as one of the most popular ways to redeem Max Miles, transforming how users experience value from their rewards. As it continues to gain momentum, we’re actively expanding our redemption ecosystem—unlocking more ways for users to use their miles, on their terms.
We’re especially excited about upcoming products that will bring even more flexibility, value, and possibilities to the Max Miles journey.
Even though FlyAnywhere is so popular and we're always working to make it even better, we're also putting a lot of effort into improving our entire redemption experience, so you can enjoy the best of HeyMax with even more ways to redeem, with the least amount of effort! Got ideas or pain points? Ping me on LinkedIn! — Weihong, still chasing the zero-click redemption flow
Ready to redeem your Max Miles with FlyAnywhere? Learn how it works here.
Thanks for being part of our journey.
— Weihong Qiu, Software Engineer @HeyMax
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