The United-JetBlue partnership has just entered a new phase where mileage earning and awards are now possible, but we wouldn’t recommend it yet.

Blue Sky: the United-JetBlue partnership

Back in May 2025, both United Airlines and JetBlue dropped the news that they would be entering a new partnership called “Blue Sky”. This was driven in part by the failure of the JetBlue partnership with American that never got off the ground. That partnership would have served to improve American’s positioning in the northeast. Instead, this new partnership helps get United back into New York JFK after they abandoned it for Newark EWR.

This United-JetBlue partnership will eventually become rather involved. We’ll eventually see the following:

• Points earning in one program when flying the other (now live)
• Award bookings between the two programs (now live)
• Elite recognition when flying their partner (to come in 2026)

We’ll save commentary on the elite recognition part until a later date. For now, let’s touch on the other elements of the partnership that just launched.

Earn JetBlue points for flying United Airlines

If you fly on United and want to earn JetBlue points, that’s now available at the following rates:

• Regular members: 5x times the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges
• Mosaic 1-4: 8x times the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges

Unfortunately, this rate isn’t quite as good as flying on JetBlue for JetBlue members:

• Regular members (Blue Basic): 2x times the base fare
• Regular members (other fares): 6x times the base fare
• Mosaic 1-4 (Blue Basic): 5x times the base fare
• Mosaic 1-4 (other fares): 9x times the base fare

Throwing out the Blue Basic fares, the earning rates for United are 1x less than what they would earn on JetBlue. It’s nicer when there is metal neutrality–earning the same rates regardless of the operating airline. Too bad that isn’t the case here.

Earn United miles for flying JetBlue

When flying on JetBlue and crediting to United MileagePlus, the good news is the earn rates are consistent with any other partner:

• 5 miles per dollar for a regular member
• 7 miles per dollar for Premier Silver members
• 8 miles per dollar for Premier Gold members
• 9 miles per dollar for Premier Platinum members
• 11 miles per dollar for Premier 1K members

There is some fine print to be aware of:

• Eligible fare classes: A, B, C, D, E, G, H, J, K, L, M, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, Z
• Members cannot earn miles for travel between Newark (EWR) and these destinations:
  • Aruba (AUA)
  • Cancun (CUN)
  • Los Angeles (LAX)
  • Las Vegas (LAS)
  • Punta Cana (PUJ)

The assumption is that United is trying to give an incentive to members for booking on United rather than JetBlue. But the problem is that the lack of points earning likely will not be obvious at the time of booking and just cause members frustration when they discover after the fact that it doesn’t count.

Awards are live… but at unappealing rates

Let’s go through a few examples of award rates to drive home the point that the United-JetBlue partnership is a bit lacking with the award rates.

Booking JetBlue flights with United miles offers limited appeal

Our first example will be an attempt to book JetBlue Mint domestically, on January 18, 2026. The route between JFK and LAX is pricing out at 80,000 United miles.

That same price when booked via JetBlue? A smaller 68,900 points price. It sure seems like the cheapest-priced options are the ones that are available to use for points redemptions, but it’s not a guarantee since that 8:29PM flight is not available on United.

OK but how about a JetBlue flight between the US and Europe? This November 27, 2025 flight from London LHR to Boston BOS prices out as 115,000 United miles.

Meanwhile, JetBlue charges its own members 129,000 points for the same flight. So we found one! A flight where it’s cheaper booking via United!

Not so fast… because if you book it via Etihad, you’ll pay only 80,000 miles. Guess United doesn’t have that good of a deal after all.

And lest you think economy class is a deal, just look at these prices. Please don’t do it.

Somehow booking United flights with JetBlue points is worse

First of all, it just doesn’t seem possible to book Polaris business class on any of United’s partners these days. JetBlue doesn’t have any special arrangement that makes this possible. If you want to fly in Polaris, you’re going to want to build up a points balance with United MileagePlus.

With that out of the way, what does it look like for booking United flights with JetBlue points? It’s certainly not pretty. Take a look at this flight on November 4, 2025. Economy is priced at 39,900 points and United’s regular domestic first class is at the highest rate JetBlue charges (99,900 points).

What does United charge for this particular flight? Just 13,300 miles for economy and 30,000 for domestic first class. Again, please don’t needlessly throw away your miles like this.

So is that it?

We’re tempted to not write off the award opportunities for the United-JetBlue partnership as dead-on-arrival. After all, things could always improve over time. However, the rates here at launch are certainly less than thrilling. Having more options for your hard-earned points and miles is never a bad thing. Points and miles are a captive currency and you’re limited to whatever the program says you can use them for.

At least based on these initial rates, we won’t be updating either our United or our JetBlue list of sweet spots.

What do you think of the United-JetBlue partnership?

Suggested reading:

• Review: JetBlue Mint A321 Neo BOS-LAX
• JetBlue Adds Condor Award Flights And They’re Excellent
• Review: United Airlines 787-9 Polaris Business Class SFO-PPT