3 quirks United and JetBlue should fix in the ‘Blue Sky’ partnership

Zach Griff

November 24, 2025

ZACH GRIFF

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It was months in the making, and the details have finally been revealed.

United and JetBlue have teamed up for their so-called Blue Sky collaboration, which includes reciprocal loyalty perks, the ability to book cash tickets on both airlines and even United’s upcoming return to New York’s JFK Airport.

Right now, we only know the first piece of the Blue Sky puzzle — the reciprocal loyalty perks — but there’s some room for improvement.

Here’s why.

No elite qualification from JetBlue

This one is a head-scratcher. United will not award Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) or Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) from JetBlue flights.

JetBlue, on the other hand, will award Tiles, its elite-qualifying criteria, for United travel.

For someone who is more loyal to United than to JetBlue, this one stings.

I was hoping that I’d be able to credit some of my JetBlue flights to United to help push me over the edge to Premier 1K status.

Hopefully, United will change its mind as the tie-up evolves, but for now, I’d definitely beware of this one.

Close-in booking surcharge

If you’re looking to redeem your JetBlue points for United travel, you should plan ahead.

Because if you don’t, you’ll end up paying more with close-in pricing on United redemptions.

There’s no rhyme or reason to which flights are being charged the higher award pricing, but the jump within 48-72 hours of departure is definitely noticeable.

For example, take the Newark to Washington Dulles route. If you book it more than 72 hours before departure, expect to pay 11,900 TrueBlue points.

But if you wait until you’re within three days of departure, that number jumps to 16,500 points.

Two things about this move are noteworthy.

For one, saver award availability on United often doesn’t appear until a few hours before departure, in which case you’d be charged the close-in surcharge.

So even if you had the intention to book earlier, you’d still end up redeeming more miles for your flight.

Secondly, United doesn’t seem to be imposing its own close-in booking surcharge through MileagePlus.

So I’m puzzled why JetBlue is doing the opposite. (My hypothesis is that United could be charging JetBlue more for last-minute redemptions, but if you’re an insider who has more info, my inbox is always open.)

Earn rates not at parity

Another discrepancy between the two airlines is that United is awarding MileagePlus members with the standard revenue-based mileage accrual for JetBlue flights.

JetBlue, meanwhile, will give regular flyers five points per dollar spent, and eight points per dollar spent for Mosaics

That’s a point less per dollar than booking JetBlue directly.

If the airlines are really trying to build fully reciprocal loyalty perks, I’d love to see parity between the two earning rates.

The good news is that the Blue Sky tie-up is only in its infancy. More benefits and perks are expected to launch soon.

And hopefully, these three quirks will be addressed in a future update as well.

Zach Griff Author

Zach Griff is a travel expert who’s covered airlines, loyalty programs, credit cards, and travel tech for nearly a decade. He’s visited 60+ countries and regularly shares his insights across Instagram, TikTok and X — and at From the Tray Table.