JetBlue and United Now Have Reciprocal Earning and Redemptions in Blue Sky Partnership

Not long after the dissolution of the ill-fated Northeast Alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue, we learned the latter would be teaming up with another U.S. legacy carrier — United Airlines.

The pair announced the so-called Blue Sky partnership in May 2025, and now the first phase of the new tie-up has been activated. Effective immediately, flyers can take advantage of reciprocal points earning and redeeming on each airline.

“With reciprocal earning and redemption now available, Blue Sky is officially taking flight,” both airlines said in a joint statement. “We’re excited to give our loyalty members the ability to use the program of their choice when traveling across our complementary networks.”

Here’s what you need to know, in addition to a look at what’s still to come for this exciting new partnership.

Reciprocal Mileage Earning and Redemptions

The first elements of the Blue Sky partnership between JetBlue and United are now live. This means JetBlue TrueBlue members can earn and redeem TrueBlue points on United flights. Likewise, United MileagePlus members can earn and redeem MileagePlus miles on JetBlue flights.

To earn MileagePlus miles on JetBlue flights, select United MileagePlus as your loyalty program and enter your membership number.

To earn TrueBlue points on United flights, select JetBlue TrueBlue as your loyalty program and enter your membership number.

We’ve confirmed that reciprocal award bookings are indeed possible. Here’s an example of a JetBlue flight between New York (JFK) and Grand Cayman (GCM) that’s bookable with United miles through United’s website:

Conversely, here’s an example of a United flight between Chicago (ORD) and Los Angeles (LAX) bookable with TrueBlue points on JetBlue’s website:

This reciprocal mileage relationship immediately opens up an exciting new world of travel opportunities for members of both programs. MileagePlus members can to use their MileagePlus miles for flights on JetBlue’s extensive network of routes to popular vacation destinations in the Caribbean and Florida. The partnership might be even more beneficial for TrueBlue members, however, as they can redeem their points across United’s robust international network that reaches all corners of the globe.

What To Look Forward to With Blue Sky

Though reciprocal earning and redeeming are now live, there’s still more to come from the Blue Sky partnership.

Reciprocal revenue bookings will go live in the first quarter of 2026. You can now book itineraries with points, but early next year you’ll be able to book on either airline with cash.

Also coming in early 2026 are reciprocal elite benefits, including priority boarding, preferred seating, same-day flight changes and standby, and more.

Here’s a look at what MileagePlus elite members can expect on JetBlue flights:

And here’s what JetBlue elite members can expect on United flights:

United’s MileagePlus Travel, which will feature additional options for hotels, rental cars, cruises, packages, and travel insurance, will migrate to the JetBlue Travel platform. This is expected to take place early next year.

Finally, beginning in early 2027, JetBlue will grant United access to up to 7 daily slots at JFK. This is a tactical move for United, as it affords the airline access to JFK, an airport dominated by American, Delta, and, of course, JetBlue. JetBlue and United will also share 8 flight times at Newark (EWR) to balance things out.

Notably, neither airlines has so far shared information regarding reciprocal lounge access, presumably because JetBlue doesn’t yet have its own lounges and doesn’t provide lounge access to its business class passengers or elite members.

However, this could change once JetBlue opens its first lounges at Boston (BOS) and JFK, hopefully before the end of 2025.

Final Thoughts

The Blue Sky partnership has taken off. Partners JetBlue and United hope this relationship will be mutually beneficial to both parties — and to their flyers.

Reciprocal mileage earning and redeeming are available now, but we have to wait to see more features of this partnership implemented. Those shouldn’t be too long, as most of them are coming early next year.