United Airlines jet landing at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey; the collaboration between JetBlue Airways and United Airlines expands the loyalty program benefits of both airlines. || Courtesy of Adobe, photo by Max Maximov
JetBlue Airways and United Airlines launched Blue Sky, a unique collaboration that gives customers of both airlines even more options to find flights that fit their plans as well as new opportunities to earn and use United’s MileagePlus miles and JetBlue’s TrueBlue points across both airlines.
Blue Sky includes the following components, with some starting as early as this fall, subject to regulatory review:
- United Airlines MileagePlus customers can earn and use miles on most JetBlue Airways flights. JetBlue’s TrueBlue members can earn and use points for flights on United’s extensive domestic and international network.
- Each airline will offer flights on one another’s website and app to make booking across the two airlines’ complementary networks simple and easy. Blue Sky includes an interline agreement, not a codeshare, meaning each airline will continue to publish and market flights independently under its own brand and flight numbers.
- The benefits of each airline’s loyalty program—priority boarding, complimentary access to preferred and extra legroom seats, and same-day standby/switch—will be available when customers travel on the other airline’s aircraft.
- As part of the airlines’ agreement, JetBlue Airways will provide United Airlines access to slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for up to seven daily round-trip flights out of Terminal 6 to begin as early as 2027. And, as part of a net-neutral exchange, JetBlue and United will exchange eight flight timings at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
- United will move its website and mobile app’s ability to sell hotels, rental cars, cruises, and travel insurance, on both a stand-alone and package basis, to new technology and services provided by JetBlue’s Paisly platform.
“This collaboration with United is a bold step forward for the industry—one that brings together two customer-focused airlines to deliver more choices for travelers and value across our networks,” says Joanna Geraghty, CEO of JetBlue Airways. “United’s global reach perfectly complements JetBlue’s East Coast leisure network, and significantly expands the options and benefits for TrueBlue members, no matter where in the world they are traveling. This is a clear win for our customers and crewmembers, and supports our JetForward strategy.”
“Blue Sky reflects our airlines’ shared focus on innovation and the customer experience,” says United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. “The JetBlue brand is tied to a great product, and under Joanna’s leadership, the airline continues to deliver for customers. We’re always looking for ways to give our MileagePlus members even more value and benefits and this collaboration gives them new, unique ways to use their hard-earned miles and find options that fit their schedule. Plus, our employees are really excited about United’s return to John F. Kennedy International Airport for the longer-term, and we’re all looking forward to starting up flights very soon.”
JetBlue and United will continue to manage and price their networks independently, including the launch of new routes, frequencies, and promotions.
As part of Blue Sky, members of each airline’s loyalty program will find similar benefits over time—as well as reciprocal revenue-based miles and points accrual and reciprocal miles and points redemption—when they use and earn miles or points on the partner airline. Timing for reciprocal benefits for customers will be announced later this year. Whether customers are flying on United or JetBlue in the future, they will receive benefits in line with what they receive today.
JetBlue Airways operates 180 daily flights out of John F. Kennedy International Airport and 130 daily flights out of Boston’s Logan International Airport. United Airlines is the world’s largest airline and its vast network gives TrueBlue members hundreds of additional domestic and international options to use points: 165 across the U.S., eight in Canada, two in the Caribbean, 31 in Latin America, 27 in Europe, five in Africa, two in the Middle East, 15 in Asia, and 14 in the South Pacific.
In a move that will make planning and booking travel and holiday packages easier for United’s customers and MileagePlus members, United will move its website and mobile app’s ability to sell hotels, rental cars, cruises, and travel insurance to JetBlue Airways’ Paisly platform. United customers are now routed to different services known as United Hotels, United Cars, United Cruises, and United Packages to book hotels, rental cars, cruises, and holiday packages. This move streamlines these services and puts them all on united.comand, the airline’s mobile app, powered by the Paisly tech stacks.
Additionally, business travelers and their employers will see benefits from the collaboration as well. While United and JetBlue will continue to manage their commercial relationship independently, both airlines may extend the terms of parts of their corporate programs to the flights operated by the other airline. This includes the discounts each airline has independently negotiated.
Finally, JetBlue is expected to be the first partner airline to deploy and syndicate the technology Kinective Media by United Airlines, which United built to connect airline customers to personalized, real-time advertising, content, experiences, and offers from leading advertising brands. The Kinective Media technology platform, launched in June of last year, is a global first traveler media network that uses insights from travel behaviors to enable marketers to deliver relevant messaging to audiences across various touchpoints in the journey, and beyond. Kinective Media’s focus is on premium brand relationships across key verticals such as retail, luxury goods, financial services, automotive, media and entertainment, and travel, and the collaboration will bring those capabilities to highly engaged audiences across JetBlue Airways’ digital channels.
