United Airlines and JetBlue’s new partnership begins this morning. TPG aviation reporter Sean Cudahy wrote an article outlining United’s new partnership with JetBlue, including the yields you can expect and other upcoming changes.
However, in this article, I’m going to dive into what we found when we searched for award flights operated by United through JetBlue TrueBlue and when we searched for award flights operated by JetBlue through United MileagePlus. Here’s what you should know.
Book United flights with JetBlue TrueBlue
You can now redeem JetBlue TrueBlue points for flights operated by United. Generally speaking, award prices for United flights booked through JetBlue are always the same regardless of your travel date.
However, award cabins can be difficult to find on certain routes on United flights booked through JetBlue TrueBlue, and it’s often nearly impossible to find any award cabins in business class.
On some (but not all) routes, you’ll see higher tier award pricing closer to departure. For example, we found that booking a nonstop United flight between Newark and Johannesburg within three days of departure costs 27,800 points more.
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JetBlue Airways
We also found that if you book a nonstop United flight between Newark and Dubai shortly before departure, you’ll spend 26,600 points more.
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JetBlue Airways
You’ll want to focus on direct flights as each segment is priced individually. For example, a one-stop trip from Los Angeles to Seoul via San Francisco on a United-operated flight will cost 81,800 JetBlue points, plus $260.60.
But a nonstop flight from San Francisco to Seoul costs 69,900 points plus $260.60. A nonstop trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco costs 11,900 points plus $5.60. Therefore, the points required for a one-stop itinerary are simply the sum of the two nonstop segments that make up the itinerary.
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JetBlue Airways
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that United-operated flights booked through JetBlue don’t appear to follow strict distance-based point costs (even if you focus on nonstops and exclude close-in bookings). For example, a nonstop flight operated by United costs 39,900 JetBlue points, plus $5.60 on the 1,023-mile route from Newark to Palm Beach, Florida.
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However, you only need to redeem 39,000 JetBlue points and $5.60 for the 3,370-mile route from Newark to Anchorage.
That being said, the minimum JetBlue points you’ll need to pay to fly United within the continental United States appears to be 11,900 points on the 140-mile route from Houston to Austin.
Meanwhile, the lowest JetBlue points you’ll pay on a United flight outside the continental U.S. appears to be 15,900 points on the 129-mile route from Guam to Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Book JetBlue flights with United MileagePlus
We ran into more questions when searching for JetBlue flights that could be booked through United MileagePlus. Sometimes we can’t find any JetBlue-operated flights available for booking through United, even on routes where JetBlue operates nonstops.
Even when we do find flights operated by JetBlue, award prices tend to be much higher than flights operated by United.
Certain routes awarded by other JetBlue partners are also cheaper than flights operated by JetBlue. For example, a JetBlue-operated flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Medellin, Colombia costs 20,000 United miles plus $20.60, while a flight operated by Avianca costs 17,500 miles plus $20.60.
We didn’t find any JetBlue Mint transatlantic itineraries available for booking through United MileagePlus, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. However, TPG’s Nick Ewen discovered that it’s possible to book a JetBlue Mint trip from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles for 80,000 United miles plus $5.60. Alternatively, you can book an economy-class seat on this JetBlue-operated flight for 35,000 United miles plus $5.60. However, you can take a connecting trip operated by United for just 13,300 miles plus $5.60.
Based on the data points we’ve collected, it appears that award rates for nonstop JetBlue flights booked through United’s MileagePlus are based on a distance threshold. Here are some flight distances and how many United miles it takes to purchase an economy seat:
- Short-haul flights of 155 miles (San Juan to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic) and 187 miles (New York City to Boston): 15,000 United miles
- Flights 1,035 miles (Palm Beach, FL to New York) and 1,056 miles (San Juan to Medellin): 20,000 United miles
- Flight 1,951 miles (New York City to Aruba): 30,000 combined miles
- 2,343 miles flown (Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles): 35,000 United miles
- Flights of 2,704 miles (San Francisco to Boston) and 3,451 miles (New York to London): 45,000 United miles
bottom line
The new Blue Sky alliance is great for JetBlue and United members, giving them more ways to earn and redeem points and miles. However, none of the award rates we found were good enough for me to transfer my awards to TrueBlue or United MileagePlus. Even if you have JetBlue points or United miles you want to redeem, keep in mind that there may be better value options for your miles than the new redemption options Blue Sky Alliance unlocks.
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