Caribbean beaches, Florida theme parks and island-hopping getaways are entering a new phase of growth as JetBlue and United Airlines switch on the next stage of their Blue Sky collaboration. With joint flight sales now live across both carriers’ websites and apps, travelers suddenly have a wider, more flexible way to book sunshine escapes using either cash or loyalty currency. For Caribbean and Florida tourism boards, the rollout marks a pivotal moment in a broader leisure travel boom that is reshaping how Americans plan warm-weather vacations.

What the Blue Sky Booking Expansion Actually Changes

The latest Blue Sky milestone, announced on February 10, 2026, turns the JetBlue–United tie-up from a loyalty-focused partnership into a powerful booking engine for leisure travel. For the first time, customers can search and purchase eligible itineraries operated by either airline directly through JetBlue or United channels, including mobile apps. That means a traveler loyal to one carrier no longer has to hop between sites to compare options to the same destination.

Initially, the booking expansion covers standalone itineraries on either JetBlue or United, with customers able to pay in cash, redeem TrueBlue points or MileagePlus miles, or mix fares and loyalty currency depending on the rules of each airline. Both companies say they plan to add the ability to book a single itinerary that combines legs on JetBlue and United, though that next phase will come later.

For leisure travelers eyeing Florida and the Caribbean, the most immediate benefit is simplicity. A family that usually flies United from the Midwest can now quickly see JetBlue options into Fort Lauderdale, Orlando or San Juan without leaving United’s digital storefront. JetBlue loyalists in Boston or New York gain similarly easy visibility into United’s vast connecting network feeding into Florida gateways and onward links to the wider Caribbean and Latin America.

Blue Sky first launched in May 2025 as a loyalty and benefits collaboration rather than a traditional codeshare alliance. The cornerstone was reciprocity between the two award-winning loyalty programs. MileagePlus customers gained the ability to earn and redeem miles on most JetBlue flights, while TrueBlue members could do the same on United’s global network, which spans more than 160 destinations across the United States and dozens of cities in Europe, Latin America, Asia and beyond.

On top of shared earning and redemption, each airline committed to offering the benefits of its loyalty program when customers flew on the partner’s aircraft. That includes perks like priority boarding, complimentary access to preferred and extra-legroom seats where available, and more flexible same-day standby or flight switching. For frequent travelers who split their time between work trips and beach vacations, the alignment removed friction that often comes when mixing carriers.

Regulators completed their review of the collaboration in 2025, clearing the path for both airlines to move ahead with deeper customer-facing integration. The interline agreement at the heart of Blue Sky keeps each carrier operating and marketing flights under its own brand and flight numbers, but makes it possible to sell one another’s services digitally in a coordinated way. The new booking functionality now being activated is the most visible proof of that interline framework coming to life.

Florida’s Role as the Launchpad of a New Leisure Network

Florida sits at the crossroads of the Blue Sky story and the broader tourism boom it is fueling. JetBlue has steadily grown its presence in the state, with focus cities in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and an expanding footprint in Tampa and Southwest Florida. Recent route announcements include seasonal and year-round services linking Florida airports with both Northeastern cities and Caribbean hotspots, positioning the airline as a leading premium leisure carrier in the region.

In Fort Lauderdale, JetBlue already operates more international flights than any other airline, with a heavy emphasis on Caribbean and Latin American destinations. Its schedule includes links to major island gateways such as the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Bahamas, alongside connections to Central and South America. A 6 percent year-over-year increase in departures from South Florida has been matched by a more than 60 percent jump in lie-flat seats, underscoring how the airline is leaning into higher-yield leisure and “work-from-beach” travelers as much as classic holidaymakers.

Further up the peninsula, new seasonal services from Florida to Punta Cana and additional connectivity between Tampa, Fort Myers and Northeastern cities add more spokes to the state’s leisure network. For Florida tourism leaders, the timing is fortuitous. Pent-up demand from colder regions and the enduring popularity of Orlando’s theme parks, the Keys’ low-key islands and the Gulf Coast’s white-sand beaches mean that any fresh capacity is quickly absorbed. Blue Sky’s booking expansion effectively wraps this growing route map into a more discoverable package for United’s massive customer base.

Caribbean Islands Prepare for a New Wave of Visitors

Just across the Florida Straits, Caribbean destinations are bracing for another strong season as connectivity improves. JetBlue has carved out a major role ferrying U.S. travelers to island favorites such as Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica and the Bahamas from its Northeastern hubs and Florida focus cities. United, for its part, connects its extensive domestic network to key Caribbean gateways via hubs in cities like Newark, Houston and Washington.

The Blue Sky ecosystem gives Caribbean tourism authorities something particularly valuable: visibility in two of the most heavily used airline booking environments in the United States, now linked in a way that encourages cross-shopping. A traveler browsing United for a spring break escape may suddenly discover a competitive JetBlue fare from Boston to St. Thomas, while a JetBlue customer planning a Barbados trip could be nudged toward a United connection for a multi-stop vacation that adds a Florida city break on the way home.

This integrated visibility comes at a time when several islands have invested heavily in resort upgrades, new boutique hotels and cruise infrastructure to attract higher-spend visitors. With labor markets and cost pressures still a challenge in much of the region, airlines that can reliably deliver higher-value guests have outsized influence. The ability to pay with points or miles from two large loyalty pools can also widen the market to travelers who might otherwise hesitate at peak-season cash fares.

Loyalty Currency Becomes a Vacation Planning Tool

One of the subtler but most significant impacts of the Blue Sky expansion is the way it repositions frequent-flyer currency as a central tool for planning leisure travel rather than something saved for rare long-haul redemptions. TrueBlue and MileagePlus members can now see more options to put their balances to work on sun-bound getaways that feel more spontaneous and attainable.

For United’s MileagePlus members, JetBlue’s dense leisure network out of the Northeast and Florida opens up a new universe of relatively short-haul redemptions. Instead of saving miles exclusively for a premium cabin trip to Europe or Asia, some will choose to spend part of their balance on midwinter escapes to San Juan, Montego Bay or Nassau. That, in turn, can spread demand more evenly across seasons and routes, helping tourism boards manage visitor flows.

On the other side, JetBlue’s TrueBlue members gain access to what United calls its global network, spanning well over a hundred domestic U.S. cities and dozens of international destinations. A family based in Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic could now consider a Florida vacation that includes time in Chicago, Denver or San Francisco, stitched together using points across both airlines. For Caribbean travelers, the partnership effectively lowers the threshold for exploring mainland U.S. destinations linked via Florida and other hubs.

Behind the Scenes: Technology, Paisly and a New Kind of Ancillary Revenue

While the headline news centers on flight bookings, a quieter shift underway inside Blue Sky points toward a broader transformation in how airlines sell travel. United has committed to moving its website and app functions for hotels, rental cars, cruises and travel insurance onto JetBlue’s Paisly platform. Instead of sending customers to different branded services, those ancillary options will be powered by Paisly’s technology stack and service model, but embedded within United’s digital storefront.

Paisly has been built as a human-centered travel platform rather than a bare-bones add-on engine. It handles hotel contracting, vacation curation, marketing, customer care and loyalty integration in-house. Its standout feature is a dedicated “Helpful Humans” team that focuses on personalized support, a notable departure from the impersonal chatbots and outsourced call centers that dominate much of the industry.

For Caribbean and Florida tourism, this matters because flights are only the first piece of a vacation puzzle. As Paisly’s influence grows inside United’s ecosystem, more travelers will be nudged to book bundles that combine airfare with beach resorts, theme park hotels, rental cars for Florida road trips or even short cruises out of Miami, Port Canaveral or Fort Lauderdale. The more seamless and reassuring that experience feels, the more likely travelers are to stretch trips by an extra night or upgrade to higher-category rooms, amplifying the revenue that destination economies capture per visitor.

Opportunities and Risks for the Tourism Boom

The fusion of JetBlue’s leisure-heavy network with United’s global reach and deep corporate base arrives at a moment of opportunity, but it is not without risks. On the upside, Caribbean islands and Florida communities battered first by pandemic restrictions and then by inflation-driven cost spikes can tap into a larger pool of potential visitors who now see more convenient and affordable options. Smaller Florida gateways such as Daytona Beach and Vero Beach, newly connected to Northeastern cities, stand to benefit from increased awareness and smoother one-stop connectivity via the larger network.

However, the very forces that make the Blue Sky expansion attractive to travelers also raise questions among regulators and consumer advocates. Previous attempts at large-scale alliances, including JetBlue’s now-dismantled Northeast Alliance with American Airlines, have drawn close antitrust scrutiny. Both JetBlue and United describe Blue Sky as an interline collaboration rather than a joint venture or full alliance, and they continue to market and price flights independently. Even so, the growing degree of integration will likely be monitored to ensure competition remains robust, especially on routes where low-cost carriers and regional airlines play a smaller role.

For the destinations themselves, capacity growth and easier booking are a mixed blessing. While higher arrivals fuel jobs and tax revenues, they also strain infrastructure, fragile ecosystems and housing markets. Several Caribbean islands are already wrestling with how to balance booming cruise arrivals and resort expansions with sustainability commitments. Florida’s coastal communities confront similar dilemmas as rising visitor numbers intersect with climate-driven storm and flood risks. The Blue Sky expansion does not create these pressures, but it could accelerate them if tourism strategies are not carefully managed.

What Travelers Should Know Before Booking

For individual travelers, the immediate takeaway from the new Blue Sky phase is practical. If you are a member of either TrueBlue or MileagePlus, it is now worth checking both JetBlue and United channels when planning a trip to Florida or the Caribbean. You may find additional flight times, better fares, or more appealing redemption options than you would have seen when the carriers operated in silos. Watch for fare rules and mileage charts, which still differ between the two airlines and can affect how far your points go.

Travelers booking complex itineraries should pay particular attention to how tickets are issued while joint itineraries on a single ticket are still being phased in. At the moment, most bookings will be simple one-carrier itineraries sold through either site, backed by the interline agreement that governs baggage transfers and basic protections. Those planning tight connections, especially when combining island flights with Florida or mainland segments, should build in sensible buffers until fully integrated itineraries are widely available.

Finally, with both airlines highlighting Florida and Caribbean leisure routes as core beneficiaries of the collaboration, demand is likely to remain strong for peak holiday windows, school breaks and long weekends. Flexible travelers may find more value and availability by targeting shoulder seasons, midweek departures and newer routes out of secondary Florida airports. The era of spontaneous winter escapes financed by a single credit-card sign-up bonus is not over, but it is increasingly shaped by the digital ecosystems that partnerships like Blue Sky are rapidly knitting together.