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It’s shaping up to be a weird summer in the travel world, with an oil crisis pushing jet fuel prices sky high. That’s already helped push Spirit Airlines over the edge, and now other carriers are starting to tighten the purse, too.
So, don’t be surprised if you see airlines try to make some of that back through higher fares, more fees, and other add-ons.
Against that backdrop, JetBlue briefly rolled out a new surcharge on United Airlines partner awards in April before pulling it back. Let’s dig into what might’ve been going on and what it could mean for the future of the TrueBlue program.
JetBlue Briefly Adds Then Pulls Fuel Surcharges on Select Partner Awards
For starters, the TrueBlue program lets you redeem points on JetBlue flights and across a handful of partner airlines. These currently include:
- United Airlines
- Condor Airlines
- Etihad Airways
- Icelandair
- Qatar Airways
- Cape Air
- China Airlines
Notably, China Airlines redemptions only launched in April 2026, which tells you JetBlue is still actively leaning into partnerships to grow the program and pull in more flyers and add more cardholders.
JetBlue's partnership with United runs perhaps the deepest, dubbed “Blue Sky.” That made the initial news of these surcharges all the more surprising. As reported by One Mile at a Time in April, JetBlue added fuel surcharges of roughly $200 to $260 per direction on select United awards.
The good news is that when these surcharges first appeared, they were limited to international awards. Now, though, they seem to have disappeared. At least for the time being…
The latest on JetBlue fuel surcharges
After a few searches on JetBlue.com, it looks like partner awards are back to normal pricing. A sample search for a United Airlines flight from Newark (EWR) to Rome (FCO) shows an award priced at 41,000 points plus just $5.60 in taxes and fees.
That out of pocket requirement is a lot more affordable than $200 (or more).
JetBlue’s newest partner, China Airlines, is also showing economy awards with only $5.60 in taxes and fees.
Other partners, like Qatar, have slightly higher taxes and fees, but nothing that would constitute a fuel surcharge.
So, it appears that the fuel surcharges were quickly rolled back by JetBlue, which is great news for TrueBlue members. The reality here is that JetBlue either rolled out fuel surcharges too early or was conducting a limited test ahead of a future launch. Clearly, the infrastructure of JetBlue's backend has already been built to price for the airline's new reality.
As the oil crisis shows no real signs of letting up in the short term, these fuel surcharges could reappear overnight. Airlines are in survival mode in the summer of 2026, and every dollar matters to the bottom line.
Our Take
JetBlue certainly gave us a scare in April when it rolled out fuel surcharges on partner awards. With a quick return to normal pricing, it's not unreasonable to expect fuel surcharges to reappear. Jet fuel will likely remain high-priced for the next few months, and airlines will continue to feel the pain until world events allow a reprieve.
For now, we'll keep a watchful eye on JetBlue's partner award pricing and see if fuel surcharges return again soon.
