There’s this Flyertalk thread, and others.
After February 28 it will no longer be possible to earn miles by shopping at Safeway or their other brands of grocery stores. Their United, Continental, American, and Alaska Airlines program all conclude at the same time.
Miles were really my only interest in Safeway, there are much better and more convenient grocery store choices for me in my area. Now I no longer have the hard choice to make, they’ve made it for me…
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Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
I hate to say it, but the payout on grocery miles was so paultry it shouldn’t have even been a decision point in the first place.
Thanks for posting this, as I’m pretty close to my next payout. I have several grocery stores equidistant to my home, so this will have a degree of influence in my shopping decisions.
They’d have had to offer 10 times the miles for me to make Safeway my regular grocery shopping destination.
Voice your opposition:
http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Contact-Airline-Miles#iframetop
Yeah, pulling out of ff programs has been a trend in the supermarket business.
I’m not surprised because margins are low and the points awarded were too paltry to create much brand loyalty or movement in market share. I know I always sign up for such bonuses when they’re available (like the increasingly useless upromise), but it never influences my purchasing decisions.
I just received a letter from Safeway stating they are discontinuing the mileage program. So I just sent Safeway a note letting them know that I am discontinuing shopping with them. Everyone that is upset, mad, or just plain old disappointed with Safeway needs to let them know about it. I will find a new place to shop.