United Airlines Ends Partnership with Safeway

United Airlines will end the GroceryMiles program with Safeway come March 1st. The program which awards 125 United miles after every $250 in groceries purchased has been around for several years and was often considered a small extra perk (beyond to miles you might earn on your credit card) for shopping at Safeway. In an email last week Safeway said they plan to refocus the value they offered in the airline partnership into lower grocery prices. The GroceryMiles program includes other Safeway-affiliated stores such as Vons and Dominick's. Read more here.

Register for Ebates to earn cash back on travel and more

Register for Ebates and start earning cash back on all your travels. Earn cash back for airline ticket purchases from United, Alaska and Jetblue Airlines, and even more cash back for hotel stays at Best Western, Marriott, and InterContinental brands. 

It's free to register (they even give you a $10 sign up bonus if you make one purchase by 12/31/08), and the cash is automatic ; no pesky mail in rebate forms. Plus, this cash back is in addition to any incentives tied to your credit card, such as airline or hotel miles. The only downside is you must wait a few months from the date of purchase to receive the cash. 

You continue to shop at the same websites you normally would, except you click through to them via the Ebates website. This activates the cash back monitor. Once you make the purchase, Ebates is alerted and you receive notification of a pending cash payout. 

I use Ebates before making any online purchase - travel or otherwise. Over the past 14 months I have received $180 cash back via Ebates - enough for a free airline ticket! 

Google Checkout is again offering discounts and frequent flyer miles for making purchases at certain online retailers. Click here for a listing of participating stores. Some of the coupons give you $5-$50 bucks off your order and/or frequent flyer miles with Alaska, United, Continental, Northwest, Delta and other airlines.