Somewhere in Nebraska, a frequent flyer with eight kids who lives next door to a Safeway is going to be quite upset. Effective Feb. 28, 2010, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage, Continental Airlines OnePass and United Airlines Mileage Plus members will no longer earn miles for grocery shopping at Safeway, Vons, Dominicks, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb or Genuardi. Now the only way to earn miles for buying food will be to use mileage-earning credit cards at your local store.

Bottom line: If you’ve used this particular way to earn miles to keep one of your frequent flyer programs active, be sure to replace this activity with another earning opportunity to keep your miles from expiring. Safeway says, “… we have decided to refocus the value previously offered through our Airlines Partnership into lower prices on the items all customers need.”

But hey, all is not lost, you can still use your Safeway Club Card to get your eighth Signature Cafe sandwich free when you purchase seven.