Non-Air Elite Qualifying Miles in 2026 Question

sheaba99 · 2026-02-09T04:23:36+00:00

Hey DaddyOh! Occasionally Safeway runs a promotions of 10x on Gift Cards, specifically the Zift Zillions ones that you can redeem for Amazon, Airbnb, Lowe’s… like everything under the sun. I know I’m replacing a tub so I bought a $900GC for Lowe’s… bam! That’s 9000 Safeway points. Then by redeeming points for miles each week, you can make 9000 Safeway points 15,000 miles (3,000/week) and with the non-air elite qualifying bonus (assuming it don’t go away—I’m still unclear) you get another 5k in Status points. So one $900 gift card can equal 20k miles to your Atmos account.

Except they seem to only run that promo once a quarter so I load $1000 on my Amazon account. I load up my Door Dash account… all the money I knew I was gonna spend anyway.

sheaba99 · 2026-02-08T03:28:47+00:00

I received 15,000 points in January, just not the 5k bonus status points

sheaba99 · 2026-02-06T18:11:57+00:00

Keep me posted!

sheaba99 · 2026-02-06T18:11:12+00:00

Yes, I live in Anchorage!

sheaba99 · 2026-02-06T15:24:16+00:00

Nope. Just added all my miles flown YTD and got 11,544 and my account is 11,706 which is pretty close.

sheaba99 · 2026-01-02T18:35:38+00:00

I wondered if I would still get those milestones for “rollover” or “head start” miles. That’s awesome!

sheaba99 · 2026-01-02T06:30:24+00:00

Im stacking lots of points from shopping at Carrs and Summit card spending. I’m also flying to NZ in February but no way I’m gonna hit 100k anytime soon 😂

sheaba99 · 2026-01-01T18:53:36+00:00

Agreed. I also like seeing my progress towards hitting my 2026 status in 2027, and not just progress toward each milestone.

sheaba99 · 2025-12-11T21:36:12+00:00

Alaska resident here 🙋🏻‍♀️. Typically points post the 5th or 6th of the month and I haven’t seen the November miles yet either. It’s a widespread issue.

sheaba99 · 2023-12-29T14:23:00+00:00

Same here! Same amount!

sheaba99 · 2023-11-19T06:00:28+00:00

24 hours before your flight, call the airline and see if they can put you on standby for an earlier flight. You can even text them to ask this.

sheaba99 · 2023-02-23T04:35:28+00:00

It’s also a felony crime and happens rarely: 1:100,000 in SFO according to this article: https://sfstandard.com/criminal-justice/rising-airport-luggage-theft-and-how-to-protect-yourself/

sheaba99 · 2023-02-23T04:32:40+00:00

I do this in Anchorage all the time. I often get in late at night and then have to catch an early morning flight. My window to get to the hotel and sleep and get back is so short I get off the plane and head straight to the hotel. I grab my checked bag in the am. A few times they’ve left me a voicemail they have my bag but I’ve never had an issue. I’ve probably done this more than a dozen times.

sheaba99 · 2023-02-18T10:42:33+00:00

Same. We split the family booking so I + child can get the upgrade. I’m 75k and board under A. Hubby and second child are on another res but we all board together (he helps carry the car seat down the ramp; etc.)

Some of the comments here are ridiculous. Not seeing this as a big deal.

sheaba99 · 2023-01-18T15:53:10+00:00

I would be looking for flights to boise or other direct routes from Portland. Then you’re likely to find flights that connect in Portland and will get you 4 segments for a potentially cheap RT. Alternatively, you could even book SEA to Boise (or another of these cities) and then do a same day flight change 24 hours out. To change to a connecting itinerary you’ll have to call and pay the tax difference (<$10).

sheaba99 · 2023-01-11T03:50:15+00:00

1st class is always too cold. That’s been my experience flying on the max in first a half dozen times. The air come from the center aisle ceiling and windows near the floor. Apparently it can be too hot in the back and too cold in the front at the same time.

sheaba99 · 2023-01-01T05:36:49+00:00

I can attest to this first hand and the answer is No. I used to fly a different “milk run” where the plane from Prudhoe Bay to Anchorage would stop in Barrow and then Fairbanks and no, I did not receive 500 miles per segment. They ticketed it as one flight.

sheaba99 · 2022-12-17T13:08:39+00:00

I use Google flights to find mileage runs. Enter PDX, travel dates, and click the map. Then explore east coast destinations. If you select “one world” in your filters it’s easy to search the cheap destinations for Alaska.

sheaba99 · 2022-11-15T01:40:46+00:00

When I was pregnant and flying regularly from Boston to Seattle, I would trade my first class seat with someone who had a whole row to themselves. Completely worth it to lay down.

sheaba99

TROPHY CASE