Question
Anyone have experience with the US Bank Visa cards that have grocery store affiliates (Albertsons, Kroger, Acme, Jewel-Osco, King)? Points earned can be redeemend for free or discounted flights on American, Northwest, Frontier, or Midway (depending on which grocery chain you sign up with), or for other discounts on groceries, cruises, and what appear to be regional attractions. No annual fee if you use the card at least 3 times per year.
At first glance, it appears to be a reasonable alternative to paying an annual fee for an airline's affinity card--though I don't think you can combine the miles with those in your FF program.
Answer
I have had the King Soopers visa card for a couple of years. It allows roundtrip travel on F9 for as few as 12,000 points. Given that DEN-PHX advanced purchase fees were running $400 r.t. last winter, this is a great deal. I have never redeemed a ticket so I can't say what that's like. As a backup, ponts can be redeemed for groceries. With no annual fee, it's agood backup card. In general, I am underwhelmed with customer service at USBank. Their telephone agents seem to not be empowered to do anything except provide basic info concerning your account.