How to earn Avios with Shell – and win 10 x 50,000 Avios prizes

I haven’t mentioned Shell Drivers Club on Head for Points for a while, so I thought it was worth doing a quick recap.  Their new competition is a good enough excuse.

Shell Drivers Club is the loyalty scheme for Shell garages in the UK.  Joining is simple – pick up a card at a Shell station when filling up and register it online.  You earn 50 Avios just for registering your card so it is worth doing this even if you switch to a different reward later.

The scheme is simple – you earn 1 Shell point for every litre of petrol you buy, and 2 points = 1 Avios.

As well as Avios, 500 points can be turned into £2.50 of Shell vouchers or £2.50 of Waitrose vouchers. The benefit of taking Avios is that Shell converts your points in multiples of 20 (ie 10 Avios) with no minimum, unlike the 500 point minimum for other rewards.  You receive your vouchers or Avios points every three months.

So … is this a worthwhile way of collecting Avios? 

Probably not, as the sharp-eyed may have spotted above.

If you buy enough Shell fuel to get to 500 points on a regular basis, you will effectively be ‘paying’ 1p per Avios.  This is because 500 points is worth 250 Avios or £2.50 in Shell or Waitrose vouchers.  1p per Avios point is not a great deal as far as I am concerned – although clearly it is still a lot cheaper than topping up your account via a purchase of Avios from BA.

If you only an occasional petrol buyer or Shell customer, it probably is worth taking Avios points.  This is because you are unlikely to reach the 500 litre target required to trigger a £2.50 Shell or Waitrose voucher.

Even if your employer is paying, Tesco offers a better reward structure.  I outlined the best ways to collect Avios points when buying petrol in this post.  Remember that Esso now gives Clubcard points as well which convert to Avios.

Win 50,000 Avios with Shell

Until September 30th, there is one other reason to fill up at Shell.

As long as you buy more than 20 litres of Shell V-Power Nitro+ fuel, and your Shell Drivers Club account is set to convert to Avios points, you will be entered into a prize draw.  10 winners will each receive 50,000 Avios.

It is not clear whether this competition also applies to British Airways Executive Club collectors or not.  I only know for sure that those who have selected avios.com as their collection partner will be entered.

Full details can be found here at avios.com.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.