No more Avios points from Shell as Shell Drivers Club is axed

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There is a big shift underway in petrol station loyalty at the moment. By Summer the whole landscape will have changed.

I will get to the news about Shell in a minute. Let’s recap on what is going on elsewhere:

Texaco Star Rewards withdrew as a Virgin Atlantic transfer partner – this has already happened

In June 2019, BP is withdrawing from Nectar. The company is apparently planning to launch a stand-alone loyalty scheme.

At the same time, Esso is withdrawing from Tesco Clubcard. At present, you can earn Clubcard points (which can be converted to Avios or Virgin Flying Club miles) when you buy petrol or in-store items at Esso garages. This Head for Points article explains the complex earning structure. Esso will then join Nectar. This is a little surprising, since Nectar is now wholly owned by Sainsburys and the main Esso retail partner in the UK is …. Tesco.

How can I still earn frequent flyer miles from petrol purchases?

This is how I expected the situation to be from June for Avios collectors.

You would need to buy your fuel at a Tesco-branded filling station, where you would earn Clubcard points which can be converted to Avios. You could also fill up at a Shell garage, earn Shell Drivers Club points, and convert those to Avios.

However, it looks like it won’t work out like this.

It looks like Avios is losing Shell Drivers Club

Shell has been emailing people in the last couple of days to announce a new scheme called Shell Go+. Confusingly, Shell has already launched loyalty schemes called Shell Go+ in a number of countries, but the structure is entirely different each time. The Canadian version is a partnership with Air Miles.

Looking at the email sent to UK members of the to-be-closed Shell Drivers Club, it looks like bad news. It seems that it will no longer be a points-based scheme. If it isn’t a points-based scheme, there is nothing to convert to Avios.

Shell Go+ will offer benefits such as:

10% off hot drinks
10% off Jamie Oliver purchases from the Shell deli
A fuel discount after 10 visits (a visit = £10 of fuel bought or £2 spent in the shop)
£3 discount when you buy 300 litres of Shell V-Power fuel

If this is correct then the ‘where can you earn miles from petrol?’ position will have got a lot simpler to understand:

For British Airways Executive Club members

Shell – no, from whenever Shell Go+ launches

Esso – no from June, you’ll no longer be able to collect Clubcard points to convert to Avios

Tesco – yes, Tesco-branding filling stations will still allow you to earn Avios via Clubcard

For Virgin Flying Club members

Texaco – no, Texaco Star Rewards partnership ended in 2018

Esso – no from June, you’ll no longer be able to collect Clubcard points to convert to Virgin

Tesco – yes, Tesco-branding filling stations will still allow you to earn Flying Club miles via Clubcard

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

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

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

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios 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.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Scott says:

3 Mar3 March 06:23

Not had anything from Shell regarding this as of yet.

Annoying as they’ve sent me a few bonus point offers recently and for once, their fuel prices aren’t too far off most other places.
- Julian says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 10:10
  
  Had the blurb from Shell by email but their new scheme seemed incomprehensible and pointless.
  
  Regarding fuel the fixed 5p premium of Tesco Momentum (99 Octane) fuel has just ended and at Tesco Watford Extra on Friday night Momentum cost 8p more than the 115.9p per litre for 95 unleaded. So it seems Tesco wrongly thinks that Momentum users are not price sensitive as I filled up with the 95 fuel instead. Although if using 95 I much prefer Shell Fuelsave if I can find a Shell garage still stocking it (instead of just Regular Unleaded) and that is also price competitive.
Ex She’ll customer says:

3 Mar3 March 06:43

Well, all I can say is that I won’t be buying my fuel from Shell when Avios stops. Really, not interested in the so called offer. Have She’ll thought this through?
- Shoestring says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 15:34
  
  Probably comes down to whether you pay for the fuel yourself or not. I had my first company car when I was in my mid-twenties and all personal miles were paid for by my employer, that was one of the pluses. I was living in the Midlands and at the weekend would often drive up to Cairngorm for a day’s skiing then drive home again – I distinctly remember thinking ‘oh that’s another tank of petrol gone, good – I’ll get another free crystal glass then ‘ (Texaco promotion). Free for me, of course! 🙂
- Nick_C says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 20:26
  
  “Even at 1 Avios/litre, how long is anyone seriously willing to drive for 50p of points”
  
  Buy your fuel at Tesco using a Tesco Debit Card to pay, and you are getting closer to 6 Avios per litre – 4.8 Avios per £ spent.
  - Sideysid says:
    
    4 Mar4 March 14:04
    
    I have noticed while filling up today that Tesco no longer are doubling points when using Tesco debit card as a club card – single points only.
Martin says:

3 Mar3 March 06:57

My local Esso garages have a Tesco Express and a Morrisons Daily attached to them – so as of summer I’ll be able to hand over a Nectar card when buying fuel in them? (It’s strange enough using my Clubcard in the Morrisons)
Nigel the Pensioner says:

3 Mar3 March 07:10

Ive heard nothing from Shell about this either. Its the only reason I buy Shell fuel. From the Summer, it will be Tesco fuel – cheaper, does the job JUST as well and often more convenient. As for Shell’s new card offers – what a complete waste of space!! Don’t think either, that spending an extra 5p or so a litre on their “V” product will make your vehicle more fuel efficient or go faster….it won’t make a blind bit of difference!!
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 07:47
  
  So you see no difference in fuel quality and paid 5p difference in fuel price to collect an Avios point?
  
  Seems like an extremely expensive way to collect additional air miles.
  
  For what it’s worth premium petrol does make a difference in performance as it’s higher octane. For diesel I doubt it makes any difference but I don’t want to get in to a debate.
  - Wivus says:
    
    3 Mar3 March 09:01
    
    Could very well be in the company car/fuel position where the cost is not an issue. Bit like me 🙂
- Polly says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 08:10
  
  One thing we do is do a very odd fill with premium petrol. Seems like it can clean up the tank apparently. But will still keep with Tesco, She’ll never did it for us, even tho it’s literally up the road.
  - Shoestring says:
    
    3 Mar3 March 09:03
    
    The additives clean the fuel injectors of any gunge, so your engine operates more efficiently (and smoothly).
    
    The odd but regular treatment with a product such as Redex System Cleaner definitely helps as well – target price is £2 for the 2-shot 250ml bottle (petrol and diesel versions) & it’s often on promotion at this price. I think once every 3 or 4 tanks is good enough.
    - Shoestring says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 09:09
      
      Just checked and Redex 250ml has been half price ie £2 in Asda, Tesco & Wilko in the last month, definitely worth waiting for the promotional price as the product has a long shelf life, ie you can buy a year’s supply @£2 and just use it later
    - Doug M says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 10:22
      
      As I live and drive in London will this help in the critical 5mph to 8mph acceleration range 🙂
    - Lady London says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 10:44
      
      I shall definitely be trying your FedEx trick on my old lawnmowers this summer Shoestring!
    - Lady London says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 10:46
      
      *Or even RedEx. D***ed WordPress!
      - Rob says:
        
        3 Mar3 March 10:57
        
        WP does not auto-correct. Your phone may do.
    - Shoestring says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 10:59
      
      Yep combined with an oil service, works wonders. Do you know how easy it is to give your lawnmower an oil service? We just turn it upside down, empty out the old oil (all black and gungey after a year’s mowing), put in new oil being careful not to overfill. Not much point changing the spark plug or cleaning/ flushing out the carburettor sponge with petrol, the Redex trick makes that a bit redundant.
    - Lady London says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 23:45
      
      Er…. sorry Rob these comments that wordpress is changing for everybody … like “She’ll” appearing for other posters… are all the good work of Wordpress! Since the new platform it’s noticeably bossy. Sometimes will overwrite a correction, with the same error again!
      
      I’m using laptop today with no autocorrect of my own, it’s only rarely I comment using my phone . Device does not seem to make much difference.
    - Jay says:
      
      4 Mar4 March 08:16
      
      Let me warn those new to use of Redex. On initial use, all the ‘cleaning’ comes out as exhaust fumes in thick black and white smoke. Your environmental conscience triggers will vary.
    - Lady London says:
      
      5 Mar5 March 18:19
      
      Thanks for the warning @Jay.
      Personally I can’t wait.
      
      I think Shoestring’s suggestion might be the making of my old lawnmowers…!!!
      🙂
      Perhaps I should start the lawnmowers after sundown so as not to let anyone think I’ve breached the “no fires before sunset” local regulations 🙂
    - Alan says:
      
      10 Mar10 March 15:33
      
      @Lady London, no it’s definitely not Wordpress – otherwise it would be be auto-correcting entries made on PC (like this) as well as those made on mobile. It’s clearly mobile phone keyboards doing it, with iOS much worse than Android (I find SwiftKey pretty decent).
Paul says:

3 Mar3 March 07:34

Perhaps the avios group has zero interest in fuel stations.
Or they have a very different innovate plan?
I suspect the former.
It strikes me that game is changing and they’re (avios group) are simply watching it all unfold.
- Grant says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 08:28
  
  I’d be surprised if Avios was to completely turn its back on the fuel market.
  
  I always found the conversion rate from Shell to Avios rather disappointing. I ‘spend’ (on a fuel card) a fair amount on diesel every month but rarely seem to get more than 200 Avios when my account updates with the deposit from Shell.
- Mikeact says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 13:45
  
  I guess these things are always finance driven by the bean counters. Either that, or it’s just not worthwhile for Shell to carry on as is….I for one never went out of my way for Shell unless there was a particular deal, which was rare.
  Or of course it could be that they were being ripped of by Avios, who knows, perhaps Avios doubled their price.
  - Crafty says:
    
    4 Mar4 March 05:02
    
    You do realise that Finance departments (these so called “bean counters”) are in most companies passive/reactive rather than making decisions like this?
    
    It is likely the commercial team or the strategy team driving such a decision. The finance team counts the benefit and/or the cost.
Aron says:

3 Mar3 March 07:50

Hmm this is annoying. There is a Shell I go to on the way to work.

The Tesco Extra is 5.2 miles from home. Not going to be worth the trip I don’t think.
- Polly says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 08:11
  
  Bet it would be for a full tank, tho.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    3 Mar3 March 11:47
    
    Honestly I just fill up when I need fuel at the station I’m passing. Price before reward points.
    
    I’ll earn significantly more from churning a credit card than I will from going 15 mins out of my way every week to collect 10 more miles.
    - Peter K says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 12:36
      
      I’m the same. I go for the cheapest on my route, taking into account base price, offers and if I want premium fuel this time or not. The exception was the bp.me offer where the saving was enough to go a few minutes extra to the nearest bp station.
Mike says:

3 Mar3 March 08:41

Oh what a pity I spend £125 to £150 a week on SHELL V Power diesel (Landrover Discovery 25-30 MPH) I will certainly switch to BP Ultimate Diesel if SHELL stop its link to AVIOS as the BP garage is more convenient..
- Mike says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 08:42
  
  oh MPG not MPH……doh !
- Lady London says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 10:48
  
  So you’ve had no need to replace your battery yet, then?
  - Mike says:
    
    3 Mar3 March 12:40
    
    Yes battery replaced but it did last 12 years (2005 to 2017) amazing life for a battery. You can have the start/stop disabled on the Discovery 4 and 5 but only by an independent landrover specialist not a main dealer – i think it needs to be reconnected for an MOT when due but is saves on bty replacement costs
    - Shoestring says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 14:33
      
      My start/ stop hasn’t worked for a few years now & isn’t something that fails you the MOT, I presume they’d have noticed as there’s a light that come up when you put the car into a point where start/ stop would normally kick in.
      
      I was a bit worried that it meant the battery was on the way out, but no signs of that so far – start/ stop batteries are much higher standard so I guess without having to actually run start/ stop, they last a lot longer.
- Lady London says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 23:52
  
  For diesel I find the BP very close to Shell in quality. For petrol I really notice the difference with Shell V- in my motorbike – more oomph and cleaner running, also higher mileage. You wouldn’t think it makes a difference but it does seem to.
  
  The only time I put Tesco petrol in it, the motorbike got very bad tempered indeed. It almost conked out on me. I think it was her (bikes are always ‘her’) equivalent of a hissy fit.
BLT says:

3 Mar3 March 09:10

Another reason to go electric! Not missed my Avios earnings from fuel since buying my electric car 3 years ago. No emissions, no complex engines. Would never go back to a petrol/ diesel car again.
- Shoestring says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 09:19
  
  Currently a very poor financial decision to go electric, though – all right if you think the principles are worth the extra cost
  - BLT says:
    
    3 Mar3 March 09:34
    
    Unfortunately you seem quite ill informed. High mileage drivers can save the cost of the car over 3-4 years by not paying for fuel. My car costs £9 electric for 200-250 miles. Running costs are low since there are only 20 moving parts.
    - Shoestring says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 09:41
      
      It’s the initial capital cost, battery replacement cost & high depreciation that are the killers – not the running cost per mile
    - Russ says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 14:27
      
      But who’s going to keep a company car on finance/lease for more than 2 years?
  - Will says:
    
    3 Mar3 March 12:41
    
    Used leafs make sense financially for modest miles, new Tesla’s not so.
    - Shoestring says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 14:19
      
      Used anything usually makes sense financially! The sweetspot with used 320D BMWs (a great used car choice & there are thousands of them!) is 3-4 years, a standard 65 or 15 reg model (ie from 2015) is going to cost you £9-10K depending on mileage/ condition/ spec – which is a colossal 60%+ off list price. A much better financial decision than buying a new anything titchy-mobile for the same money.
- LB says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 09:24
  
  Handy if you live on a golf course or deliver milk…Not so good for towing a trailer or caravan!
  - Mike says:
    
    3 Mar3 March 09:31
    
    Agree absolutely.
    
    Ran a PHEV for less than 6 months before going back to diesel. Long distances, I get better economy from a 3L diesel than I did from a 2L petrol hybrid.
    - Mike says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 12:42
      
      Only thing that comes in 2 Litre size is milk ! 3 Litre all the way
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 13:31
      
      Economy depends on how you use your car.
      
      Lots of short journeys in inner cities you want to be looking at petrol and PHEV or BEV
      
      Lots of long motorway journeys sitting at a single speed you want a diesel or BEV
    - Shoestring says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 14:23
      
      Yep my 3 litre diesel truck is so overspecced on power that you only ever feel you’re using a small proportion of it’s potential, nothing ever seems to be under strain. Just let the big turbodiesel engine do the torquing!
    - Lady London says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 23:56
      
      Which is why all this politically correct demonisation of diesel is so ridiculous. The world runs on diesel. I’ll be Lady ex-London soon at this reate.
  - BLT says:
    
    3 Mar3 March 09:36
    
    0-60 in 4.2 seconds wouldn’t be much good on a golf course or for a milk float. Why would you want a caravan – I have a nice house and with the help of HfP can afford to stay in luxury hotels.
    - Liz says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 11:06
      
      We bought a caravan 2 yrs ago. Love it for touring Scotland and planning on doing more trips south, to Wales, Ireland and Europe. Still love collecting my miles and hotel pts for our big USA trips. We are now away from home more than a third of the year and loving it which we wouldn’t be doing if we hadn’t bought the van. Heading out tomorrow to a local site to get her cleaned and polished for the new season. We have totally embraced it and have seen more of Scotland in the past 2 years than in my whole lifetime. Got a nice Discovery Sport to tow it.
    - Mikeact says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 13:53
      
      Totally agree…we’re ready for the off….in between our overseas escapes that is.
    - BJ says:
      
      3 Mar3 March 16:23
      
      Seen a lot of caravans and motorhomes on the road already this year, must be the unseasonal weather. We have also spent the last two years getting to know parts of UK we have never been before and its been great. We don’t have a van, instead we do long hotel tours, staying a different one each night to maximise points. Will continue with this for another year then do our undiscovered parts of Europe.