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Three HfP readers won 1 million Avios last year – now Shell is giving away 75 million Avios again

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Shell has brought back their ‘Win 1 million Avios points’ competition. Until 2nd November three lucky winners per day will each win 1 million Avios points. That is a total of 75 winners.

Last December Shell ran this competition, encouraging people to use the Shell Motorist app.  It was, frankly, a bit of a faff to enter which is why very few people did.  It is also why three Head for Points readers, who did go to the trouble of following all the instructions, each won 1 million Avios points.

This time it’s slightly easier to enter.  This is both good news and bad news, because you don’t need to register to enter.  Most of the winners won’t even know that they ever entered.

You need to be a member of the Shell Drivers’ Club loyalty scheme having chosen either Avios Travel Rewards or British Airways Executive Club as your rewards partner.

During the competition period you will be entered into a prize draw every time you buy Shell branded fuel and swipe your Shell Drivers Club loyalty card.

There is no minimum spend as far as I understood the terms and conditions and it looks like you can enter on a daily basis, maximising your chances to win 1 million Avios points.

The last day to enter is 3rd November 2016 and the prize draw will be completed by 11th November.

How does Shell Drivers Club works?

If you aren’t a Shell Drivers’ Club member yet, you need to pick up a card at your local Shell garage.  You can register it via this website and pick up 50 bonus points.

You earn 1 Shell Drivers Club point for every litre of basic fuel you buy and 2 points per litre of V-Power premium fuel.

When you have collected 500 points, you can exchange them for:

250 Avios points (see the BA website for the official details, scroll down)

£2.50 Waitrose voucher

£2.50 Shell voucher

The Avios conversion rate (1p for 1 point) is not great.  It is worth noting that taking the Waitrose or Shell vouchers might be a better option as you are effectively paying 1p per point for the Avios and you may consider that too much.

The only upside of taking Avios is that you only need a minimum of 20 Shell points per quarter to trigger a conversion to Avios (10 points, in that case).  Waitrose or Shell vouchers require you to collect at least 500 points in a quarter to receive a voucher.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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 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 card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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

25,000 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable 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

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 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

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Comments (41)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • John says:

    Are points issued and transferable instantly ? Just wondering if I could sign up and use it as a new Avios partner and get the 1000 bonus avios..

    • Darren says:

      Shell are specifically excluded in the T&C’s of the 1000 Avios promo (as the points only transfer at fixed times which are outside the promo dates)

  • Leon says:

    “swipe your Shell Drivers Club”

    you have to go into the shop or do you think using the app to pay and generate points is the same?

    • MIM says:

      Just downloaded the app and when I clicked on ‘Fill up and go’ I’m getting the following permission request…

      “Allow Shell Motorist to make and manage phone calls?”

      W T actual F?

      • @mkcol says:

        If you actually opened the app & looked you’d see that permission is there so that you can call their help desk in case of problems from within the app.

    • Tom says:

      I was wondering the same thing, using Apple Pay via the app works well for me.

  • Peter K says:

    Oooh, sneaky. This post is from Anika. Well, done. Didn’t spot that there. Good to see your getting more articles from different angles than before 🙂

  • Frenske says:

    FYI I think I received a 50 Avios bonus for switching Shell reward from Waitrose vouchers to Avios conversion!? If anybody needs another motivation to participate with the competition, this might be it.

  • @mkcol says:

    The minimum delivery of fuel from the pump is 2 litres, so don’t be whacking a whole load in your tank in one go if you don’t need to!

  • @mkcol says:

    Any idea when the winner will found out they’ve won 1M Avios?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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