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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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (41)

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

  • David says:
    11 Oct11 October 06:23

    I do not have a car and never buy petrol. Is it possible to enter without making a purchase? Is it legal to require a purchase? I thought lotteries requiring a purchase were not permitted unless you are called Camelot?

    • Worzel says:
      11 Oct11 October 07:20

      http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/Home.aspx

    • Pascal says:
      11 Oct11 October 09:29

      I’d be more than keen to join with e.g. a coffee / Snack purchase as there’s a Shell around the corner. Unfortunately it states “…a “Qualifying Transaction” means the purchase of any Shell branded fuel in a single transaction…”
      – I actually don’t know if the card can only be used for fuel? (It was mentioned below on all products)
      – Does anyone know (maybe from the previous competition) if other purchases count towards the draw too?

      • pr99 says:
        11 Oct11 October 13:52

        Not sure about the particular draw, but the shell points are per litre of fuel or per litre of lubricants so if your car uses engine oil you can qualify by buying that.

  • Anon says:
    11 Oct11 October 07:08

    Looks like the 3x Avios V-Power promo is still running?
    https://www.shelldriversclub.co.uk/smart/index.html?site=en-en

  • Danksy says:
    11 Oct11 October 07:15

    Having an electric car I’m going to have to declare myself out!!

    • Worzel says:
      11 Oct11 October 07:36

      Danksy,

      The electric car might be fine for your daily commute -just wondering what music you play in there !

      However, don’t forget, your Porsche 911 needs some decent fuel-only for weekend use, of course !

      🙂 .

    • Anon says:
      11 Oct11 October 07:53

      Danish – Tesla ? Or a Nissan Leaf?

      Seriously tho, interested in one for a local runaround, but 800 round trips over a wknd will have to be done in fossil fuel burners for now.

  • Charlie says:
    11 Oct11 October 07:25

    OT: Finally got my Iberia avios for the economist magazine purchase from late August. 10,200 Avios was credited in the last day or so.

  • Richmond says:
    11 Oct11 October 07:57

    I guess it solves my dilemma where to go today to buy petrol. BP has 97ron only but Shell V-power has unknow rating and it’s more expensive.

    • James says:
      11 Oct11 October 08:05

      It’s not unknown it’s 98 RON

      • tim says:
        11 Oct11 October 08:17

        thanks. Why are you calling me Ron?

      • Richmond says:
        11 Oct11 October 08:20

        Show me the part of Shell website where it’s stated. I spent quite some time reading about it and Shell website doesn’t state it anywhere. It just says it’s cleaner fuel for your engine and how great it is. There’s number of discussion about it on motoring forums.

        • Frenske says:
          11 Oct11 October 08:26

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_V-Power. Actually says it is 99 RON in the UK. In other countries it might be different.

          • Richmond says:
            11 Oct11 October 08:28

            It’s Wiki, website supported by internet users. It does not state it any more on Shell UK website. On Nissan GTR forums there’s discussion about it (don’t own this car, just read it) and some people wrote to Shell to get confirmation. But it’s not information you can easily obtain from staff at petrol station or Shell website.

          • James says:
            11 Oct11 October 08:49

            I’ll take your word for it! It’s got to be at least on par with bp ultimate I imagine

          • TGLoyalty says:
            11 Oct11 October 20:44

            Agree with the comments above its not rated higher than 97 RON standard fuel.

            Shell do not publicise the RON number on the pump/website as its not officially more than the standard fuel, reports online say that this seems to be because of the lubrication additives.

          • Peter K says:
            11 Oct11 October 20:47

            Standard petrol is 95 Ron.

  • Fenny says:
    11 Oct11 October 09:02

    Even if you don’t use petrol, you can get points on coffee and doughnuts/assorted bakery products. A large coffee is normally 40 points, but they are doing triple points at the moment. So that’s 60 avios for buying coffee.

    • Denis says:
      11 Oct11 October 10:25

      Triple points for Costa Coffee ended mid Sept.

    • Charlie says:
      11 Oct11 October 10:30

      From the T&C
      4. For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions, a “Qualifying Transaction” means the purchase of any Shell branded fuel in a single transaction during the Competition Period for which a valid Shell Drivers’ Club card is swiped at the time of the transaction.

  • Charlie says:
    11 Oct11 October 10:28

    I believe you can enter more than once per day.

  • Fred says:
    11 Oct11 October 10:46

    Does Shell ‘branded’ fuel mean only Shell V-Power? Or any fuel available at a Shell petrol station?

    • Frenske says:
      11 Oct11 October 10:51

      I guess it means any fuel at Shell petrol station. Not Shell petrol sold by supermarkets!

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

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