Will you earn more Avios from BP or Esso when buying fuel?
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On Thursday we covered the launch of the Avios and BPme Rewards partnership. You can now transfer your BPme Rewards points into Avios.
The transfer rate is attractive. If you have 200 BPme Rewards points, you can get 125 Avios or a £1 discount on your fuel. At 0.8p per Avios, you are ‘buying’ them at a good rate.
Is this better than earning Avios from Esso though?
Esso is not an Avios partner. You can, however, collect Nectar points when you buy fuel at Esso and these can be transferred into Avios.
Let’s have a look at the numbers.
Earning Avios at BP garages
The earning rate for BPme Rewards points at BP garages is:
- 1 BPme point for every litre of regular fuel purchased
- 2 BPme points for every litre of Ultimate fuel purchased
- 1 BPme point for every £1 spent in a BP forecourt shop
If we convert these to Avios, you get:
- 0.625 Avios for every litre of regular fuel purchase
- 1.25 Avios for every litre of Ultimate fuel purchased
- 0.625 Avios for every £1 spent in a BP forecourt shop
Earning Avios at Esso garages
The earning rate for Nectar points at Esso garages is:
- 1 Nectar point per litre spent on Esso Synergy fuel
- 2 Nectar points per £1 spent on other items, including in the store
If we convert these to Avios, you get:
- 0.625 Avios per litre spent on fuel
- 1.25 Avios per £1 spent on other items, including in the store
Remember that you do not earn Nectar points at Esso garages which have a Tesco store attached. You can earn Tesco Clubcard points at these garages, which can be converted to Virgin Points if you wish.
Which is better?
It’s not difficult to analyse these two earning rates.
The deals are identical for fuel.
The only exception is if you pay for premium fuel, in which case BP is the better choice due to double points on Ultimate.
On the other hand, if you tend to buy something in the shop alongside your fuel, Esso is the better deal due to the higher rate on in-store earning – unless it is an Esso with a Tesco store, in which case you can’t earn Nectar points at all!
Coupons and bonuses may make the difference
Both Esso, via the Nectar app, and BP, via the BPme Rewards app, offer bonus points from time to time.
Given the relatively small number of Avios earned from filling your tank at standard rates, a bonus is likely to make the difference as to which is more rewarding.
Perhaps more realistically, the fairest thing to say is that buying petrol is unlikely to earn you a huge amount of Avios irrespective of whether you shop at Esso or BP.
You will probably earn more Avios from the credit card you use to pay for your fuel than from the fuel itself.
It might be worth settling for an easy life and filling up at the garage most convenient for your home or office, irrespective of what you earn. You are also likely to find fuel cheaper at your local supermarket – and you would earn Nectar points at a Sainsbury’s petrol station, of course – with a saving that would outweigh the Avios you would get from Esso or BP.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 2023)
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
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 £12,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.
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
30,000 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
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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.
EDIT: Applications for this card are temporarily suspended due to IT issues with the British Airways On Business SME loyalty scheme.
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 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.
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