Published: 4 September 2026
How to Earn Avios When Buying Petrol & Diesel
Fuel is a significant expense for many households, so if you’re filling up anyway, you may as well look at the opportunity to earn Avios at the same time.
A car travelling 10,000 miles a year and averaging 40mpg can easily consume more than £2,000 of petrol annually. Finding the cheapest fuel should therefore always come first – apps such as FuelFinder UK can help you compare prices in your area – but there are also opportunities to earn Avios when filling up at BP, Esso and Sainsbury’s.
In this guide, we compare how many Avios you can earn, how the different loyalty schemes work and whether converting your points into Avios actually represents good value.
How Many Avios Can You Earn From a 50-Litre Fill-Up?
| Petrol station | Loyalty currency | Points earned | Avios equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| BP – Regular | BPme Rewards | 50 | 31 Avios |
| BP – Ultimate | BPme Rewards | 100 | 62 Avios |
| Esso | Nectar | 50 | 31 Avios |
| Sainsbury’s | Nectar | 50 | 31 Avios |
Note minimum conversion rates to Avios can apply. For in-store purchases, all retailers exclude tobacco, stamps, lottery tickets and baby milk from earning points.
BPme Rewards
Register for the BPme Rewards scheme, earn points on fuel and in-store spend, and then convert them into Avios, in store discount or shopping vouchers.
Earning Rates
- 1 litre of Regular fuel = 1 BPme point
- 1 litre of Ultimate fuel = 2 BPme points
- £1 spent on car washes or in store = 1 BPme point
Collect BPme rewards & convert to Avios
Avios collectors can convert BPme Rewards at the rate of 40 BPme Rewards = 25 Avios. This means that a 50 litre tank of BP Regular fuel will earn 31 Avios and BP Ultimate fuel will earn 62 Avios.
Assuming Avios have a value of 1p each, one BPme Rewards point is worth 0.625p when converted.
Alternatively you can exchange your BPme rewards for vouchers or in-store discount, although the value you get per point is lower, plus there is a higher minimum number of points per conversion
- 1,000 BPme Rewards > £5 Amazon/Love2shop/M&S Voucher (1 point = 0.5p each)
- 200 BPme Rewards > £1 in store discount off fuel or shop products (1 point = 0.5p each)
Notes: You can do a maximum of 1 conversion each month, either manual or you can set up an automatic transfer. You can exchange a maximum of 30,000 BPme points each month
Esso
Swipe or scan your Nectar card at Esso fuel stations to collect Nectar points which can be converted into Avios. Â
Earning Rates
- 1 litre of Esso Synergy fuel = 1 Nectar point
- £1 spent on car washes, lubricants or in store = 2 Nectar points
Collect Nectar points & convert to Avios
Avios collectors can convert Nectar points at the rate of 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios. This means that a 50 litre tank of fuel (50 Nectar points) will earn 31 Avios.
Assuming Avios have a value of 1p each, one Nectar point is worth 0.625p. Â
Alternatively you can spend your Nectar points on Esso fuel
- 300 Nectar points = 5p per litre discount (max 60 litres)
- Buy 60 litres of fuel = 60 x 5p = £3.00 discount (1 Nectar point = 1p each) < this is an excellent deal if you are not that interested in Avios
- But purchase 30 litres of fuel = 30 x 5p = £1.50 discount (1 Nectar point = 0.5p each)
Or use them in Sainsburys or Argos, but you will not get the same value for money:
- 500 Nectar points = £2.50 shopping discount (one Nectar point = 0.5p each)
Notes: You cannot collect or redeem Nectar points in Esso fuel stations with an attached Tesco Express shop (although you can collect Tesco Clubcard points). Nectar points issued on all transactions are capped at 100 points for unleaded, 250 points for diesel purchases and £200 for spend in shop.
Sainsburys
Swipe or scan your Nectar card at Sainsbury’s fuel stations to collect Nectar points which can be converted into Avios.
Earning Rates
- 1 litre of Sainsbury’s fuel = 1 Nectar point
- All other in-store spend = 2 Nectar points
Collect Nectar points & convert to Avios
Avios collectors can convert Nectar points at the rate of 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios. This means that a 50 litre tank of fuel (50 Nectar points) will earn 31 Avios. Â
Assuming Avios have a value of 1p each, one Nectar point is worth 0.625p. Â
Alternatively use them in Sainsburys or Argos but get a worse value per point.
- 500 Nectar points = £2.50 shopping discount (one Nectar point = 0.5p each)
Or use the Nectar points for a discount on Esso fuel
- 300 Nectar points = 5p per litre discount (max 60 litres)
- Buy 60 litres of fuel = 60 x 5p = £3.00 discount (1 Nectar point = 1p each)
- But purchase 30 litres of fuel = 30 x 5p = £1.50 discount (1 Nectar point = 0.5p each)
Max Your Trip Tip
Price comes first. At a valuation of 1p each, the 31 Avios earned from a typical 50-litre fill-up are worth around 31p. If another petrol station is more than around 0.6p per litre cheaper, you’d generally save more by buying the cheaper fuel than by choosing a station purely to earn the Avios.
Earn Even More Avios by Paying With an Avios-Earning Credit Card
You can earn BPme Rewards or Nectar points on the fuel itself and earn additional Avios from the card used to pay.
A £70 fuel purchase paid for using a credit card earning 1 Avios per £1 would therefore generate another 70 Avios, on top of the Avios eventually obtained from BPme Rewards or Nectar.
This means the points earned from the payment card can actually exceed those earned from the petrol station loyalty scheme itself.
Should You Always Convert Your Points to Avios?
If you value an Avios at around 1p, converting BPme Rewards or Nectar points into Avios can provide a value of around 0.625p per point.
That’s better than the standard 0.5p per point available when using BPme Rewards for vouchers or Nectar points at Sainsbury’s and Argos.
However, Nectar points can potentially provide better value at Esso. Redeeming 300 points gives a 5p-per-litre discount on up to 60 litres. If you buy the full 60 litres, your 300 points save £3 – equivalent to 1p per Nectar point.
Therefore, converting Nectar to Avios isn’t automatically the most valuable option. It depends on the value you personally can get out of your Avios and how you would otherwise use your Nectar points.
Our Take
Earning Avios on fuel isn’t going to generate enough miles for a Business Class reward flight on its own, but there’s little reason to turn down points on fuel you were going to buy anyway.
BP, Esso and Sainsbury’s all provide opportunities to indirectly earn Avios, with a typical 50-litre fill-up earning the equivalent of around 31 Avios at the standard rates. BP Ultimate doubles that, although we certainly wouldn’t recommend paying extra for premium fuel purely to earn additional points.
The most important rule is to buy competitively priced fuel first and think about the Avios second. At our usual valuation of 1p per Avios, 31 Avios are only worth around 31p. Even a relatively small difference in the price per litre can therefore wipe out the value of the points earned.
There are also occasions when not converting your points to Avios might provide better value. In particular, using 300 Nectar points for 5p off up to 60 litres at Esso can provide as much as 1p of value per Nectar point – more than our assumed value from converting them to Avios.
The best strategy is therefore to combine the two: find competitively priced fuel, collect BPme Rewards or Nectar points, and pay with a card that earns Avios or another useful reward. That allows you to generate additional value without changing your normal spending habits.
For anyone collecting Avios, it’s another small earning opportunity – and these small amounts can add up over the course of a year.
