Last Updated on 2 May 2023 by Dan
Hello everyone! At the Wilderness we’re very big fans of any kind of loyalty scheme that gets us benefit on something we’re buying anyhow. If you’re a motorist, fuel is one of those things – so today we’re reviewing the best fuel loyalty apps in the UK!
Beyond loyalty, most of the apps mentioned in this article will also allow you to pay at pump for the relevant petrol station, if that’s something you prefer.
Overview of fuel loyalty apps in the UK
Shell Go+ Rewards Review
Shell Rewards is slightly unusual scheme compared to the other loyalty apps on this list in a number of ways.
Firstly, instead of rewarding you on the basis of how much fuel you’ve topped up by, it rewards on a per-visit stamp basis so long as you top up with at least £10 worth of fuel.
You can also unlock a stamp by spending £2 on other items within a Shell petrol station.
This has pluses as minuses – it makes it an excellent scheme for those who top up little and often, as many people do. It’s less good for those who like to run to near empty and fill to the brim.
After 10 visits, you’ll get a fuel reward, of which the precise form is unspecified. To date, both of my rewards have be “x” pence of a litre of fuel type rewards, but it hasn’t been clear to me if the rewards is slightly random, or influenced by the amount I’ve topped up or services I’ve used with Shell Go+.
One clearer benefit of using Shell Go+ is a number of discounts when buying items whilst in a Shell, like food or Costa drinks – often these have a 10% discount attached.
I’ve also had a couple of “spot” rewards for a discount on my next visit.
Texaco Star Rewards Rewards
Texaco Star Rewards is more of a classic loyalty scheme where you’ll earn 1 point per litre filled up, which effectively gives you a discount of 1p per litre.
Once earned, you can then either convert your points into a voucher for money off your Texaco fuel once you hit 300 points, or at 500 points covert it into a Love2Shop voucher a charity donation.
And that’s it! It’s a very simple no-frills scheme – if you sign up and use code 6kNCjzkOB5Z (case sensitive) we will both receive an extra 150 points at sign up.
BPMe Rewards Review
BPMe is a reward per pound spent loyalty scheme with a few different routes to earning.
For every 1 litre of regular fuel, you’ll earn 1 point per litre. For every 1 litre of premium fuel, you’ll earn 2 points per litre. You can also earn a point for every £1 in store, or for every £1 spent on a car wash.
You can then redeem your points at rate of 200 points to get £1 off your fuel (not a great earnings rate of 0.5p per litre compared to others when calculated) or instead swap them for vouchers at a number of shops including Amazon and M&S, or convert your points to Avios.
The BPMe interface is slick, but we found the rewards the least beneficial of the apps we tested.
Tesco Fuel Clubcard Review
Tesco will give you a Clubcard Point worth 1p for every £2 spent on fuel, or every £3 spent on fuel at an Esso with a Tesco Express on the forecourt.
It’s middle of the pack on benefit, but I find Tesco’s fuel stations at supermarkets tend to be consistently amongst the cheapest options around here so the Clubcard points are a bonus. We’ve written a more full review of the Tesco Clubcard here.
Esso Nectar Rewards Review
Instead of having their own loyalty scheme, Esso instead partner with Nectar.
You can do better than just scanning your Nectar Card at an Esso by downloading the Esso app – whilst the specific offer varies, there’s often promotions on which apply a multiplier to the amount of Nectar that you earn when you scan the Esso app, rather than just your Nectar card.
And you can do even better by also activating offers on fuel and Esso in the Nectar app – we’ve got a post on maximising Nectar points.
You can also use your Nectar points to swap 300 points for 5p off per litre, which is an excellent deal when doing a large fill up.
At very worst, you’ll earn 1 point per litre with Nectar or 2 points per litre on premium fuels – we value a Nectar point at 0.5p per point.
Is targeting a particular fuel station worth it for loyalty rewards?
Whilst we think all fuel loyalty cards are well worth having as they’re so easy to use, most of the discounts driven by these fuel apps tend to be relatively small and only save you significant after many visits.
In practice therefore, you’re better of thinking first about going for the cheapest petrol you’re naturally passing and making sure you scan your loyalty app there.
Verdict – which is the best UK fuel rewards app?
Based on the present payouts, Texaco Star Rewards remains the most beneficial fuel app to use, however they’re not found everywhere.
In practice, we find it’s actually the classic Tesco Clubcard we end up using most – simply because the fuel tends to be the cheapest place near here.
Any questions?
We’d love to hear if you have any questions, or about your own experiences – particularly if you’ve found any particular benefits with UK Fuel Rewards apps we haven’t covered! Just leave a comment in the field below.
And that’s it!
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