Most people know that Shell and Reddy Express provide the ubiquitous ‘4c off per litre’ vouchers whenever you spend $30 or more at Coles – it’s always handy to have one in your Flybuys app.
But while the cash discount is tempting, Flybuys also offers the option of 8 bonus points per litre, instead. Fewer people realise that you may be able to stack that voucher with a further discount to potentially make the most of both worlds. Here’s how it works.
Should you choose a discount or points?
As mentioned above, you will earn a fuel voucher whenever you spend A$30 or more in-store at Coles, excluding gift cards, tobacco and other excluded purchases. With that, you can opt for:
- 4c off per litre of fuel, or
- 8 bonus Flybuys points per litre of fuel
The default is 4c off, but you can log in to your Flybuys account and switch to the bonus points instead (or vice versa) at any time.
Looking deeper at the numbers
Let’s say you’re filling up 50L of unleaded fuel at 229.9c per litre. If you use the 4c off discount, that’s a $2 saving. Opting for the 8 bonus points per litre? Then that’s 400 bonus Flybuys points.
If you eventually use those 400 points towards a discount at Coles, you’re also getting $2 of value (that’s 0.5 cents per point). There’s no material difference between the two choices in the short term.
But in the long term, you might get better value by saving those Flybuys points for flight rewards via Velocity Frequent Flyer. Let’s take a fairly simple redemption: Virgin Australia Economy from Perth to Sydney, off-peak. A cash fare is $269 one-way, while an off-peak reward is 13,500 Velocity Points + $52.
Since 2 Flybuys points convert to 1 Velocity Point, we end up with an approximate value of 0.8 cents per Flybuys point. That’s already more value than using them at Coles.
And what if we’re looking at a Business Class redemption from Perth to somewhere in Asia on Singapore Airlines? I’ll spare you the sums here, but the end result is around 1.38 cents per Flybuys point.
Remember, Flybuys points are flexible. Don’t feel like travelling anymore? That’s fine. Just don’t transfer them to Velocity and use them up at Coles. It’s easy, either way.
So… why not do both? Let’s stack.
So now that we’ve established that choosing the 8 bonus points per litre option is potentially more lucrative in the long run, is there a way to still get a discount? There certainly is.
For example, through the AFL Plus app, you can also claim 4c off per litre with a separate barcode. This offer can be combined with the Coles fuel voucher.
That means you could enjoy:
- 4c + 4c off per litre, or
- 4c off + 8 bonus points per litre – we recommend this
The Offer may be used in conjunction with selected offers made by Reddy Express at the service station. This may include the Coles Supermarket fuel dockets…
– https://www.afl.com.au/fuel-discount-offer-terms (T&Cs section)
3. Scan your Flybuys card
Flybuys members earn 1 point per $2 spent in-store at Coles Express locations on fuel and shop purchases. This is after any of the discounts and offers mentioned above have been applied, so think of it as some extra points on top.
4. Pay with a points-earning card
Most rewards credit cards will offer the standard earning rate on fuel purchases – once again, this is on top of all the previous offers.
Some cards even offer boosted earning amounts at fuel stations! For example, the popular American Express Platinum Edge offers 3 Membership Rewards Points per A$1 spent on fuel.
Summing up
Coles Express has numerous partnerships, some of which can be stacked for greater rewards. We recommend choosing 8 Flybuys points per litre as your Coles voucher option. You can still stack this with 4c off per litre through other promos, such as the AFL app.
Finally, don’t forget to pay with a points-earning credit card to really boost your earnings.
- Let’s say you fill up 1,800L a year, spending an average of 190.9c per litre.
- If you do the 4c off + 8 bonus points combo each time, that’s 14,400 Flybuys points.
- Your spend is $3,364, including the discount – so that’s another 1,682 Flybuys points.
- Finally, you pay with your Amex Velocity Platinum card to earn 1.25 Velocity Points per dollar – that’s 4,205 Velocity Points.
- The 16,082 Flybuys points you earned can be transferred to 8,000 Velocity Points.
- That’s a total of 12,205 Velocity Points earned from fuel in a year – enough for an Economy reward seat on Virgin Australia. Or it’s almost 18% to a Singapore Airlines Business Class award from Perth to Asia, when transferring to KrisFlyer miles.
American Express Velocity Platinum
Offer ends: 30 Apr 2026
- Bonus points
- Up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points¹
- Annual fee
- $440 p.a.
- Earn
- 1.25 Velocity Points earned per $1 on all eligible spend except for government bodies⁵. 2.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on selected Virgin Australia purchases⁵. 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 on Government spend⁵
American Express Velocity Platinum
Offer ends: 30 Apr 2026
- Bonus Points
- Up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points¹
- Annual Fee
- $440 p.a.
- Earn
- 1.25 Velocity Points earned per $1 on all eligible spend except for government bodies⁵. 2.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on selected Virgin Australia purchases⁵. 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 on Government spend⁵
Earn up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points¹. That’s 70,000 bonus Velocity Points when you apply online by 30 April 2026, are approved, and spend $5,000 on eligible purchases on your new American Express Velocity Platinum Card within the first 3 months. Plus, an additional 30,000 bonus Velocity Points when you spend a min of $1 on your Card within 90 days of paying your second year annual Card fee.
Why don’t you just have the 4 cents off applied to your flybuys card instead off getting your phone out and using the app as well .Woolies just scan your rewards card done
Hi David, I’ve recently installed the flybuys app and opted for the 4c discount. BUT our Coles dockets no longer have the discount chit printed on the bottom and the Shell station won’t allow the discount without it. Any ideas?
Paul, You’ll need to activate your fuel dockets in the Flybuys App before paying.
Nice hack! The first carsales offer to me is 8c/L off as well.
Readers should be aware that you may be able to save even more buying the same Shell fuel from a non-Shell owned outlet. You’ll know them as they won’t take any vouchers or Flybuys.
We should also be aware the Coles / Wollies fuel ‘discount’ scheme means everyone is now paying significantly more for petrol as the competition has been squeezed out. That’s right: You’ll save 4c and now pay 8c more for it. Marketing genius?
The significant disadvantage (for me) is that diesels are always excluded. Since I have 2 diesel cars, this offer is more annoying that it is useful.
Hi David,
I fill up my diesel truck and get the points.