Ends Today! Final Chance For 35% Off Purchasing Starwood Starpoints; Buy Points You Need To Take Advantage Of These 7 Awesome Redemptions!

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Update: This offer ends today! All Starpoints will be tripled in August when the program mergers with Marriott.


Originally posted on 6/15:

Starwood is offering 35% off purchases and gifts of 5K-30K Starpoints from today through 7/20.

This is a sale that Starwood runs a few times per year, but with the SPG program being discontinued on 7/31, this will be the last chance to buy discounted Starpoints.

20K Starpoints are on sale for $455 instead of $700 or 30K Starpoints are on sale for $682.50 instead of $1,050. That’s a cost of 2.275 cents per Starpoint instead of the regular 3.5 cents per Starpoint.

Of course you also earn miles for the purchase, which makes the real cost even less.

If you have a Starwood AMEX and buy 30K Starpoints for $682.50 you will earn 1,366 Starpoints for the purchase, so effectively you’ll pay $682.50 for 31,366 Starpoints, or 2.175 cents per Starpoint.

In August, all Starpoints will be automatically be tripled and converted into Marriott Rewards points, so 30K Starpoints will become 90K Marriott points. In other words the cost is 0.725 cents per Marriott point. Best of all Marriott is not devaluing Starpoints when the programs combine. In fact hotels costs will be lower and there will be more airline transfer partner added at the current SPG transfer ratio.

Compare this price to the $625 that Marriott charges for 50K Marriott points, or 1.25 cents per Marriott point.

If you need more than 30K Starpoints you’ll have to buy them with additional Starwood accounts as there is a limit of 30K Starpoints per account in annual purchases.

Luckily there’s an easy loophole. You can freely transfer Starpoints between Starwood accounts that are located at the same address. Note that you need to wait 14 days from when you open a new Starwood account until you can buy Starpoints, so you’ll want to open new accounts for different family members or friends now and then buy the points in 2 weeks from now with those accounts. Then you can transfers all of the points from those accounts into one account.

Here are some ideas for those Starpoints:

1. Discounted stays in SPG and Marriott hotels:

Thanks to the new combined Marriott and Starwood award chart coming in August that you can see in this post, many SPG and Ritz-Carlton hotels will be point bargains!

For example:

-The S. Regis Bora Bora or S. Regis Maldives can cost over $3,000/night after tax. It currently costs up to 120K Starpoints to stay here, but in August that will plummet to just 20K Starpoints! If you buy Starpoints for 2.175 cents each, that’s like paying just $435 per night. Stay for 5 nights and you’ll pay 16K Starpoints per night, which is like paying $348 per night!

-The S. Regis Bal Harbour can cost over $1,100/night after tax. It currently costs 30K or 35K Starpoints to stay here, but in August that will plummet to just 20K Starpoints! If you buy Starpoints for 2.175 cents each, that’s like paying just $435 per night. Stay for 5 nights and you’ll pay 16K Starpoints per night, which is like paying $348 per night!

The same rates will also apply to other category 7 hotels like the S. Regis Princeville, Kauai, and the Gritti Palace, Venice. It will also apply to Marriott hotels in August like Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, the Ritz-Carlton New York/Central Park, and the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo.

 

 

-The Sheraton Tel Aviv is currently 20K Starpoints ($435 when buying Starpoints) or 16K on 5 night stays ($348) in low season In high season the current costs are 25K Starpoints or 20K on a 5 night stay. In August you will need just 16,667 Starpoints per night ($362.50 when buying Starpoints) or 13,333 Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($290). The same rates also apply for other category 6 hotels like the Westin Lagunamar Cancun, St. Regis Langkawi, W Singapore, Westin Maui, Elma Arts Zichron Ya’akov, Westin Tokyo, and the S. Regis Mexico City.

 

-The W Miami is currently 12K Starpoints ($261 when buying Starpoints) or 9.6K Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($208.80) in low season vs paid rates that can be more than $400/night. In August you will need just 11,667 Starpoints per night ($253.75 when buying Starpoints) or 9,333 Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($203.)

The same rates also apply for other category 5 hotels like the Sheraton Kauai Resort, the W Miami, the Westin Harbour Castle Toronto, the Westin Sydney, and the Le Méridien Tahiti.

 

-The W Beijing is currently 10K Starpoints ($217.50 when buying Starpoints) or 8K Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($174) vs paid rates that can be more than $350/night. In August you will need just 6,250 Starpoints per night ($135.93 when buying Starpoints) or 5,000 Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($108.75).

 

-The Sheraton Eatontown is currently 7K Starpoints ($152.25 when buying Starpoints) or 5.6K Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($121.80) vs paid rates that can be more than $250/night. Assuming this remains a category 3 hotel in August you will need just 5,833 Starpoints per night ($126.87 when buying Starpoints) or 4,666 Starpoints per night on 5 night stays ($108.75).

 

-The Four Points By Sheraton Niagara Falls, NY is currently bookable for just 3K points on weekends or 4K Starpoints on weekdays ($65-$87 when buying Starpoints for 2.175 cents each) vs paid rates that can be more than $200/night.

Many other hotels are bargains with points, especially during peak travel times.


2. United miles+Marriott or SPG nights:

18,667 Starpoints can be instantly converted into 56K Marriott points, which can be transferred into 25K United miles.

Or 90K Starpoints can be instantly converted into 270K Marriott points.

With Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points converts into 132K United miles and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. That should convert to category 1-4 on the unified award chart with SPG for hotels like the Residence Inn Miami Beach Surfside (within walking distance of a plethora of kosher restaurants and shuls), and you can buy up to higher categories as well for a nominal amount of Starpoints for even greater bargains at luxury hotels.

You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints.

If you value the 7 night hotel stay at $1,000 ($142/night) then you’re effectively paying $967.88 for 132,000 United miles. That’s a bargain at just 0.73 cents per United mile!

Of course the out of pocket cost is less if you already have Starpoints or Marriott points.

It’s worth noting that some Marriott agents will refund 45K Marriott points (15K Starpoints) if you return the 7 night stay certificate. That’s not a good value for the 7 night hotel certificate, but if you won’t use the hotel stay then it’s better than nothing. If you do that it will be like transferring 75K Starpoints into 132K United miles.

With United miles you can fly with no fuel surcharges on all Star Alliance airlines. Short-Haul awards are available for just 8,000 miles or you can fly in business class to Israel for 75K miles.

See this post for how things may play out next month with these packages.


3. Cathay Pacific Business/First Class to Vancouver or Asia+Marriott nights:

90K Starpoints can be converted into 270K Marriott points.

With Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points converts into 120K Alaska miles and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. That should convert to category 1-4 on the unified award chart with SPG for hotels like the Residence Inn Miami Beach Surfside (within walking distance of a plethora of kosher restaurants and shuls), and you can buy up to higher categories as well for a nominal amount of Starpoints for even greater bargains at luxury hotels.

You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints.

If you value the 7 night hotel stay at $1,000 ($142/night) then you’re effectively paying $967.88 for 120,000 United miles. That’s a bargain at just 0.8 cents per Alaska mile!

Of course the out of pocket cost is less if you already have Starpoints or Marriott points.

It’s worth noting that some Marriott agents will refund 45K Marriott points (15K Starpoints) if you return the 7 night stay certificate. That’s not a good value for the 7 night hotel certificate, but if you won’t use the hotel stay then it’s better than nothing. If you do that it will be like transferring 75K Starpoints into 120K Alaska miles.

Alaska’s award chart for Cathay Pacific for example is incredibly generous.

  • You can use 17.5K Alaska miles for coach, 20K for premium economy, 25K for business, or 35K for first class to fly one way to or from JFK and Vancouver on Cathay Pacific.
  • You can use 30K Alaska miles for coach, 35K for premium economy, 50K for business, or 70K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Asia via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Best of all, you can get a free stopover in Hong Kong for as long as you want, even on a one-way ticket. There are no fuel surcharges.
  • You can use 50K Alaska miles for coach, 55K for premium economy, 62.5K for business, or 70K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Tel Aviv or Johannesburg via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Best of all, you can get a free stopover in Hong Kong for as long as you want, even on a one-way ticket. There are no fuel surcharges.
  • You can use 22.5K Alaska miles for coach, 25K for premium economy, or 30K for business class to fly one way to or from Hong Kong and Tel Aviv on Cathay Pacific. There are no fuel surcharges.

Cathay Pacific is famous for their wonderful first class where they offer the best bed comfort, seat comfort, and pajamas in the industry. It doesn’t offer walled-in suites or the hands-on service of Singapore and it doesn’t have onboard showers like Emirates or Etihad, but I don’t think any first class can compete with Cathay’s ultra-comfy seat and bed arrangement.

With 120K Alaska miles from a package you can fly one-way in business and one-way in first class between North America and Asia.

For example you can fly from the US to Taipei and get 7 nights at a category 1-5 property there. Or fly and stay at a category 5 JW Marriott resort in Vietnam. You can even stopover in Hong Kong once or twice for as long as you want with Alaska miles. That’s perfect if you want to have custom clothing made there as you can go back to have them fitted perfectly.

Don’t want to leave the continent?

A Cathay Pacific first class flight from JFK to Vancouver is 35K miles and a Cathay Pacific business class flight is 25K miles. 120K miles would be enough for 2 people to fly there in first class and return in business class.

#TonightsRide #GoFirstOrGoHome

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4. Emirates Shower Class:
Emirates A380 first class is affectionately known as “Shower Class.”

#Bedtime from #Emirates #ShowerClass #Suite

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Sure, you get your own walled-in suite and access to the onboard bar.

But it’s the onboard shower that sets it apart.

#Emirates #A380 #ShowerSpa #HeavenOfTheSkies

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A shower class flight can cost $27,000 round-trip, but with miles it’s a whole lot less. Plus Emirates has excellent award availability.

Unfortunately the options are more limited than before as Alaska Airlines has increased their mileage rates and JAL has added a fuel surcharge to Emirates awards.

For example a flight from JFK to Milan is 360K Alaska miles round-trip, but just 100K JAL miles. Unfortunately, JAL now tacks on $1,040 in fuel surcharges. You can transfer 80K Starpoints into 100K JAL miles thanks to the 25% transfer bonus. It other words by buying Starpoints at 2.175 cents each you can fly round-trip in Emirates shower class to Europe for $1,740 plus the fuel surcharges.

A flight from JFK to Dubai is 300K Alaska miles round-trip, but just 135K JAL miles. Unfortunately, JAL now tacks on $1,624 in fuel surcharges. You can transfer 110K Starpoints into 135K JAL miles thanks to the 25% transfer bonus. It other words by buying Starpoints at 2.175 cents each you can fly round-trip in Emirates shower class to Europe for $2,392 plus the fuel surcharges.

You can now book Emirates awards on JAL.com.

  • An Emirates shower class flight from JFK to Milan is 360K Alaska miles round-trip, but just 105K JAL miles. That will go up to 135K miles. Note that JAL now tacks on $1,040 in fuel surcharges to this award.
  • A flight from JFK to Dubai is 300K Alaska miles round-trip, but just 135K JAL miles. This award will go up to 165K on November 19 due to JAL’s upcoming devaluation.. Note that JAL now tacks on $1,624 in fuel surcharges.
  • If you fly from Toronto to Dubai and back from Dubai to either NYC or Torontothe fuel surcharges will be just $936. The rate is now 135K JAL miles, but will go up to 165K miles.
  • A flight from the Maldives to Dubai and then Dubai to JFK in shower class is now 105K JAL miles and there are no fuel surcharges. That will go up to 135K miles.
  • A flight from Tokyo to Dubai round-trip in shower class is 105K JAL miles (85K SPG) and there are only $128 in fuel surcharges. That will go up to 135K miles.
  • A flight from Tokyo to Dubai and then Dubai to JFK in shower class is 115K JAL miles (95K SPG) and there are only $110 in fuel surcharges. That will go up to 145K miles.
  • A flight from Hong Kong to Dubai and then Dubai to JFK in shower class is 115K JAL miles (95K SPG) and there are no fuel surcharges. That will go up to 145K miles.
  • A flight from Sydney to Dubai and then Dubai to JFK in shower class is 155K JAL miles (125K SPG) and there are no fuel surcharges. That will go up to 190K miles.

In other words you can use other miles to fly outbound to a destination and then use JAL miles to fly back in Emirates Shower Class while avoiding fuel surcharges.


5. ANA Suites+Marriott nights:

ANA is an incredible Japanese airline with great first class suites that have very comfortable beds and amazing service. I reviewed them here towards the end of the 4th part of my Island Hopper adventure.

You only need 110K Virgin Atlantic miles to fly round-trip from the west coast to Japan or 120K miles to fly round-trip from the east coast to Japan in first class. There are no fuel surcharges to redeem Virgin Atlantic miles for travel on ANA.

90K Starpoints can be converted into 270K Marriott points.

With Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points converts into 120K Virgin Atlantic miles and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. That should convert to category 1-4 on the unified award chart with SPG for hotels like the Residence Inn Miami Beach Surfside (within walking distance of a plethora of kosher restaurants and shuls), and you can buy up to higher categories as well for a nominal amount of Starpoints for even greater bargains at luxury hotels.

You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints.

If you value the 7 night hotel stay at $1,000 ($142/night) then you’re effectively paying $967.88 for 120,000 Virgin miles. That’s a bargain at just 0.8 cents per Virgin mile!

Of course the out of pocket cost is less if you already have Starpoints or Marriott points.

It’s worth noting that some Marriott agents will refund 45K Marriott points (15K Starpoints) if you return the 7 night stay certificate. That’s not a good value for the 7 night hotel certificate, but if you won’t use the hotel stay then it’s better than nothing. If you do that it will be like transferring 75K Starpoints into 120K Virgin miles.

Here is the Virgin Atlantic award chart for travel on ANA:

 

Unfortunately, you do need to call Virgin Atlantic to book travel on ANA at 800-365-9500. You can search for ANA award space on United.com.

United charges a whopping 220K miles to fly round-trip from the US to Japan in ANA first class, but you can call Virgin Atlantic to book travel for a fraction of that amount:

 


6. Singapore Suites:

You can fly in a Singapore couples suite from JFK to Frankfurt for just 76K Singapore miles each way. Thanks to the SPG transfer bonus, you only need 61K Starpoints for 76K Singapore miles. There are no fuel surcharges.

Here is the suite Mimi and I flew in from JFK to Frankfurt en route in Paris in 2012:

 

 

The next generation of the suite looks even more amazing:

 

 


7. Etihad Shower Apartments+Marriott nights:

20K Starpoints can normally be transferred into 25K American miles. However until 5/31, 20K Starpoints will transfer into 31,250 American miles. If you buy 20K Starpoints at 2.175 cents per point that’s $435 for 31,250 AA miles or 1.392 cents per mile.

Or 90K Starpoints can be instantly converted into 270K Marriott points.

With Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points converts into 120K AA miles and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. That should convert to category 1-4 on the unified award chart with SPG for hotels like the Residence Inn Miami Beach Surfside (within walking distance of a plethora of kosher restaurants and shuls), and you can buy up to higher categories as well for a nominal amount of Starpoints for even greater bargains at luxury hotels.

You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints.

If you value the 7 night hotel stay at $1,000 ($142/night) then you’re effectively paying $967.88 for 120,000 Virgin miles. That’s a bargain at just 0.8 cents per AA mile!

Of course the out of pocket cost is less if you already have Starpoints or Marriott points.

A flight from the US to Abu Dhabi or the Maldives in Etihad shower class is 115K American miles each way with no fuel surcharges.

The Etihad first class apartment is an awesome suite with an insane amount of space and there’s a shower to boot.

Because of the now defunct electronics ban, I was stuck having to take pictures with my GoPro:

 

And my phone:

 

Of course there are endless other ways to use your Starpoints where it can make sense to buy some points to reach an award redemption.

How do you use your Starpoints?


  • Earn Starpoints on the new Chase Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card. Click Here to get more details on this card and compare to other hotel cards!


Leave a Reply

66 Comments On "Ends Today! Final Chance For 35% Off Purchasing Starwood Starpoints; Buy Points You Need To Take Advantage Of These 7 Awesome Redemptions!"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

Spgguy

Would this work with the spg amex offer?

Mark

if I only bought 90k spg in order to earn the 7 night certificate and I needed to sell the points to raise the 1967 dollars back by selling them to a friend who books a lot of travel for his family do you recommend transferring to Alaska for 120k or united for 132k?please if someone can help me answer this question I need help in this matter

penina

whats the best option back from the Maldives if you only have American miles? you mentioned 115k for the way there in first are there options like these for the way back? and how much is business for the way there?

chava

doc was discussing these points converting to a points cap is there a strong chance or a small chance that that may happen? and you seemed to be advocating for the category 6 option with a whole line of reasoning. why not a category 7 option or 8 lishitashcah of the severa you were using there ayin sham

Joey

How do I book Cathay Pacific Jfk-Vancouver? Which website to I look for award availability on to fly 35k one-way in First Class.

J

How do you know what the redemption will be in August? Are you able to tell me what the Westin in Cozumel will be if I book it in August? Thank you

Jack

I thought the limit is 30K points. How can you purchase more

“You can buy 86.5K Starpoints for $1,967.88, plus you’ll earn 3,936 Starpoints by buying those points on an SPG card, giving you a total of 90,436 Starpoints. “

Marcus

Dan – can you advise. Have the same question.

ramzies

Are you stocking up on 7 Night certificates? In your earlier post mentioned category 6 could be the real winner, is that the one to go for?

Dennis

Having problems purchasing points for my wife and kids. Keeps on giving me – “Error: There was a problem with your credit card information. Please try again, or try a different card.”

ramzies

Will the AMEX Spend $300 or more, get $60 back stack with this purchase?

Matt

Is the St. Regis Bali an all suite hotel? Marriott has some preview rates and for Bali they have St. Regis listed as 60k (20k spg) points come August…

cafe

can someone tell me what the best points to use from munich to lax on business class f you dont have united miles? do miles and more or aa points work ? do singapore points work? and for how much and the fuel surcharges for one way. if someone can assist thanks

bigissy

is it worth buying points to hold on to for future uses?

Barry

ditto… Dan, I love you and have benefited so much.. but these are dense..

worth grabbing for, unknown stays? or for transfer ability? or only if you’ve got something specific in mind? I doubt I’d use more than 1 or 2 nights before January.

Gmanush

Hey Dan,
If I have 50k Amex membership rewards points, should I transfer them now to spg points or should I wait until August to transfer them into Marriott points? I want to book one of the hotel deals once the point prices go down in August.

Azar

Hi Dan, what is the best way to use 130k SPG points?

Shaul

Would you recommend buying speculatively at these rates?

Hami

I didn’t receive double SPG points for the actual purchase with my SPG business. I called and was told that they don’t give points for purchase of points, only actual SPG hotel purchases

No Brainier.

I had the same experience. No double points on spg points purchased thru points.com a month ago. I did receive double points for a transfer made in Dec 2017. I asked amex and they did “research” and came back and told me no double points. I showed them the double points from December and they couldn’t explain it and gave me a courtesy 1000 Spg points for my “inconvenience”.

Anyone have any additional insight on this?

Daniel any learning available on this ?

Aps

If I want to combine my wifes marriot points into my account, I know I can open a spg account for her and then transfer them to my spg account.
Can i transfer directly from her marriot account to mine? and if not, then come august will i be able to just like spg?
thnx

Joe

Dan Currently if you transfer starpoints to Marriott it’s a 3:1 transfer ratio if I wait until 8/1 my starpoints will be trippled can I still transfer my starpoints to Marriott for 3:1? After the switch essentially getting myself 6:1?

Shaul

No. It just means they basically force the transfer.

Arieh

“… there will be more airline transfer partner added at the current SPG transfer ratio”

How do we know that? Nowadays, we can’t even transfer to airlines miles with Marriot ……

YesThatsMe

I’ve been self debating this back and forth, I have now 528K Marriott with no specific usage in mind, is it really worth $1,365 (have 2 accounts) for 188K more…?

Avi

Dan, if I wanted to book a stay at Bora Bora or Maldives, do you recommend purchasing the 7 night package now, or wait until Aug 1 to book the specific dates?
Also, I’m sure many people are interested in this, so it would be great if you can do a quick post on the best ways to book a vacation there on points (flights + hotel).

Rachel

I’m looking for a Spg or Marriott hotel in August in the Vermont or lake George area. Spg only has the Equinox for 12,000 points. Is that a good value? I can’t find anything else and Marriott doesn’t have great options either. Are there any good Spg deals locally?

Chapshnell

Equinox is an amazing hotel! do it

Glushtygiz

Dan there’s no availability for the next yr for the saver award on krisflyer singapore for jfk-fra and vice versa route and also
The cathay Pacific Alaska option to hong kong let alone onto tlv is extremely limited. Maybe only 15 days for the next yr…

dhammer53

For anyone new that’s reading, triple Marriott points does not equal triple Starpoints (in value). Oh sure 10,000 Starpoints become 30,000 Marriott. But if you do the math, in most cases), it’s a wash. Buying points is only worthwhile if you need to top off your account.

Roberta Lang

If I just want tickets to Israel in coach what should I do with my starwood points?

danfan

How many Starpoints may I buy for others?
A Starwood Preferred Guest account may receive up to a maximum of 30,000 Starpoints per account per calendar year, whether purchased by the member him/herself or received as a gift from another member; therefore, you may not buy more than 30,000 points for any single Starwood Preferred Guest account. If your purchase for another account exceeds their 30,000 Starpoint purchase/gift maximum, the recipient will be unable to claim this gift until the next calendar year. There are no refunds in these instances.
this a cut and paste from spg site. so, can I take advantage of this sale and buy and it will post January 1?

Felix

Hi , I don’t have spg cc I only have chase cc , how can I get in on this ?

michoel

on the Etihad suites to the Maldives can I book one shower class for me and one economy for her?as long as she get onto the plane why can’t we just be in one suite? thanks

michoel

im talking about my wife

john

will they still honor this if i reach out

Chaim

I am planning a trip to Thailand after the chaggim in October.
What do you think would be the best way to get there? I have about (100,000 each) of:

Avios, SPG, American, Chase, Delta, and Amex miles because of all these promotions.

Is there a smart way to transfer or combine?

Renee

I only opened my SPG card at the end of March to get the 35,000 point bonus. At the end of this month I will only have managed to accrue 85,000 points in total including the 30,000 I bought in June. As I won’t have enough for the 132,000 United miles travel certificate, would you recommend I go for the 110,000 one? I know you said it’s not as good a value but I am not going to get to the 90,000 mark.

Rachel

Anyone have ideas for Marriott or Spg points in or near Vermont? Not high end please.

SN

If I missed purchasing this deal at the 35% off rate, is it still worth buying the points at their current price and then redeeming them for vacation vouchers?

Jo

Hi Dan, just called SPG and they said 5 nights at S. Regis Maldives would be 360K SPG. Is the sale over? Thought we had until Feb?

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