New Students Beware of Meal Plan!!

Luyendijk
Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:00:44 +0000

Although this is a level of truth to what you say I would like to mention there is some information you skipped over that anyone reading this should know about.

Although the original meal plan you have from the semester doesn’t carry over if you don’t purchase a new one, that is not to say you have to get a Minor flex plan (the 500+ dollar meal plan) in order to use that. There is another option called ‘commuter cash’ that costs you 201 dollars, and they put 201 dollars on your card. This money does NOT get any discount, however it does allow you to utilize the money from the first semester. This is a good deal if you have anything more than 20 dollars rollover (because that’s the technical discount you’re getting from adding to dining dollars instead.) Dining dollars is an option for off campus students that gives them a tax free and 5 percent off deal on any on campus location.

Also I think somewhere you stated that the meal plan was a hoax in some regard because they charge you over twice as much for what you get then only give a 50% discount. This is also ‘somewhat’ true. Say you pay 1200 dollars for your plan, but only get 500. 700 is taken out as a base cost to keep the establishments running, where as the other 500 is for the food. Okay so that’s 500 doubled which gives you only 1000. Two hundred less than what you paid. So why not just use dining dollars? That’s a 5 % discount added to whatever you use plus it stays on until you graduate.
Well two reasons, one you’re getting a 50% at al la carte locations such as owens, ABP, and HokieGrill… but, at D2 and shultz (all you can eat) you actually get a 67% discount on your meals. So what costs me 9.00 dollars to swipe in, people with meal plans only pay 3 dollars off their plan. So if you eat at one of those locations every day you could theoretically triple your money on the card. 500 x 3 = 1500 - 1200 = 300 dollars of savings. The second thing is that if you buy a major or mega plan (not the minor) any additional money you add continues to get this discount. Another additional fact you should know is that the meal plan is priced at 10 meals a week, so if you eat consistently on campus, you SHOULD go over. This program is catered towards students who eat frequently on campus and FAVORS those that are looking to eat at D2 or Shultz more often than not.
The simple fact is each meal plan has advantages, and there is a purpose for all of them. If there wasn’t, the university wouldn’t keep them. First and foremost is getting students interested in the university; they’re trying to get you to pay too much for a piece of paper, not for a number of meals a year.
It might take a bit of looking up but it’s not that complicated, I’m in Industrial Design not marketing or statistics but I understand it. (not meant to offend anyone, it’s more of a self-slander)
If anyone needs help trying to select a meal plan that works best for them or if my explanation didn’t help, just feel free to ask. Although I preach about how easy it is, I will admit that’s it is not the easiest find so I’m definitely willing to help.