Block Meal Plans - more expensive than buying meals at the door???

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
1

<p>Attached is an email I sent to dining services this morning. According to my calculations, the Block meal plans actually cause students to lose money compared to simply purchasing individual meals at the door. Beware if purchasing.</p>

<p>Prices for individual meals at the door are:
Breakfast, $6.50
Lunch, $9.00
Dinner, $9.75</p>

<p>==============================================</p>

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm in the process of selecting a meal plan for the upcoming semester. I was considering a Block 60 or Block 90 plan, until my calculations indicated that purchasing one of these meal plans is more expensive than simply paying the door prices. Since it was my impression that meal plans offer students savings, I'm wondering if you can help me figure out where my math is wrong:</p>

<p>Block 60 Plan - $974, includes $325 Flex
Purchasing 20 breakfasts, 20 lunches, and 20 dinners at the door + $325 Flex = $830, $144 less than buying the meal plan
Purchasing 30 lunches and 30 dinners at the door + $325 Flex = $887.50, $86.50 less than buying the meal plan
Purchasing 60 dinners at the door plus $325 Flex = $910, $64 less than buying the meal plan</p>

<p>Block 60 Plan - $974, includes $325 Flex
Purchasing 20 breakfasts, 20 lunches, and 20 dinners at the door + $325 Flex = $830, $144 less than buying the meal plan
Purchasing 30 lunches and 30 dinners at the door + $325 Flex = $887.50, $86.50 less than buying the meal plan
Purchasing 60 dinners at the door plus $325 Flex = $910, $64 less than buying the meal plan</p>

<p>Block 90 Plan - $1201, includes $300 Flex
Purchasing 30 breakfasts, 30 lunches, and 30 dinners at the door + $300 Flex = $1057.50, $143.50 less than buying the meal plan
Purchasing 45 lunches and 45 dinners at the door + $300 Flex = $1143.75, $57.25 less than buying the meal plan
Purchasing 90 dinners at the door plus $300 Flex = $1177.50, $23.50 less than buying the meal plan</p>

<p>Block 120 Plan - $1386, includes $250 Flex
Purchasing 40 breakfasts, 40 lunches, and 40 dinners at the door + $250 Flex = $1260, $126 less than buying the meal plan
Purchasing 60 lunches and 60 dinners at the door + $250 Flex = $1375, $11 less than buying the meal plan
Purchasing 120 dinners at the door plus $250 Flex = $1420, $34 more than buying the meal plan</p>

<p>If I've done my math right, students lose money on both the Block 60 and Block 90 plans no matter what combination of meals are eaten, and only break even on the Block 120 meal plan if at least 75 of meals eaten are dinners. Can this be right?</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

2

<p>The answer you will find to this is that there's something like a 12% dining tax on all of the meals, so if you add that on to all the dinners, the prices will equal each other. </p>

<p>They make it worth the price of the most expensive meal so they come out ahead.</p>

<p>If you want to complain about something, complain about the fact that the Gold 10, Gold 14 and Gold 19 meal plans cost the same, with marginally different amounts of Flex.</p>

3

<p>Dining services alread threw that one at me last year. However, this year I'm a bit smarter (and have a bit more free time to follow up).</p>

<p>The sales tax is 10%, however buying at the door is still cheaper for the Block 60 even with the sales tax included.</p>

<p>Also, Flex points are tax free. The figures above assume that if you don't buy a meal plan, you put money onto your Flex account to pay for your campus meals - like most students do.</p>

4

<p>I know Flex points are tax free. You're fighting a pointless battle here. If you buy 60 dinners with a 10% sales tax, add in the flex, it costs $968.50. If you want to quibble about those 5 extra dollars, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to tell you to go ahead and pay every time you wanted to eat.</p>

<p>If you don't want to pay 5 dollars for the convenience of not having to pay every single time, then be my guest and pay. And hold up the line for ages.</p>

5

<p>The point here being that meal plans are advertised as a way for students to save money when eating on campus...</p>

<p>From the W&M Dining Services website:

[quote]

There are lots of privileges you will be able to enjoy if you sign up for a meal plan including... Savings, Convenience, Flexibility & Variety!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Under no circumstances should a meal plan ever be more expensive than paying door prices. Under no circumstances should a meal plan be advertised as saving money when in fact it doesn't.</p>

<p>Also, paying for individual meals doesn't take up more time. Either way, they swipe your card on the way in, and you're done. Takes the same amount of time whether they deduct a meal from your meal plan or flex from your account.</p>

6

<p>I still don't see what you are upset about. You just "discovered" a way to save yourself a very small amount of money a semester, provided you eat very few meals on campus. Why not exploit it?</p>

<p>I see no problem with adding a tiny amount on as a convenience fee. I already looked into this previously and decided, with ease, to pay for a regular meal plan.</p>

7

<p>There should be no "exploiting" anything. If meal plans are advertised as convenient and money-saving, then that's what they should be.</p>

<p>Also, $144/semester is a little more than a "very small amount of money" - especially considering that it's almost 15% of the meal plan price.</p>

<p>If you'd rather pay them extra to have a meal plan, by all means, go ahead. But I'm sure I can't be alone in thinking that it's ridiculous that it's almost 15% cheaper to buy individual meals than to get a meal plan...</p>

8

<p>you can't buy flex w/o a meal plan.</p>

9

<p>Wasn't aware of that. Are you sure?</p>

10

<p>From the webiste:</p>

<p>""Can I just buy Flex Points without a meal plan?</p>

<p>No.""</p>

11

<p>Okay. That changes some things because of the added sales taxes, but the Block 60 is still more expensive no matter what, and the Block 90 and Block 120 are still more expensive if your meals are evenly split between breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.</p>

<p>Also, inchoative, you're right. The Gold 19 costs $5.41/meal, but the Gold 10 costs $9.28/meal. I'll pose that question to dining services as well.</p>

12

<p>let us know what dining services says...</p>

13

<p>Save a ton of money and simply don't get a meal plan. I can buy 300 dollars a month in groceries and still save money off of the Gold plans. I did it last semester while living in Old Dominion, I just used the kitchen a lot.</p>

14

<p>I agree completely... cook for yourself. And if you do eat on campus, go to Quiznos or the Marketplace. Or Wawa. Either way, you'll be eating better for less.</p>

<p>No response yet from dining services...</p>