Can someone explain the new freshman dining plan

<p>Exactly when can we eat? And can we eat on West? + anything else</p>

<p>its basically the same as the old one... except for now the Marketplace is opened for dinner on Friday and Saturday night (you still only get 5 dinners a week included)... and if you skip a breakfast it now translates into 5 dollars at the marketplace for lunch instead of 4.</p>

<p>West is still not included in the dining plan... obviously you can use Flex points and the such on West... but the Freshman dining plan is still just for The Marketplace.</p>

<p>So what if we only have a 20 min. interval between classes on West and we can't get back to East for lunch. Do we have to use our dining points for lunch on West? And is lunch on East part of the dining plan, or do we have to use our points for them too?</p>

<p>read the e-mail that was sent to all Duke freshmen...you got one, right?</p>

<p>Oh dear god. I seriously think I've seen about 500 questions about the dining plan, so here goes.</p>

<p>WHAT'S INCLUDED IN YOUR MEAL PLAN:</p>

<p>Sunday: Brunch, Dinner
Monday: Breakfast, Dinner
Tuesday: Breakfast, Dinner
Wednesday: Breakfast, Dinner
Thursday: Breakfast, Dinner
Friday: Breakfast
Saturday: Brunch</p>

<p>That comes out to 12 meals. They are now apparently offering dinner at the MP on Fridays and Saturdays, so if you miss a dinner during the week, you can make up for it then and be covered in the meal plan. But, I believe, if you don't miss any dinners, they are not covered in the meal plan. As in, if you miss 1 dinner, you can get either Friday or Saturday night, and if you miss 2, you can have both. That's the impression I got, at least.</p>

<p>WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE BOARD PLAN:
Dinner on Friday and Dinner on Saturday. On Fridays, the FCJL has Shabbat dinner, which is a nice way to get a good, free meal. On Saturdays, most people either go out or order food in through Merchants on Points. If you go out, you spend cash. If you order through MOP, you can use food points. Or cash. Whatever you want.</p>

<p>Lunches are not, and have never been, covered in the board plan. The exception is if you miss breakfast, in which case you can get up to $5 towards lunch at the Marketplace (I think that's the equivalency amount). Lunches are the reason why you are required to buy at least some food points. That is the point of the food points. The point is to have money so you can buy lunch (well, lunch among other things). If you buy the cheapest food point plan, that is $540. Those $540 can go towards lunches in the Marketplace AND/OR lunches anywhere on West. It can also go towards vending machine purchases, food on delivery (from certain places that are listed as Merchants-On-Points; see here: <a href="http://www.dining.duke.edu/merchants.html)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dining.duke.edu/merchants.html)&lt;/a>, and food purchased anywhere on West at any point that your heart may desire food. If you run out of points, you can add more on through Bursar.</p>

<p>I really, really think that that should clear everything up...I believe I covered everything.</p>

<p>How much does lunch usually cost?
What are the hours of breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
Is the marketplace an all-you-can-eat buffet?</p>

<p>did you read any of the stuff in your packet? there is a big thing on dining that has all you could ever care to know.</p>

<p>...hours
...merchants on points
...etc.</p>

<p>Marketplace is all you can eat except for lunch which is a la carte. </p>

<p>How much you spend on lunch really varies per person-- where you eat, what you like to eat, whether or not you're drinking soda or water or whatever. One day I can have a $3 lunch and the next I can have a $9 lunch-- just depends on where I am and what I'm ordering.</p>

<p>MP breakfast ends at 11-- or at least it did freshman year. West campus eateries are open all day long, so lunch is never an issue (not too sure of MP lunch hours now) and dinner hours at the MP were just extended... but I remember they began at 5pm. You'll get lots of concrete info w/ all of this</p>

<p>do most people take plan g, and if so is there any penalty for gettin for dining points, or is it just $1 for 1 point</p>

<p>you mean if you use all the points from your plan? Nope...no penalty. You just go to the duke card site and there you can just add however many you want, right away. It's super easy...takes 2 seconds.</p>

<p>How do they know if you missed breakfast? Does $5 automatically add onto your DukeCard after 11 A.M. if you haven't bought breakfast by then?</p>

<p>Nope. The $5 can only be used towards MP lunch, not towards anywhere you can use food points. When I skipped breakfast (almost always) and went to get lunch, they ask you whether or not you had breakfast. I'm not completely sure that it's just an honor system, even though I never saw someone try to lie about it...when they swipe your card, it may let them know if it was previously swiped at the MP that morning. Honestly, it doesn't really matter...somehow it just works.</p>

<p>your card keeps track of when you have eaten... I've gotten breakfast and then gotten lunch, too (because I didn't really grab anything substantial for breakfast... just needed something in me so that I could concentrate on a test), and the guy swiped my card before I could tell him that I had had breakfast, and it showed up as an error.</p>

<p>So you can't eat breakfast and lunch both at the MP if you have already eaten breakfast there? Can't you just use your food points?</p>

<p>My question... say I skip breakfast on Monday and then eat lunch with friends over on West... Then on Tuesday I do eat breakfast... can I use Monday's missed breakfast for lunch at the Marketplace Tuesday? Or does it have to be a same day thing?</p>

<p>it's a same day thing.</p>

<p>And yes, you use food points if you've already eaten breakfast.</p>

<p>As the author of the email sent to all duke undergrads, here's the deal:</p>

<ol>
<li>Breakfast is valued at $5. Before you could only use $4.15 for lunch equivalency at the marketplace, now you can use the full $5. </li>
<li>You still only purchase 12 meals, but the marketplace is now open Friday and Saturday, so if you miss dinner Monday and Tuesday, you can now eat Fri and/or Saturday. Chances are, you will miss at least one dinner during the week so now you can make it up. </li>
<li>Freshmen still have like $500-$700 in points that can be used anywhere. </li>
<li>The food no longer sucks. I ate at the marketplace last week and they <em>actually baked the bread,</em> among other things. It was amazing. </li>
<li>We're still working on a lot of other ****, so there could be more changes before the end of the summer. </li>
</ol>

<p>-Elliott</p>

<p>Isnt the MP open sunday too for brunch and dinnar</p>

<p>Yes. He didn't say otherwise.</p>